Jane Eyre 2006: Deleted Scenes

Denarios has posted clips of the deleted scenes from the BBC's mini-series. There are several clips included in each of the following:

Deleted Scenes from Episodes 1 and 2:



Deleted Scenes from Episodes 3 and 4:

Buttons, Buckles, Ruffles and Lace Represent the Human Race!

I have been searching high and low for an article I read some time ago about the setting of Jane Eyre. Both sides in the debate are convinced they are right (that it ought to be set in the Regency, or the Victorian period). This article was in the Victorian camp, and mused on what Mr Rochester might have been doing in France during the Revolution (I have never read articles which have seriously considered why he would be chewing bon bons and dating ballet dancers in Paris during the Terror). Well, they said he'd probably be something like the Scarlet Pimpernel.

This is funny. Yes, it is. And also fortuitous for me. The Gordon/Caird musical had been continually compared with three other musicals: Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The comparison with Pimpy makes little sense besides the flouncing white shirts, cravats, and breeches- unless we use our imagination to indulge in the Regency Jane Eyre theory.

It also gives me an excuse to call a post 'buttons, buckles, ruffles and lace represent the human race' which is just one of many fabulous lines from the show. It also gives me an excuse to share these scenes: witness the fop love below:



Or watch Alayna's beautiful clip here (I almost cried at the end from the funny):



And an editor's note: I hope regular postings will be resuming soon. It is the end of term, and naturally my life is in shambles. I have papers to mark, a ph.d proposal, this publishing project, two papers, and to top it all off I am officially homeless. That was the family crisis I spoke of earlier. Yesterday my mother was evicted back home, so I don't officially have one anymore. She's alright for the moment, but I've been desperately trying to find her a permanent residence from 1000 miles away. She might be settled as early as tonight.

Brontes of Haworth

It seems to be a running theme in most of my recent posts that I have very little time for blogging. And this month seems to be getting more complicated with each day. I ought to be in bed, resting up for tomorrow. Today was spent in a crash course in ETI, SGML, and XML, and then a ph.d proposal workshop. I think my work was tore apart by six or seven professors one after another- I can't remember how many exactly. To illustrate my state of mind at the end of it all: I stumbled back to the dinning hall forgetting that I had office hours during the workshop!

These clips I uploaded a few days ago but haven't had the time to post. I think this is a wonderfull series but it is hardly known. This first clip is one of my favourites in the series. Anne Bronte arrives at Thorp Green to take up her position as governess to the Robinson children.




And in this clip Charlotte discovers Emily's poetry, and the plan forms to attempt their first publication:

Reader, I Married Him: Heathcliff

I edited this clip a little to make it fit the requirements of the website. I shaved a few seconds from the Monty Python Semaphore clip. Alas, I think those who find Wuthering Heights a novel of the profoundest love might find this tribute a little lacking. I think Juliet Barker's quotation marks aound 'love' might sum up the attitude to the book. I wonder why on earth they used clips from a 1960s version of Wuthering Heights which look absolutely terrible! Surely there was better footage than this? When Heathcliff comes lumbering over the moors I wondered if he were human- he certainly doesn't move like a human being.

Reader, I Married Him: Mr Rochester, and M. Heger

I had to split the segment into two halves to make it fit, so here are parts one and two. I must say that I am still surprised by the nonsense some of the 'experts' have to say about Mr Rochester- especially Lucasta Miller. At least now I know where the 'Mr Rochester is a rake who's had lots and lots of mistresses' myth comes from. Incidentally I also find her description of Charlotte's attitudes to Jane Austen to be exaggerated as well. It makes her seem as though she thought 'great romantic tempests' were the only kind of real emotion one could experience. If you read her letters on Jane Austen, she is critiquing the depth of the characters in Emma. She says she cannot sense their arteries and blood beneath the surface. In other words, Jane Austen does not fully penetrate the psychology of her characters. That is a authorial strategy (not a fault). Charlotte was also writing these letters to defend herself from a rabid Jane Austen fan who had been writing to her about how she ought to write like Jane Austen. When the fan wrote back demanding that she acknowledge the superiority and genius of Miss A that's when Charlotte let him have it. She was, as I have said... a snark.

Since the clip makes reference to Monsieur Heger in discussing Mr Rochester, I have included a clip from the Brontes of Haworth, a mini series about the lives of the Brontes. In this clip Charlotte has returned to Brussels alone after the death of Aunt Branwell, and has a talk with Monsieur Heger.

