History Film / PortraitOfJennie

The titular portrait of Jennie was painted by Robert Brackman.

Promoted as a "fantasy," ''Portrait of Jennie'' combines drama, mystery and romance with more than a touch of the supernatural. Its extremely striking and atmospheric cinematography won Joseph H. August an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward (unfortunately, he died before receiving it).

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Whenever Eben shows Jennie his painting of the Land's End lighthouse, she shudders and admits that she dislikes the painting very much. She does this in two occasions, making Eben wonder why she's so frightened. [[spoiler:It's where Jennie died a long time ago.]]

* IWillWaitForYou: Applies to both main characters. Jennie says she will wait for Eben, and it's implied that he has to die for them to meet again.

* TheMuse: Jennie for Eben. She gets him out his artistic rut and gives true life to his artwork.

* RapidAging: Eben first encounters Jennie when she's about 13. He then encounters her at intermittent intervals. Strangely, she appears to be growing up much more rapidly than is possible with every appereance.

* TimeTravel: A rather strange example: Jennie can somehow travel into the 1930s even though she's was only alive up until the 20s. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretion Whether she is a ghost or not is debatable.]]

* TimeTravel: A rather strange example: Jennie can somehow travel into the 1930s even though she's was only alive up until the 20s. Whether she is a ghost or not is debatable.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portrait_of_jennie.jpg]]

''Portrait of Jennie'' is a 1948 film based on the novella by Robert Nathan, directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Creator/JenniferJones as the title character (a coincidence, not TheDanza) and Creator/JosephCotten as Eben Adams, the artist she inspires. Also in the cast are Ethel Barrymore and Lillian Gish.

It's 1934 in New York City, TheGreatDepression rages on, and StarvingArtist Eben Adams (Cotton) can't sell any one of his landscape paintings. One gloomy winter day, Eben meets a young girl called Jennie Appleton (Jones) who mysteriously disappears before he can get to know her more. Finding her an interesting subject, he sketches her and is able to impress art dealer, Miss Spinney (Barrymore), and sell his sketch. Eben makes it his mission to find this little girl again to sit for a portrait. But she's no ordinary girl: she's eternally stuck in the past, yet able to grow and become a young woman very quickly. She and Eben know they are soulmates but the cost of being together may be too high.

%% Zero-Context Example entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

It's 1934 in New York City, UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression rages on, and StarvingArtist Eben Adams (Cotton) can't sell any one of his landscape paintings. One gloomy winter day, Eben meets a young girl called Jennie Appleton (Jones) who mysteriously disappears before he can get to know her more. Finding her an interesting subject, he sketches her and is able to impress art dealer, Miss Spinney (Barrymore), and sell his sketch. Eben makes it his mission to find this little girl again to sit for a portrait. But she's no ordinary girl: she's eternally stuck in the past, yet able to grow and become a young woman very quickly. She and Eben know they are soulmates but the cost of being together may be too high.

* ChekhovsGun: Jennie's scarf. It first comes into Eben's possession when she forgets it in the park during their first meeting. Eben returns it, much to Jennie's surprise since she forgot about it. In the end, [[spoiler: Miss Spinney finds it when Eben is recovered from the lighthouse, making it apparent that Jennie was real.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Whenever Eben shows Jennie his painting of the Land's End lighthouse, she shudders and admits that she dislikes the painting very much. She does this in two occasions, making Eben wonder why she's so frightened. [[spoiler: It's where Jennie died a long time ago.]]

It's 1934 in New York City, UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression rages on, and StarvingArtist Eben Adams (Cotton) can't sell any one of his landscape paintings. One gloomy winter day, Eben meets a young girl called Jennie Appleton (Jones) who mysteriously disappears before he can get to know her more. Finding her an interesting subject, he sketches her and his able to impress art dealer, Miss Spinney (Barrymore), and sell his sketch. Eben makes it his mission to find this little girl again to sit for a portrait. But she's no ordinary girl: she's eternally stuck in the past, yet able to grow and become a young woman very quickly. She and Eben know they are soulmates but the cost of being together may be too high.

* DeadAllAlong: Jennie, although it can be interpreted many ways: is she a figment of Eben's imagination? A muse? Or does it even matter at all since she was real to Eben?
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Whenever Eben shows Jennie his painting of the Land's End lighthouse, she shudders and admits that she dislikes the painting very much. She does this in two occasions, making Eben wonder why she's so frightened.

