CATCH A CLASSIC
Gothic Governesses TCM, beginning at 7 p.m.
Many classic Gothic novels feature as their protagonists governesses who encounter mysteries at the vast, somewhat spooky old estates at which they find employment. It’s
been a cliche for a few hundred years, and for good reason, because it’s an effective setup for compelling and suspenseful tales. It was natural that when film came around, these stories would be adapted for the screen for that same reason, and tonight’s double feature on Turner Classic Movies spotlights two of the finest versions of such “Gothic governess” stories. First is Dragonwyck (pictured) (1946), based on Anya Seton’s 1944 novel and set in
the 1840s. Moodily directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (who also wrote the screenplay adaptation), the film follows farm girl Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney), who takes an opportunity for what she hopes is a more luxurious life off the farm when she signs on to be companion for the young daughter of
her family’s wealthy distant cousin Nicholas Van Ryn (Vincent Price) at his Dragonwyck estate. Tonight’s second feature is the 1943 adaptation of the quintessential Gothic governess story — Charlotte Bronte’s classic 1847 novel Jane Eyre. The book had
already been adapted into several films, mainly silent ones, by 1943, but this version remains one of the best-known and bestexecuted productions, with a screenplay by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley and Robert Stevenson. Joan Fontaine stars as the title character, who takes a job as governess
for a young girl at the gloomy, isolated Thornfield Hall. There she finds mysteries surrounding the place and its equally shadowy and brooding owner, Edward Rochester (Orson Welles). —