Testamony of Jane Eyre 1956


I am still trying to piece together this BBC version, not having access to their archives. But one of my readers wrote in with this brief comparison with the recent production. If anyone remembers the 1956 version as well, please write in and let me know your recollections! The following is a comment left on the archive for this post. (Comments sent to the archive do not always reach me. Also, as a reminder, please make some sort of reference to which post you are commenting on if it is older than a week or so because I cannot locate your comment in order to reply in some cases!).

Daphne Slater was Jane Eyre likewise Stanley Baker was Rochester the 1956 production covered the whole of the book, it wasn't dumbed down or made more sexually explicit.The meeting in the garden with the cigar smoke was sexy enough I am frankly amazed that the 2006 production has received so much praise and not one mention seems to have been made about the far superior 1956 version.

This post contains the bulk of my information on this adaptation, which seems to be clinging onto its fanbase despite not being available for half a century!

Another Update on BBC Bronte Films


Once again, our thanks to LaMcKay for providing the following stats on several BBC productions currently unavailable:

Jane Eyre (1963) was broadcast on 7-4-63. The BBC 2 classic serial 28-12-68 Tenant of Wildfell Hall is complete as is their Wuthering Heights first broadcast 28-10-67 (4 episodes). Villette 1970 (also from BBC 2) aired on 31-5-70 and had 5 episodes.

And finally Blogger is allowing me to post images once again. This is the picture I found earlier this week of Daphne Slater who played Jane Eyre in the 1956 BBC series (playing opposite Stanley Baker). I have not been able to verify what the image is from- but the watch definately makes one think that this is not an image from the production! The search continues.

Addendum: BBC Archive Project

Biedroneczka writes in with a little more information on the list she provided of BBC adaptations of Jane Eyre, specifically the two radio adaptations I have not found yet- the ones from 1990 and 2004:

"There's practically no info on the 1990 version. As far as I remember, it's only 30 minutes long. The 1994 programme is indeed the one with Ciaran [Hinds]. And the info on the 2004 one reads as follows: Anne-Marie DUFF reads Charlotte BRONTE bold and passionate story of a woman's search for independence and love on her own terms. Lonely, ignored and ill treated, the orphaned Jane is growing up at Gateshead. Abridged by Sally MARMION. Producer Di SPEIRS. 15 episodes, 15 minutes each. BTW, Here's the link to the site: http://open.bbc.co.uk/cataloguemeta. Sadly, the catalogue is currently unavailable."

The catalogue seems to be in a prototype stage at the moment, according to its blog but is going through a review process. This is how the project is described on the BBC's website:

This experimental catalogue database holds over 900,000 entries. It is a sub-set of the data from the internal BBC database created and maintained by the BBC’s Information and Archives department. This public version is updated daily as new records are added and updated in the main catalogue. This figure is so high because, for example, each TV news story now has an individual entry in the catalogue.

Perhaps more importantly for our purposes is that it clearly excludes productions which no longer exist. It is safe, I think, to suppose then that the 1956 and 1963 Jane Eyre productions are still extant. Once the project is up again, we should be able to see if 1970 Villette, the 1968 Tenant of Wildfell Hall and perhaps others we don't know about are also hidden away there.

Bronte News and Update on BBC Search
Last Sunday Kenneth Griffith, Mr Mason in the 1970 production of Jane Eyre with Susannah York and George C. Scott, died at the age of 84. Thanks to peridramnews for the notice.

Well, now we have this article from the Guardian about the limited re-release of Daphne duMaurier's Rebecca. In passing this painfully psychoanalytic article suggests that all romances are paedophilic.

Whether it's Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Bridget Jones's Diary or any old Mills and Boon novel, the grist that feeds the fantasy mill is the same.

Several Bronteana readers have sent in some info which should be helpful in tracking down some of these remaining adaptations which are not currently available. Liz, who wrote to the BBC about the Villette mini series sends the whole text of their email reply which certainly suggests that the series exists but that copyright arrangements prevent distribution of copies- thus, the letter writing compaign mentioned earlier.

