First of the Preview Clips Available
You can now see some of that ‘mysterious’ second clip we all saw in the background of the BBC Breakfast interview with Toby Stephens. The music from the beginning seems to be standard for the Drama preview clips of other productions. The clip is of the first interview scene- much altered.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/janeeyre/
If you have not seen the interview yet, it also includes part of the Hay Lane scene, and is available here.
Jane Eyre 1952 and 1934
Thisbeciel posted these quite some time ago, but I have been putting off posting them here. It is a good time to add these to the other footage and screencap posts from a few months ago (one more). The 1952 production is extremely rare. The production stars Katherine Bard as Jane Eyre and Kevin McCarthy as Mr Rochester. For my thoughts on this production see the posts here.
She has also uploaded all of Jane Eyre 1934 with Virginia Bruce as Jane Eyre and Colin Clive as Mr Rochester. This production is currently in the public domain. It is the acknowledged failure of all Jane Eyre adaptations, but I think it does have some charm even though it often only barely resembles the story at all. Mr Rochester has a faux air of Mr Darcy, I think, and Adele sings and falls into vases. See? It isn't all bad! It is often quite funny, actually.
Jane Eyre 1952: The First Interview
Jane Eyre 1952: The Second Interview
Jane Eyre 1934: Part One
Jane Eyre 1934: Part Two
Image is of Katherine Bard and Kevin McCarthy in Westinghouse Summer Theater One's Jane Eyre from 1952.
ETA: I have corrected some of the dates. When I first posted this, I wrote '1943' each time I meant '1934'. Thanks to an anonymous reader caught the error.
Two More Clips for Musical Fans
Thanks again to Thisbeciel, here are two clips from promotions for Jane Eyre: The Musical. One is the performance of the song 'Secret Soul' from the Rosie O'Donnel show, and the other is a performance of the same song from Bway on Bway. Enjoy!
Old Footage Comes to Light
In the history of a musical, one can never be sure what will come to the surface and when. Yesterday a 14 minute fragment of footage from the Gordon/Caird Jane Eyre: The Musical came to light, out of the depths of fandom where it had been cherished for several years. Only 14 minutes of the production at La Jolla. this production lies at the centre of the massive reconception of the work, when it transformed from 'musicalised BBC drama' to 'Cliff Notes Jane Eyre.' It is peculiar, and any new material is something special. I do have a full audio recording of the work, but it leaves me with more questions than answers.
This clip includes the Gypsy scene and the proposal. The quality is rather poor but good enough to show some of the staging- the elusive chestnut tree for example. Unfortunately the clip cuts off abruptly before the moment the tree is struck- which is something of a mystery to me; how it was done. I asked the composer, Paul Gordon, about this once. He recalled that there were in fact two trees. That they were rapidly switched and that it was 'very noisey'. The tree was so noisey that it 'not infrequently set off the fire alarms' and the theatre would have to be evacuated! Somewhat too realistic, perhaps!
I think the technical demands of using this effect in turn had an effect on the music. There is a strange bit of music during the La Jolla proposal scene which fans of it have mockingly dubbed 'Rochester Triumphant.' Now, the recording is made from the sound board so the effects are always louder and more obnoxious than they would be in the theatre, but 'Rochester Triumphant' features trumpet fanfares and other effects culminating in a shout of exhaultation from Mr Rochester followed by bells and a choir. It is awful, doesn't appear before or after this stage in the show's development. And I think it is all to cover up the noise of the tree.
For those who are curious, the cry goes something like this:
Let fire burn wild and deep,
Raging skies bleed bitter rain
but there is peace, I have my Jane!
This last image is from the gypsy scene and apparently shows Mr Rochester doing his impression of a matador (just to show off his acting ability, of course! His hair is also notorious in this production. It is quite a hideous Zamorna wig) and there's Jane encouraging this sort of behaviour.
