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.