Reader, I Married Him: Jane Eyre

It took me a ridiculously long time to get this clip uploaded to YouTube, but here it is at last and by popular demand. As for the section about Mr Rochester, I am having less luck. The clip Penny sent didn't download properly, or there is some other problem which prevents me from editing it down to a proper size. So, no Mr Rochester, I'm afraid (at least for now).

"Impertinent and, uhm... pretty!" "And very intelligent." "Ah hah!"

By request, here are two more clips from the first talkie film adaptation of Jane Eyre from 1934, and starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive. Ms. Bruce has almost incandescent blond hair, Mr. Clive is better known as the classics Victor Frankenstein! (Appropriate for a Hallowe'en post!).

This first clip has almost nothing to do with Jane Eyre other than it is from an adaptation of the novel. Adele manages to get herself stuck up a tree, fall and hurt her knee, fall into a vase (while singing 'My Bonny Lies over the Ocean'), and make fun off all of the party guests- all in 10 minutes! One bit of clarification here: in this version Mr Rochester was intending to marry Blanche Ingram until he met Jane. After the fire, he goes to London and realises there that he's in love with Jane.



But this clip is certainly the most interesting. The proposal is marked off for us by the cute lullaby music (the theme music for the film is an actual lullaby). And you know that rather plain woman, the one in black quaker-like dress, and piling loving words on Mr Rochester? That would be Bertha. She seems to be mad because she is going to be separated from her 'dear Edward.' Jane's dilema is odd... Mr Rochester is having his marriage anulled. The final papers will be arriving any minute. But she leaves anyway.

Fruit and Veg Wuthering Heights

This is certainly the best vegitable and fruit adaptation of Wuthering Heights I have seen today. It really evokes the sprit of the novel as no other fruit and vegitable adaptation has to date. A true classic!

Selections from Jane Eyre 1957

First, I have a word or two to say about comments and email. I am still far behind in replying to everyone. I have no idea when I will not be rushed off of my feet, so please be patient.

And now, these are two of the most memorable scenes (aside from the first 'interview') from Jane Eyre 1957. Thisbeciel had already posted the first scene- Mason's attack. The other clip is from the proposal scene and the farewell scene. Naturally, I find both of these clips amusing. The second clip is especially silly, although it mixes the silliness with the disturbing.

More Fun with YouTube

This attempt is a little better, but the top is still cut. It is quite a long clip including everything from Mrs. Fairfax asking Jane to go to the party, to 'Sirens' at the end of act one. If you are not familiar with the show they did rearrange the plot to make it fit into a 3 hour show with an intermission in the middle but why they put The Gypsy into act two I cannot say. I'm still working on getting it to the right size so that none of the picture is cut off.

So, in the space of ten minutes Blanche puts Jane down, Mrs Fairfax invites her to the party, the guests dance, Blanche and Rochester sing their duet, Mason arrives, Rochester goes wibbly, and then Jane and Rochester angst out act one.

During 'How You Look in the Night' Rochester is actually making fun of Blanche. I thought he was drunk the first time I saw a screencap of this scene. It actually looked like either he was drunk or Blanche had just punched him in the face and he was reeling to the floor from the blow... I still might have that screencap somewhere... (It was from a different performance. He doesn't look so wretched here).



ETA: Found it! (plus caption by one of my writer friends).

The Pledge and Sirens

I have been trying to upload a clip for one of my readers (Kathleen I think?) of the song Sirens from Jane Eyre: The Musical but I'm experiencing some technical difficulties. I did get a clip uploaded but it looks like cravat porn. For some reason there's a 200% zoom or something trained on Mr Rochester's cravat and Jane's bust.

Oh dear.

This is the act one finale. It actually includes two songs, The Pledge and Sirens. Since there's the 200% zoom I should explain that they are talking in the garden when Robert the butler interrupts them.



I'll keep trying to upload a normal clip!

ETA: Oh, there is one other thing I should mention and since there's such an extreme closeup of his hands you can see this perfectly. There is a ring of Mr Rocheter's hand. Throughout the show he will look to it or touch it as a memento of his father and brother- although this is never explicitly stated in the show. It is a way of keeping his past before him, as it were.

