Antonius Block There is an element of magic to this story, which has a struggling artist (Joseph Cotten) meeting a young girl (Jennifer Jones) in the park by chance one day. It's soon apparent that there is something different about this girl, as she mentions things from decades ago as if they were current, and ages a little each time he subsequently meets her. A romance begins to develop, fueled by artistic inspiration she gives him, as well as mystery – is she a ghost? A muse? Someone only he can see? Meanwhile, tragedy lurks.The film is gorgeous, with beautiful shots of winter in New York City, and artistic effects such as those created by spreading canvas over the camera lens. The performances are reasonably good, and it was fantastic to see Ethel Barrymore and Lillian Gish in supporting roles. There is a dreamy feel to it, as well as philosophical message of the timelessness of art and love. It's intellectual, opening with deep thoughts ("Since time began man has looked into the awesome reaches of infinity and asked the eternal question: What is time? What is life? What is space? What is death?"), quotes from Euripides and Keats, and other profundity ("This was tomorrow once…"). It's also quite romantic ("I know we were meant to be together. The strands of our lives are woven together and neither the world nor time can tear them apart"), and it may be too syrupy or cheesy for some viewers. I have to say that Director William Dieterle does lay it on pretty thick towards the end – but all in all, with aesthetic elements that touch the head and heart, I found it entertaining.

Hitchcoc This is a great fantasy story. An aspiring artist who is lacking inspiration meets a pretty young woman in a park. They seem to hit it off. Later, from memory, he paints a portrait of her. He sees this as a kind of masterwork. From that point on, he has several encounters with her. It seems she is getting older, faster, and becoming more and more sophisticated. He also seems to be losing connection with her. This is a loving movie about unrequited love, facing obstacles one cannot overcome. It's also a mystery of the first order. This is a film of consummate beauty and ethereal being. We have to ask ourselves who this woman is and where did she come from.

dierregi The film opens with Twilight Zone vibes, giving the idea that we are going to watch a ghost story of unconventional type.Then enters 30 year old Jennifer Jones dressed as a child and the movie turns into a creepy farce. Jones was David O. Selznick's wife and an A list actress, thanks to her marriage. Or at least, being married to the mega-producer did not hurt a bit her career. She was also a good looking woman, and reading some reviews seems like reviewers are mostly impressed by her looks.However, I just cannot overcome the feeling of creepiness and the absurdity of a grown-up woman dressed up as a child, with virginal clothes and braids, meeting a man and sort of seducing him. Joseph Cotten plays the artist fascinated by the creepy child, who is just waiting for her to be old enough so that they can be properly lovers.... Or something along those lines.Highly disturbing stuff and I really do not understand how this sort of story can be seen as "romantic" (maybe for the pedophiles) or "hunting" (unless you are into mature women who dress up like children and men with OCD).

gkeith_1 From info about "Somewhere In Time", I was compelled to watch "Jennie". In SIT, Richard fell in love with a woman in a portrait. In "Jennie", Eben painted a woman in a portrait. In SIT, a man traveled to the past to find the woman. In "Jennie", a child/woman traveled to the future to, oh I don't know, obsess about growing up and marrying a man who was now an adult. She was, I thought, stalking Eben, and constantly reassuring him that she was "hurrying" -- growing up a few more years during several occurrences over a several month period in the present time (1934?). There seemed to be a plot gap that since she was always obsessing about Eben, it was later in the movie that Eben finally decided he wanted to marry her, too, and that she was his star-crossed partner-to-be. In SIT, Richard was a never-married playwright. In "Jennie", Eben was a never-married painter. Both men were artists. In SIT, Richard died in the end, being united in heaven with the woman. In "Jennie", Eben almost died in the end.I wondered if Miss Spinney was Jennie. I also wondered about Sister Mary being Jennie. We saw Spinney throughout the movie, yet after waiting a long time I finally saw Lillian Gish closer to the end. Neither one was Jennie, apparently. Both women appeared to have supernatural knowledge abilities, and I intuited clues that each of them knew way more about Jennie than they let on. At least, I hoped so. Even Spinney's partner had such a twinkle in his eye that I thought maybe he knew way more about Jennie than he let on. Maybe the partner and Spinney created the whole illusion of Jennie, in order to create Eben's great future as a painter. Who knows? They could have been ghosts of Jennie's parents (acrobat artists who had been killed on the high wire together at Hammerstein's Victoria).The thing is, Miss Spinney was played by Ethel Barrymore. Ethel was the friend of Maude Adams, the turn-of-19th-Century-actress portrayed as the portrait-woman Elise McKenna in "Somewhere In Time". Ethel and Maude were accomplished stage actresses as young women (Ethel born in 1879 and Maude born in 1872). They worked for the same manager, Charles Frohman, portrayed as William Fawcett Robinson in "Somewhere In Time". Frohman was also portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in "Finding Neverland".Ethel Barrymore (sister of John and Lionel Barrymore) was the great-aunt of Drew Barrymore.