Who plays Mr. Rochester best?

Poor, poor Mr. Rochester. He has suffered so many injustices since feminism reclaimed the mad woman in the attic, not to mention when colonialism and empire went out of fashion. But true fans will always stand by him, just like Jane Eyre did.

We have, however. recently raised some questions about what Mr. R. should look like. We see him -- and no doubt Charlotte Bronte did too -- as older and not overly buff. And athough we acknowledge that Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea is all about young Mr. Rochester, we can't agree that his arms should be so totally ripped. Still, we will reserve final judgment until we see the movie.

Meanwhile in related Rochester movie criticism, we much prefer George C. Scott's Mr. R. to Orson Welles', perhaps because (Confession time!) we are not big Welles admirers. In any case, they both look Rochester-ish and are suitably tragic. We are having more difficulty imagining Timothy Dalton aka Agent 007 in the role, but the BBC knows how to cast its period dramas so presumably he fills the Rochester britches as well as the Bondmobile.

As for the leading ladies, Susannah York was a far better Jane than Joan Fontaine, but the earlier version does have an ace in the hole -- a stunningly beatiful young Liz Taylor as Helen Burns.

Best idea to resolve the Rochester dilemma: fire up the DVD player and decide for yourselves.