at the beginning of the film. One word: ludicrous.
They should have used a child star for that sequence. Jones looks 28, which is how old she was.
It was difficult to watch and spoiled the credibility of the film.
I so agree! They should have used a child. I also think they should have had her meet him as a child as well. If the two of them met as children, it would be much less disturbing that he becomes obsessed with her.
shareI don't agree. Ginger Rogers played a 12 year old quite capably in The Major And the Minor and she was in her early 30's at the time.
It's called Use Your Imagination. God gave you one, use it.
Just because one actress pulled it off doesn't mean the other could.
shareDoesn't mean she couldn't either.
I think she did. Girls mature faster than boys. I've known many young girls just entering puberty who look older than their years.
I agree it was absolutely ridiculous and almost laughable! She was obviously a full grown woman but what I want to know is.....how did they make her appear so short next to Cotten in the beginning? It was weird, she looked like an adult who was a dwarf.
shareHer apparent size relative to Cotton could be achieved by careful camera angles and/or having him stand on something or having her situated down in a depression (which is what they typically did when Alan Ladd was in scenes with women).
It is better to be kind than to be clever or good looking. -- Derek
@overseer-3.
I had no problem with Jennifer playing the part of a 14 year old. I loved Joan Fontaine in "Letter from an Unknown Woman" where she played the part of a 14 year old girl. Later she played the part of a 19 or 20 year old woman. Still later she played the part of a beautiful woman of 30 or so. She was convincing in the first two and, of course, she really was a beautiful woman in her 30s. I would like to see Ginger Rogers in "The Major and the Minor," but have not been able, so far, to get a copy.
What does Joan Fontaine have to do with Jennifer Jones? Were they identical twins?
shareThere is nothing disturbing about a friendship between a man and a young girl. You have a perverted mind.
shareI agree with the fact that they should have used a different actress because when she's getting older...I didn't buy it.
If you're not taking any steps forward, you're not moving at all.
Willing suspension of disbelief. Jones was fine.
shareDumbest post on the board! You would want the main character to lust after a little girl? Especially in the 1940's would be unthinkable. The whole point of the movie was for Joseph Cotton to imagine an ethereal "lost love" and what better way than to portray Jeannie as a child they way they did. It really makes it less creepy, and more of a ghost-like, spirit type encounter. It's a ghost story for cripes sake!!!
She pulls the role off very well. The aging process is effective, and does not require either special effects or a different actress.
shareAgreed that JJ plays it perfectly, but the makeup could have been better. She looks oldest, unfortunately, in the scene she's supposed to look youngest, in the first meeting in the snowy park. Frankly, she looked a little sleep-deprived or hung-over. Her face just needed a little cosmetic touch-up. IMO of course.
shareAgree.. In the scene in Central Park where she is skating with Eben, she looks very tired and older.
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Never say never...
Yes, that must have been filmed when she was having a bad day or something. In other scenes, particularly in Eben Adams' loft, she looked young and radiant...
shareI agree, they should have hired a young actress .I am watching it now after many years.
shareI am going to disagree: remember that Jennie is really not a little girl at this point, but the essence of the young woman who died, and that the child already has a premonition of her end as she looks at Eben's painting of Land's End. Given this, the mixture of adult and child in all the aspects of Jennie until she actually is an adult is, for me, part of the mystery and ambiguity of reality of this story.
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