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Reviews
Jane Eyre (1983)
The best adaptation, except for Jane's childhood
For years I've been looking for a true adaptation of Jane Eyre to film. I was delighted to finally come across this one. From the point Jane advertises for employment until the end of the movie, both the casting and the acting were entirely satisfactory.
Two complaints kept it from being perfect - first, it was produced as a miniseries; I don't know if there's a version where you don't get interrupted by credits every half hour, but with my copy, you do. And that gets old if you just want to sit and watch a large chunk of it.
Secondly, the casting and part of the interpretation of Jane's childhood was not nearly as good as the rest of the movie. The child who plays Jane is a good actor, but she is tall for her age and quite robustly healthy-looking. She makes Jane seem a good deal more difficult and even bratty than the more marginalized, tortured, impassioned girl that Jane was in the book. Also, John Reed is no larger than Jane in this version, making their interaction much less uneven and Jane's reaction much less justifiable. You almost feel sorry for Aunt Reed, which is not how things should be! I've seen better interpretations of those few chapters.
However, the rest of it is so excellent that I'd call it the best I've seen. I was especially thrilled with the interpretation of Jane's interaction with the Rivers family and the very last events of the book; I won't spoil this for anyone who doesn't know the story, but for those of you who already love it, please find this and see it just for those last chapters. It's worth the length.
Li'l Abner (1940)
a favorite
I grew up on this one, and it's one of the few that my family still agrees on as being hilarious and worthwhile.
It's about a bunch of wonderfully stereotypical mountain people. The hero is Li'l Abner, a strapping big young man who eats "pork chops for' breakfast, pork chops for' dinner, and for' supper, mo' pork chops." To quote the opening song, "He's the biggest catch in Dog Patch." The entire plot revolves around the impending Sadie Hawkins race where eligible gals chase eligible guys to win husbands.
The characters are what make it worth watching - Mammy Yokum, who stands about 4'7" and has a potato shaped nose and rules all with her inexorable will; Pappy Yokum, whose memory is balder than his bald head and who lives his life in happily forgetful delirium, punctuated by moments of terror brought on by his wife; Hairless Joe, who's basically just big and loud and stupid; Lonesome Polecat (brilliantly played by Buster Keaton), who's basically just weird and small and stupid; and several more. Not quite as quotable as some of the cult classics, but my dad and I regularly allude to some of the lines - "Look - it's Granny!" "I'se a-comin, Pansy, I'se awake!" Give this one a chance. It's somewhat slow, but worth it.