"A Reasonably Faithful Adaptation of Jane Eyre"
I think I have a new favourite parody. I'm watching this clip from SCTV, a classic Canadian sketch comedy show. This sketch is called 'Jane Eyrehead.' I can tell you exactly when I decided this is my new favourite parody. It was when Mr Rochester came riding down Hay Lane on an adorable little grey donkey. Somehow he manages to remain completely serious, and quite stately even while trying to keep his legs from hitting the ground and while accompanied by brisk donkey-trotting and cow bell sound effects. This Mr Rochester truly deserves the cuff she gives him. He 's… certainly peculiar. Quite… peculiar. Quite… Jack Benny like. After Jane recognises him she cuffs him and calls him a pig-headed moron. He takes no offence: "You got spunk! I like dat! Si-mone! Come'n out meet your neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew guvness!" he cries, while having a seizure, or flapping his jowls… 'Simone' is rather more advanced than Adele… "Bonjour mademoiselle. I look forward to stimulating pedagogical sessions which will expand both my horizons and your professorial boundaries."
'Reasonably faithful'- nice to have some honesty for a change! Maybe someday we'll have 'nothing like the real thing.' I haven't seen it all, but here you have parts one and two of 'Jane Eyrehead', with Andrea Martin as Jane Eyre, Joe Flaherty as Mr Rochester, John Candy as 'Mr Rochester's gentleman', Martin Short as Mr Mason, and Eugene Levy will be in there somewhere as well.
"Where did you see Latmos?…"
Why, here of course. Thanks to Thisbeciel, we have some clips to show you from the BBC's 1973 Jane Eyre, starring Sorcha Cusack and Michael Jayston, which is due for DVD release this June. It is much loved for its fidelity to the book as well as for the calibre of the cast.
As you see, there are other Jane Eyre clips on this site, including the 'Sirens' performance from Jane Eyre: The Musical presented at the Tony awards, for which the show was nominated. Also there is a clip from the Hindi film Sangdil, which I will have much to say about at a later date.
Also, I would like to say that the Brontëana resource site also has a bunch of new etexts, mostly juvenilia but there are also some pieces by Branwell, and Patrick Brontë
I may have to be scarce this week. As I told one of my professors today, my workload for the week will probably reduce me to a puddle of goo by Sunday. At least I have that novel edited and annotated… and a commentary written… and… suggested revisions made… I just have to write the backcover copy, then write a paper on writer contracts, another paper on the Romance of the Rose, prepare for an in-class essay on Beckett, and then prepare for my first real conference! I will be presenting a paper on Emperor Claudius- which is fitting because last night I stepped on a thorn and now I have a nice Claudian limp. Here's hoping that those attending the conference think that I'm trying to be amusing.
More Video Clips from JE the Musical and Transvestism in CB
This is sure to please Esther! Thanks once again to Thisbeciel for these clips from the Jane Eyre Musical! Some of these are repeats from the last time, but I don't think anyone will mind too much?
An Icy Lane
You examine me
Waking Rochester
I know who heals my life
the Gypsy
the Proposal
Wild Boy/Farewell Good Angel
Thisbeciel also came across this interesting poem, 'Transvestism in the Novels of Charlotte Bronte' by Patricia Beer
1 When reading Villette, Shirley and Jane Eyre,
2 Though never somehow The Professor
3 Which was all too clear,
4 I used to overlook
5 The principal point of each book
6 As it now seems to me: what the characters wore.
7 Mr Rochester dressed up as the old crone
8 That perhaps he should have been,
9 De Hamal as a nun.
10 There was no need
11 For this. Each of them could
12 Have approached his woman without becoming one.
13 Not all heroines were as forthright.
14 Shirley in particular was a cheat.
15 With rakish hat
16 She strode like a man
17 But always down the lane
18 Where the handsome mill-owner lived celibate.
19 Lucy, however, knew just what she was doing.
20 And cast herself as a human being.
21 Strutting and wooing
22 In the school play
23 She put on a man's gilet,
24 Kept her own skirt, for fear of simplifying.
25 Their lonely begetter was both sister and brother.
26 In her dark wood trees do not scan each other
27 Yet foregather,
28 Branched or split,
29 Whichever they are not,
30 Whichever they are, and rise up together.