ETA: Oh... and I suppose you can't see this either. At the end we can see Bertha through a window above them holding a candle and singing (she's the third voice which comes in near the end).

La Jolla 'Child in the Attic'

Another piece of Jane Eyre theatre history has turned up mysteriously. This is a scene from the La Jolla production of Jane Eyre: The Musical. Tiny pieces of this recording are surfacing when I least expect them to. This one is especially exciting because it is the ballad Child in the Attic which was only used for this production- and there's something peculiar about the staging...

It appears that Mr Rochester is watching from upstage left. The book she holds is Milton's Paradise Lost which plays an important role in the musical.

Memory Lane

Here is part of the farewell scene from the 1983 version- one of the so-called 'difinitive' adaptations. It is one of the best scenes in the series, I think, and one of Timothy Dalton's finest moments.



Contrastingly... there's this. This 1997 version still is my least favourite of them all, if only because in it Mr Rochester is a loathsome man: mysogynistic, puerile, emotionally and physically abusive. This adaptation has been called the one 'with only one good scene' but I'm not sure which scene is supposed to be the good one. It is hard to tell that Rochester is angry here because in all seriousness this is his tone of voice about 90% of the time. At least with Jane, he's often barking at her like this. The actor once described Rochester as 'less interesting than a horse's behind' and this is reflected in this clip, I think.



A good contrast is this clip from 1970 where Mr Rochester is 50 years old, I believe? And he's practically inanimate. This version fills me with horror because St.John Rivers shows more passion than Mr Rochester- he is more moved by Jane's piano playing than Rochester is throughout the entire film. And of course St.John has this scene where he clutches Jane on the moors begging her to be with him because he needs her strength. His confusion when she leaves has my sympathy.



I love this. This is from the 1944 film with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles- considered a classic in America it is unavailable now, and not very well known apparently. Someone once pointed out to me that Rochester looks like he is conquering France as he walks across the lawn. He has a nice deep voice, though.

More Favourites

Well, my plan to write a substantial post was undermined by having more work to do on a conference paper I'm presenting tomorrow. Not that I've forgotten about the Brontes. I have nothing else to console me in the rare moments when I am not studying. Here are two more clips from the archives.

Believe it or not but I can identify the very frame in this clip which first caught my interest, and led me to read the novel!



And this is just precious. I think I must be the only person on the planet who does not hate this adaptation with a passion but I have an extremely high tolerance for bad adaptations. However, if you think about it, all they did was modernise the novel by taking out anything remotely troubling and adding a puppy. Everyone loves puppies. This is the 1934 version- the first talkie Jane Eyre.

1952 Jane Eyre

This is the last clip that I will post for awhile, I promise. I won't flood Bronteana with video clips and neglect discussion. This is a clip from the 1952 production of Jane Eyre for Westinghouse Summer Theatre in 1952, starring Katherine Bard and Kevin McCarthy. If it looks a little familiar there is good reason. The set is nearly identical to the 1947 version with Mary Sinclair and Charleton Heston.



This scene is the scene where Jane rescues Rochester from the fire. Most stage adaptations find it difficult to stage this scene as written in the book. A very common solution is to shift the scene to the drawingroom where Rochester has fallen asleep in his chair. This solution produces another problem- the audience know that Grace Poole is not behind the fire. Although this is a televised play, and they could have filmed the scene elsewhere, they have stayed with the theatrical conventions in this regard.

It is a little bit silly... Jane looks like she pushes him into the flames. Rochester seems to have a problem with his lines throughout. He repeats himself constantly, as if needing a moment to remember the next piece of dialogue.

Poor Jane

One of the books I will be using for my thesis is called 'Jane Eyre and What Adaptors Have Done to Her.' Here are two examples of precisely what these adaptors have done to her. It has been very interesting for me to witness the response to the newest version of Jane Eyre. In many ways I did not anticipate the ways people react to the novel and previous adaptations when they consider the newest incarnation. One of the surprises has been the belief that because the most recent adaptation is the most recent, it must be 'new' and 'fresh.'

One aspect of the novel which distinguishes it from other romances is that the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester is not based on physical attraction. They do not lust after eachother as so many experts, and adaptors would have us suppose. And yet, there are but few adaptations that have not attempted to 'sex up' the book. I might be in the minority when I say this, but I find that the real passion of the novel evaporates when it is reduced to some exploitation, panting, and petting.

