Portrait of Jennie

Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 American supernatural film based on the 1940 novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. At the 21st Academy Awards, it won an Oscar for Best Special Effects (Paul Eagler, Joseph McMillan Johnson, Russell Shearman and Clarence Slifer; Special Audible Effects: Charles L. Freeman and James G. Stewart). Joseph H. August was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography - Black and White. Plot In 1934, impoverished painter Eben Adams (Joseph Cotten) meets a fey little girl named Jennie Appleton (Jennifer Jones) in Central Park, Manhattan. She is wearing old-fashioned clothing. He makes a sketch of her from memory which involves him with art dealer Miss Spinney (Ethel Barrymore), who sees potential in him. This inspires him to paint a portrait of Jennie. Eben again encounters Jennie at intermittent intervals. Strangely, she appears to be growing up much more rapidly than is humanly possible. He soon falls madly in love with her, but is puzzled by the fact that she seems to be experiencing events that he discovers took place many decades previously, as if they had just happened. Eventually he learns the mysterious truth about Jennie and though inevitable tragedy ensues, she continues to be an inspiration to Eben's life and art, and his career makes a remarkable upturn, commencing with his most famous Portrait of Jennie. Cast Jennifer Jones as Jennifer "Jennie" Appleton, the title character who seems to possess a mysterious ability to travel through time. Joseph Cotten as Eben Adams, the main protagonist who falls for the mysterious title character. Ethel Barrymore as Miss Spinney, Eben's friend who has come to believe Eben's story about the mysterious Jennie he is besotted with. Lillian Gish as Mother Mary of the St. Mercy convent, where young Jennie had lived since graduation till her sudden death via drowning. Cecil Kellaway as Matthews David Wayne as Gus O'Toole Albert Sharpe as Moore Henry Hull as Eke Florence Bates as Mrs. Jekes Clem Bevans as Capt. Cobb Brian Keith as Ice-Skating Extra (uncredited) Nancy Davis as Teenager in Art Gallery (uncredited) Anne Francis as Teenager in Art Gallery (uncredited) Nancy Olson as Teenager in Art Gallery (uncredited) Robert Dudley as Another Old Mariner (uncredited) Maude Simmons as Clara Morgan