As a young orphan, Jane was sent away to an institution. Her aunt couldn’t handle her anymore so she sent her away to an institution for misbehaved children. She was treated badly while she was there. When she graduates from the institution, she applies for a job as a governess for a mysterious man. He’s never around so he needs someone to take care of his daughter. When she first met her boss Edward, he’s mean to her. He eventually warms up to her and they fall in love. They have an obstacle keeping them from getting together at first. Then his past comes back to haunt them which causes them to break up. Spoiler: A tragedy reunites them at the end.

I decided to check out this movie because a character on one of my favorite soap operas, Passions, mentioned the movie. I had never seen it before so I decided to check it out.

Plot

I really liked the mystery/romance element in this movie. It was easy to forget that this is a classic movie. The plot of this movie is something that can be used today.

Acting

Joan Fontaine did a good job with her role. Orson Welles was okay too, but Joan was better in my opinion. I liked how she was able to be a strong character despite the way she was treated. I liked how he was able to go from being a mean man to a caring one. The supporting characters did good jobs with their roles as well.

The movie has two parts: mystery and love story.

Mystery

There was a mysterious woman roaming around Edward’s mansion. Jane kept hearing the woman’s laughter, but she didn’t see her face. This same woman set Edward’s room on fire. No one saw her do it. The servants seem to know who she is, but they don’t say who she is. She is just referred to as Grace.

Grace attacked Mr. Mason (a seemingly unimportant man) when he shows up at the mansion. Jane is supposed to take care of him, but she’s not allowed to go in the room where the mysterious woman was.

The identities of the Grace and Mr. Mason are revealed, which I won’t spoil, at Edward and Jane’s wedding.

Love Story

As you know, they fall in love, but they had obstacles.

He was difficult to her at first. He was nasty to her at times. At first, I wondered why she would fall for him. He doesn’t seem to care for his daughter or her for that matter. The more they spent time together, the more he started to warm up to her and fall for her.

He had a girlfriend who he planned on marrying. He thought Blanche (his girlfriend) was a gold digger, but he thought she was the type of person he should have been. Once he found out how Jane felt about him, he wanted to be with her instead of Blanche. A little while later, they get engaged.

As I mentioned before, Edward’s past comes back to haunt him. It happens at the wedding. His past has to do with the mysterious woman. This causes Edward and Jane’s breakup. Jane leaves the mansion and goes back to the aunt who sent her away.

She decides to go back to Edward and she finds out that part of his mansion was burned down by Grace. She found out from a servant that Grace died while Edward tried to save her. Edward ended up getting hurt during the fire. He pushed Jane away because he didn’t want her pity. Spoiler: She was able to get him to realize that she loved him and wasn’t staying out of pity. I’m glad this movie had a happy ending.

Movie Note:

Elizabeth Taylor had a small role as one of the girls at the institution that Jane was at. She befriends Jane at the mansion.