Portrait of Jennie
Director: William Dieterle
Year Released: 1948
Rating: 1.0
Wandering artist Joseph Cotton lacks inspiration, so he conjures up a little ghost girl in the form of Jennifer Jones to act as his muse (and fall in love with), running into her spectral presence all around New York and even re-enacting her death at Land's End. If this sounds creepy and unhealthy, that's because it is, and the flowery voice-over is egregious, making it seem like chasing around dead kids is poetic and that the two 'individuals' have a "spiritual bond" and their souls are somehow entwined (come on, David O., gimme a break). If you, like I, find watching Mrs. Selznick struggling to act like an adult to be an agonizing experience, seeing her try to act like a preteen should make you shudder and/or experience a complete fit.