Also, Biedroneczka sends along a list she found of BBC productions of Jane Eyre from a site connected to the BBC archives. This is the list (programmes denote episodes):

6 programmes in 1956
6 programmes in 1963
5 programmes in 1972 (radio)
5 programmes in 1973
11 programmes in 1983
3 programmes in 1990 (radio)
4 programmes in 1994 (radio)
15 programmes in 2004 (radio)

In my travels I came across one source claiming there had been productions in the 1940s as well. It is possible that they were mistaken, or perhaps this list is of those versions extant. The 1972 radio adaptation must be the Megwynn Owen/Patrick Allen series. And possibly the 1994 version is the one with Sophie Thompson and Ciaran Hinds. I have not heard the 1990 and 2004 versions yet (15 episodes?!).

Jane Eyre BBC 1956

There's been no new information on the 1963 Jane Eyre, but my search has led me back to the previous BBC production- the 1956 version. I have no images ,[I've just found one!] and I don't know if this one still exists either but it sounds very interesting! I have heard some enthusiastic comments from people who remember it. I don't know if it would appeal to modern lovers of fidelity to the novel, though...

We saw that in 1963 Jane and Rochester came nearest to the 'perfect' age difference. In 1952 the BBC cast a Rochester who was only a whopping.. one year older than Jane. He was 29 and she was 28. Meanwhile, St.John was 32. Anyway, the strangeness continues. The production lists Constance Cox as a co-adaptor with Ian Dallas. She is also the adaptor of the 1963 version! Furthermore, our Jane (Daphne Slater) had just finished playing Elizabeth Bennet, and Harriet Smith before that, and Anne Elliot in 1960. There are a few fan recollections of Stanley Baker's performance: " I seem to remember a strong (and sexy!) performance as Mr Rochester." As with Richard Leech we can infer something about Stanley Baker's performance from his acting style in general.

To start off with, he was over 6 foot, and described personally as: rugged Welsh mining stock, unruly, quick to flare, and first to fight, proud and self-willed, posessing 'a fine speaking voice, a smouldering intensity, and a strong spirit.'

His was good-looking, but his features were angular, taut, austere and unwelcoming. His screen persona was taciturn, even surly, and the young actor displayed a predilection for introspection and blunt speaking, and was almost wilfully unromantic. For the times a potential leading actor cast heavily against the grain. Baker immediately proved a unique screen presence - tough, gritty, combustible – and possessing an aura of dark, even menacing power.

[...]

Film welcomed the adult Baker as the embodiment of evil. Memorable early roles cast the actor in feisty unsympathetic parts.

[...]

He established his own niche as an actor content to be admired for peerlessly portraying the disreputable and the unsympathetic. In that he was a dark mirror, more accurately reflecting human frailty and the vagaries of life than many of his more romantically or heroically inclined contemporaries.

He was also knighted in 1976. You can read more of this lengthy encomium here.

So, I imagine something like Wuthering Heights meets Pride and Prejudice... I have an image of Stanley Baker from the year of the production but once again Blogger is not co-operating. The link to the image is here.

Today's Brontë News

The following items really don't seem to naturally be on the same page with one another, I think you will agree...

Wuthering Heights gets a mention in an article on why people should read the Kama Sutra:

The pundit Vatsyayana, who wrote the Kama Sutra, is blessedly free of physical disgust, but he isn't naïve. He understands lust; he depicts the stages of erotic obsession in great detail. For example, he gives the stages of romance: making eye contact, exchanging longing glances, having erotic images come to mind that won't go away, followed by thinking of the beloved all the time, losing sleep, making excuses to meet, and finally culminating - if sexual contact is denied - with falling sick and dying.

The whole history of the romantic novel is written in those few observations. If you smile at the notion that sexual desire can make someone grow sick and die, you may be correct medically, but millions have wept over the death of Catherine Earnshaw pining for Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, not to mention a thousand knights languishing for love in medieval romances.

