Film Society of Lincoln Center, NYC, NY
Saint and Sinner: The Tempestuous Career of Jennifer Jones
May 16 - 24, 2008
The story of the beautiful and mysterious Jennifer Jones is, on some
level, a familiar one: the ambitious but pliable girl who meets the
perfectionist overachieving movie executive. But "The Girl," as
super-mogul David O. Selznick referred to Jones at the start of their
long association, was no ordinary country girl.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Phylis Isley, the daughter of a show
business family, Jones always knew what she wanted - a career in the
theater - but what she got was something else. Beneath the shy veneer
and wholesome all-American image lurked a disturbing intensity and
unexpected sensuality, as well as an enchanting charm.
She ascended to overnight stardom in 1943 in The Song of Bernadette,
receiving a dream onscreen billing: "Introducing Jennifer Jones, through
the arrangement of David O. Selznick." An Oscar later, Jones became
Selznick's Galatea. His obsession with her extended to every aspect of
her performances: the hue of her makeup, the arrangement of her hair,
the cut of her costumes, even suggestions of corsets that would
accentuate her small waist. His memos on his film projects were
legendary and most especially those devoted to his newest discovery and
later his lover and wife.
Meanwhile, Jones subjected her characters to Method-like scrutiny,
bringing detailed, affecting performances to her unforgettable vixens in
Duel in the Sun and Ruby Gentry and the doomed lost girls of Portrait of
Jennie and Gone to Earth. Surprisingly, she also lit up the screen as a
comedienne in Cluny Brown and Beat the Devil and showed a special
affinity for Emma Bovary in Minnelli's underrated screen version of
Flaubert's classic novel.
With a comment seemingly from left field, the protean Henry Miller best
tapped into her special allure, referring to the "other-worldly world"
in which she seemed to reside onscreen - "a world not unknown to tigers,
llamas, unicorns and the like. Thank God I have not yet seen all the
films in which Jennifer Jones starred... To me she is like a coin fresh
from the mint, whether playing the angel, the minx or just her thousand
year old self."
Program:
| Cluny Brown | Fri 16 May 18:15
Sat 24 May 16:40 |
| Beat the Devil | Tue 20 May 15:30
Wed 21 May 18:15 |
| Carrie | Sun 18 May 20:30
Tue 20 May 13:00 |
| Duel in the Sun | Fri 16 May 20:30
Wed 21 May 15:30 |
| Gone to Earth | Sat 17 May 20:15
Mon 19 May 13:00 |
| Good Morning, Miss Dove | Sun 18 May 16:30
Fri 23 May 18:00 |
| Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | Sat 24 May 14:30 |
| Madame Bovary | Wed 21 May 13:00
Wed 21 May 20:15 |
| Portrait of Jennie | Sun 18 May 18:40
Mon 19 May 15:15 |
| Ruby Gentry | Fri 16 May 15:00
Sat 17 May 16:50 |
| Since You Went Away | Sat 17 May 13:30
Fri 23 May 14:30 |
| The Song of Bernadette | Sun 18 May 13:30 |
See their web site for details.