* ChekhovsGun: Jennie's scarf. It first comes into Eben's possession when she forgets in the park during their first meeting. Eben returns it, much to Jennie's surprise since she forgot about it. In the end, [[spoiler: Miss Spinney finds it when Eben is recovered from the lighthouse, making it apparent that Jennie was real.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Whenever Eben shows Jennie his painting of the Land's End lighthouse, she shudders and admits that she dislikes the painting very much. She does this in two occasions, making Eben wonder why she's so frightened about it.

* ThePowerOfLove: Posited in-universe as a possible cause of the film's events.

* SplashOfColor: Most of the film is in black and white but its final scenes shift to green and then sepia colour.

It's 1934 in New York City, UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression rages on, and StarvingArtist Eben Adams (Cotton) can't sell any one of his landscape paintings. One gloomy winter day, Eben meets a young girl called Jennie Appleton (Jones) who mysteriously disappears before he can get to know her more. Finding her an interesting subject, he sketches her and his able to impress art dealer, Miss Spinney (Barrymore) and sell his sketch. Eben makes it his mission to find this little girl again to sit for a portrait. But she's no ordinary girl: she's eternally stuck in the past, but Eben knows that he must be with her, whatever the cost.

* AStormIsComing

It's 1934 in New York City, UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression rages on, and StarvingArtist Eben Adams (Cotton) can't sell any one of his landscape paintings. One gloomy winter day, Eben meets a young girl called Jennie Appleton (Jones) who mysteriously disappears before he can get to know her more. Finding her an interesting subject, he sketches her and his able to impress art dealer, Miss Spinney (Barrymore) and sell his sketch. Eben makes it his mission to find this little girl again to sit for a portrait. But she's no ordinary girl: she seems to be stuck in the past and disappear like a ghost.

%%* ChekhovsGun: Jennie's scarf.
%%* DeadAllAlong: Jennie.
%%* {{Foreshadowing}}: Repeated references to Land's End and the lighthouse there.
%%* HostileWeather
%%* IWillWaitForYou: Applies to both main characters.
%%* MagicalGirlfriend
%%* TheMuse: Jennie for Eben.
%%* OneTrueLove

%%* ThePowerOfLove: Posited in-universe as a possible cause of the film's events.

* SplashOfColor: Most of the film is in black and white but its final scenes shift to color.

%%* AStormIsComing
%%* TimeTravel

[[quoteright:150:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Portraitofjennie_1240.jpg]]

->''There is no life, my darling, until you love and have been loved. And then there is no death.''
-->-- Jennie Appleton

A 1948 film based on the novella by Robert Nathan, directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Creator/JenniferJones as the title character (a coincidence, not TheDanza) and Creator/JosephCotten as Eben Adams, the artist she inspires. Also in the cast are Ethel Barrymore and Lillian Gish.

* ChekhovsGun: Jennie's scarf.
* DawsonCasting: Jennie, who is about 13 when she first meets Eben, is played by JenniferJones who was 29 at the time.
* DeadAllAlong: Jennie.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Repeated references to Land's End and the lighthouse there.
* HostileWeather
* IWillWaitForYou: Applies to both main characters.
* MagicalGirlfriend
* TheMuse: Jennie for Eben.
* OneTrueLove
* POVBoyPosterGirl
* ThePowerOfLove: Posited in-universe as a possible cause of the film's events.
* RapidAging

* StarvingArtist: Eben when the film begins.
* AStormIsComing
* TimeTravel

* [[spoiler:BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts]]: At its core, the movie is a variation on the [[spoiler:vanishing hitchhiker]] legend.

* [[spoiler:DeadAllAlong: Jennie.]]

Promoted as a "fantasy," ''Portrait of Jennie'' combines drama, mystery and romance with more than a touch of the supernatural. Its extremely striking and atmospheric cinematography won Joseph H. August an AcademyAward (unfortunately, he died before receiving it).

A 1948 film based on the novella by Robert Nathan, directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones as the title character (a coincidence, not TheDanza) and Joseph Cotten as Eben Adams, the artist she inspires. Also in the cast are Ethel Barrymore and Lillian Gish.

* StrangeGirl

Promoted as a "fantasy," ''Portrait of Jennie'' combines drama, mystery and romance with more than a touch of the supernatural. Its extremely striking and atmospheric cinematography won Joseph H. August an AcademyAward (unfortunately, he died before receiving it). Most of the film is in black and white but its final scenes shift to color.

* [[spoiler:BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts]]: At its core, the movie is a variation on the [[spoiler:Vanishing Hitchhiker]] legend.

* AStormIsComing