From the Kama Sutra to...

The hometown of the Rev. Patrick Brontë is one of the stops on musican Eliza Gilkyson's tour of the UK and Ireland:

Tue 9. Bronte Centre Churchill Road Drumballyroney Near Rathfriland, N Ireland. BT32 5IX Box Office 02406 23322 TP £12.00 DO 8.30 p.m.

There's more information on the Centre and the town's Brontë-related sites here.

Bronte Homeland Picnic Site, Knockiveagh:The picnic site at Knockiveagh is an ideal place to stop and see the rolling hills where Patrick Bronte grew up and the mountains of Mourne in the background. The picnic area occupies the ruins of a former shebeen - an illicit drinking house.

Alice McClory's Cottage:This cottage was the childhood home of Patrick's mother, Alice McClory. Alice and Hugh used to court secretly and some say they eloped to their wedding in Magherally Church, near Banbridge.

The Birthplace Cottage:Little now remains of the family's two-roomed cottage in the fairy glen at Emdale. The remains have been in the care of the Bronte Homeland Trust since 1956.

Glascar School:Patrick taught here in the 1790's, although the original schoolhouse was replaced by this more modern building in 1844. He is said to have used enlightened teaching methods to bring out the best in his pupils. He was later dismissed for forming a romantic attachment with one of them.

Lastly, tulips and Brontë fan art at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Image is of the Mourne Mountains as seen from near Rathfriland.

Public Domain Jane Eyre 1934

Ever wanted to see the first talkie of Jane Eyre but could never find a copy? Well, if your computer can handle it, you can now download the entire film from www.publicdomaintorrents.com

The version available for download (or purchase for $5.00) stars Virginia Bruce as a very blond, very un-quakerish Jane Eyre, and Colin Clive as the meek, soft spoken master of Thornfield- you know? Mr Rochester?

Just about everyone I've talked to about this film hates it, but I find it cute and very interesting. I think it is not so much a film adaptation of the novel as a film adaptation of plays of the novel! When I've read a few more of these plays I will return to this idea to see if it is really supported by the texts.

I won't ruin the pleasure of being surprised by all of the changes, but I would like to point out one thing that alone redeems this production from being a 'guilty pleasure.' I have seen all but one of the extant versions of Jane Eyre- and several that are not supposed to exist. This film, with 1934 talkie before you, is the only film version in which Jane extinguishes the fire in Mr Rochester's room by herself as in the novel. The only other time this happens is in the Gordon/Caird musical- but this film is closer to the text in this regard. Mr Rochester doesn't wake up until the flames are fully extinguished (you can see this scene in one of the frames above- third frame from left, 3rd row from the bottom). Here's a brief run down of the history of this scene- as I remember it:

1934- Jane tears down the burning curtains and smothers the flames with her feet, then she wakes Mr Rochester.
1944- Jane wakes Mr Rochester who vigorously smothers the flames while Jane rushes in with water.
1956- I'm waiting to see, but I hear that the flames and smoke are never shown in the same shot as the actors...
[I don't know if the two 1960s versions are extant- ask the BBC]
1970- Rochester puts out the flames.
1973- The fire is still burning at "Is there a flood?" Jane and Rochester are shown putting the rest of the flames out together.
1983- Mr Rochester puts out the flames while Jane stands by looking scared.
1996- The fire is still burning at "Is there a flood?" Mr Rochester puts the flames out himself, but Jane has cut her hands on roses from a vase she emptied.
1997- Mr Rochester puts out the flames.
2000- (the musical) Mr Rochester wakes up just in time to see the flames go out. Jane smothers some flames on her nightdress hem.

I'm finding it hard to visualise the 1997 and 1970 versions, so I'll have to check them now. ;)

ETA: 1970- Mr Rochester and Jane put out the flames, but Rochester is shown for most of this scene with Jane getting a few shots.
1997- Jane wakes Rochester then watches him put out the flames.