All of this is preface to the return of Patrick MacNee as Mr Rochester. I thought this was pretty bad until I saw the 2006 Jane Eyre's farewell bedroom romp (you know, the scene where Jane refuses to let Rochester kiss her because he's married? Or, maybe she lets him lie on top of her and pleasure himself. I can't remember, but chances are it is true-to-the-spirit-of-the-book /end sarcasm).



And then, half a century later, the very modern (or 50 year old, however you would prefer looking at it) idea of Rochester the lech:



There really isn't a point to me including the clip where Rochester says: "I want a wife. I want a wife in my bed all night or all day if we choose. If I can't have that I'd rather die."

Wuthering Heights 1970 Clip

I couldn't help myself. I had to make this clip. This is about 50 seconds of footage from the 1970 Wuthering Heights. This scene made me laugh hysterically the first time I saw it. It still gives me a chuckle whenever I see it. The film itself isn't as bad as this clip. I suppose my readers who have only seen Timothy Dalton play Mr Rochester should be prepared for some rather unRochesterian acts involving hysterical women and a poker. (I always think those women look like fangirls...)

Jane Eyre 1949 Mary Sinclair and Charleton Heston

Remember when I said that I wasn't technologically savvy enough to make my own video clips, and how much I would have liked to share some of the material in my archive? Well, by sheer coincidence someone has shown me how to make my own clips. Here is the first of such clips from my video archive. This is the proposal scene from the 1949 Jane Eyre starring Mary Sinclair and Charleton Heston. The production was made for Westinghouse Summer Theatre (the commercial breaks are just as entertaining as the feature. Who knew that self-cleaning ovens could be so exciting?).

The recording is blurred and grainy throughout and not the fault of my editing skills or lack thereof. If the clip is not available yet wait a few minutes. I only just uploaded it and it should take a few minutes to be processed properly.

Secret Soul in the Studio

Thisbeciel sent me this clip long ago, but only now did I realise that I could upload it to YouTube! Here is a clip of Marla Schaffel and James Barbour recording part of the duet 'Secret Soul' from Jane Eyre: The Musical.



It's a shame that I'm not technologically savvy enough to make my own clips. I would love to make available some clips from my archives. I know how much everyone must be missing that Patrick MacNee!Rochester and his lechery, in light of the unbounded lust for Toby Stephens unleashed last weekend. And many of you are surely curious about Charleton Heston as Mr Rochester. Alas.

Jane Eyre: The Musical, La Jolla Production

Back by popular demand is the full audio recording of Jane Eyre The Musical. The recording was made when the production was playing in La Jolla California before its run on Broadway. This version is half-way between its Toronto and Broadway incarnations and includes some songs which are not in any of the other versions. It is taking me awhile to upload these track so please be patient.

I think this recording was made in 2000, and is obviously from the theatre soundboards (the sound effects are very loud). It includes most of the regular cast with the exception that Helen is played by a little girl. It stars Marla Schaffel as Jane Eyre and James Barbour as Edward Rochester. If you're not familiar with this show, the chorus is used to express Jane's thoughts at times although the chorus includes all of the cast members (thus, we hear Mr Rochester commenting on being the unloved orphan Jane. You'll know him by his deep, resounous voice). There are many posts in this blog about the musical, but this is the my main critique of this version. Here they experiemented with the Jane/Bertha duality.

Video clips from this and other productions are available from my YouTube group for the show, here.

CD one of two:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tf00dp (A Voice Across the Moors)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ej72oo (scene with John Reed)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/flgyie (The Orphan)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ehjyjg (Naughty Girl)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/52s5hx (Forgiveness)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/te8kxa (Helen's Death)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qukpfj (The Graveyard)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ezihnf (Sweet Liberty)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/allz51 (Secrets of the House)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vpvlr9 (Perfectly Nice)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/q2jmem (scene in Hay Lane)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jos3fa (scene of preparing for the master)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/tos41q (The Governess)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/h3qwa6 (scene with Adele acting out an opera)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dvdh6u (As Good As You)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tksa1l (As I Retired for the Night)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1mnfya (scene of the fire)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ldszt9 (Sirens)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/joo74r (The Aristocrats)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/km2uoo (scene with the aristocrats)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/82sbad (The Finer Things)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ya2oe2 (How You Look in the Night)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mm1z8n (The Pledge)