Did you people see the same film I saw?

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

One of my favourite films of the 1940's I love the way Jennifer Jones plays herself from being a schoolgirl to an adult women. The acting is excellent. The ending is stunning with the green tint and technicolor portrait at the end.

I first saw Portrait of Jennie when I was 8 years old (63 years ago) and have never forgotten it. Mesmerized me and I have always wanted to see it again. My daughter got me a copy on DVD as a surprise for Christmas which I am watching for the third time today. Beautiful love story.

I have a feeling this film was originally much longer and producer David Selznick was forced to abandon some of the sequences, or else cut some of them due to cost overruns and production code/censorship issues. Having Joseph Cotten's character remain alive at the end might have been imposed on Selznick by the production code office.Furthermore, I think PORTRAIT OF JENNIE can be read several ways. I don't consider Jennie to be a ghost, though I can see where people would regard her that way. I see her as a representation of Ethel Barrymore's character when she was younger. The romance is actually between an old woman and this young painter who is tapping into a living part of her past.Cotten and Barrymore previously appeared in THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER with Loretta Young. And there were earlier collaborations between Cotten and star Jennifer Jones (both were under contract to Selznick). They made four films together and PORTRAIT OF JENNIE was the last of those. Watch LOVE LETTERS (1945), because it is very much a movie 'sibling' or close 'cousin' to JENNIE.

When you walk through the 60 blocks of Central Park today, you will see reminders of many movies filmed on location there, from "Sweet Charity" and "Hair" during the age of Aquarius to "Jeffrey", "Isn't She Great?" and "" more recently. Back in the golden age of Hollywood, movie studios re-created Central Park on their back lots, but none looked as realistic as David O. Selznick's grand production of "Portrait of Jennie", a delightful ghost story that stands up as well today as it did more than 60 years ago.Down on his luck artist Joseph Cotten is desperate to sell his work, and even if his landscapes or flower pots are typical artist far, he is still searching for the perfect subject. One day, he encounters a sweet young girl (Jennifer Jones) underneath one of the classically built gazebos, and finds her a striking subject for his next painting. This captures the eyes of art gallery owners Ethel Barrymore and Cecil Kellaway and sends Cotten on a mystery to find out more about her. The cynical world of New York City is transferred into a romantic location as he discovers some truths that are heartbreakingly sad and might make you believe in the spirit world yourself.An artistic gem, "Portrait of Jennie" wraps you into its romantic arms the minute it begins with Cotten a likable young man who only needs a bit of influence to get his artistic integrity off the ground, and even if it is obvious that his muse is not real, it is obvious that he will be intrigued enough to pick up his brush and provide a truly great work of art. Everyone is outstanding in this tearjerker which briefly moves into a warped color for its final scenes where everything is wrapped up. Lillian Gish provides humble nobility as a nun who provides Cotten with many of his answers, and David Wayne is amusing as Cotten's cynical pal. Even in minor parts are such memorable supporting players as Florence Bates and Albert Sharpe, and in bit parts are some surprising walk-ons that you will fleetingly recognize and have to double-check to make sure that you were correct.A marvelous musical score and some haunting photography lend authenticity to the production directed by William Dieterle. This may not have laid to well with cynical audiences of the late 1940's, but is today considered one of the great fantasies and ghost stories of all times. You will find yourselves revisiting this portrait over and over again.