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The Letter (1940) [VHS]

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This is an excellent adaptation of Somerset Maugham's play about the wife of a Malaysian plantation owner who kills her lover and claims it was self defense. However, there exists an incriminating letter...

The role of Leslie Crosbie was previously performed on stage by Katherine Cornell and Gladys Cooper and filmed in 1929 with Jeanne Eagles. Davis gives one of her greatest performances in a carefully nuanced orchestration of pent-up sexual frustration. Equally good is Herbert Marshall as her suffering husband and James Stephenson as the lawyer who reluctantly defends her. Tragically, Stephenson would die of a heart attack the following year at the age of 52. Both Stephenson and Davis would receive Oscar nominations for their work here.

Another unforgettable performance comes from Gale Sondergaard who plays the Eurasian wife of the victim and possessor of the incriminating document. Her chalky face and garish jewelry will give you up the creeps as will the looks of death she gives to Davis. She has very few lines (and they are in Mandarin) but what an entrance she makes! The confrontation scene between Davis and Sondergaard, eerily played with no music aside from wind chimes, has to be one of most tense and memorable scenes ever filmed. Speaking of music, the score by Max Steiner is one of his best.

Other great elements of "The Letter" are the atmospheric photography and sets which perfectelly set the mood of the hot and humid nights on a rubber plantation and the ever present full moon, appearing and disappearing behind clouds and casting shadows (and an accusing glance) on the face of the guilty heroine.

The dvd looks great (on a 36" tv at least) with the wonderful black and white photography sharpy rendered and no notices of nicks or scratches. An alternate ending is featured which basically excerpts a scene in which Davis tells Marshall that she still loves the man she killed. Davis did not want the scene included because she felt that her character could not be so callous to her husband! Director William Wyler wisely included it! Two radio versions (in 1941 and 1944) are also included with both Davis and Marshall reprising their roles. Vincent Price plays the lawyer role in the 1944 version.

This is a terrific film in which the opening scene focuses on a Malayan plantation on a hot, sultry night. The workers appear to be sleeping peacefully in hammocks drifting in the breeze. Suddenly, the absolute stillness of the night is rendered by gunfire. A man runs out of the main house, and hot on his heels is Leslie Crosbie, mistress of the plantation, emptying her gun into this unfortunate fellow.

Leslie Crosbie, cooly played by Bette Davis, has the hired help send for her husband, played by the wonderful Herbert Marshall, who is working. He arrives home, as does the family attorney, marvelously played by the underrated James Stephenson. She tells them what happened. It is essentially a story of self defense in which she fired the gun at the now dead man, who turned out to be a friend of her husband, in order to ward off his unwanted and unexpected sexual advances.

She is arrested, though it is taken for granted that she will be acquitted at trial. All is going smoothly, until a letter in Leslie's hand to the deceased surfaces. Its contents call into serious question Leslie's account of what happend that fateful evening. Unfortunately, the letter is in hands of the mysterious Eurasian widow of the dead man. She will, however, sell the letter to Leslie. The attorney initially balks at buying the letter, as it is an act that could result in his disbarment. He ultimately caves out of friendship for Leslie's husband and acquiesces to the unusual arrangement demanded by the widow for its return, in addition to the monetary sum demanded, a sum that will leave Leslie's husband flat broke.

The letter is ultimately turned over to Leslie. It is never presented at trial, and Leslie's account of that fateful evening is uncontroverted. Leslie is, of course, acquitted. She returns home with her husband, who, despite having realized that his wife had been unfaithful to him and had loved another, is willing to make a go of their relationship, because he still loves her. Leslie, however, is still enamored of the lover she killed.

Gail Sondegaard is unnerving as the Eurasian widow. She appears throughout the film and never utters one word. Yet, her seemingly sinister presence bespeaks volumes. The ending of the film is very Hollywood, but brings the film full circle. This is a marvelous film with great, award calibre performances by the entire cast. It is no wonder that the film received numerous Academy Award nominations. It is a must see film for all Bette Davis fans and classic movie lovers.

As a rule, I'm not a fan of melodrama. I watched this film because I knew it had a great reputation, I had read the short story by Somerset Maugham, and it was directed by William Wyler, who is always dependable. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The film captures well the original short story, but it extends it to make it even better. The beginning and ending of the movie are simply perfect, and it's great in between. The photography and the musical score are excellent. Davis is very effective in her role as the treacherous wife, and James Stephenson as her lawyer is extremely good. But it's Gale Sondergaard and her nearly wordless performance that really stands out. She was a tall, attractive woman with a powerful presence, and that presence is used to full advantage in this film. It's a well-crafted film, and even if you don't like melodrama too much, I think you will end up really appreciating this movie a lot.

I was recently trapped at a young nephew's birthday party at a local arcade. After four hours of non-stop video games and blaring rap music I had enough. Tired and with a headache, I was ready to put my feet up and soak in some good old fashion entertainment. Luckily, I had the antidote in a recently acquired DVD of the 1940 William Wyler drama/thriller "The Letter".This is just the movie to take you away from everything and just suck you in. The film takes place in the exotic Far East of a colonial Singapore rubber tree plantation. In the opening (and best) scene of the movie, we watch as Leslie Crosbie (a brilliant Bette Davis) calmly walks out on her front porch and grimly shoots a man dead as he attempts to flee. In the short aftermath she explains in precise detail to her husband (Herbert Marshall) and the authorities, that she was forced to kill family friend, Geoffrey Hammond, after he tried to sexually attack her. Even though there is dead body lying there with six bullets in it, everyone seems to automatically take Leslie at her word. That is until defense lawyer, Howard Joyce (James Stephenson) starts finding inconsistancies in her story. With each inconsistancy, new facts are revealed, which Leslie tries to explain and rationalize. Things finally come to a head, when an incrimating letter appears, which could possibly doom this murderous woman. We watch how this 'Femme Fatale' with a steely coldness and conviction, will say and do anything to save her own skin. Even if it means hurting everyone around her. When they came up with the saying "they don't make 'em like they use to", they must have been thinking of this movie. William Wyler's direction is marvelous. He just gets your attention from that very first riveting, classic shot all the way to the movie's climatic ending. The film features great performances from a wonderful cast. Bette Davis really is just amazing in this villainous role. Bette plays a woman who is (over) acting out the role of a victim for all the other characters to see. But the viewer understands how subtley, with each roll of those big beautiful eyes, with each furrowed brow and with the tight shots of those nervous, delicate hands, that this is a woman who is constantly scheming and coniving to get her way. Its just an astonishing performance. The supporting cast does an admirable job. Herbert Marshall is very good as the weak, cuckholded, husband. The scene where he finally reads the infamously, incrimating letter is just priceless. He just shows all his emotions in his face. James Stephenson is also very good as the lawyer, who unravels all of Bette Davis' lies and eventually compromises his own pricinples. Finally, mention should be made for a spellbinding performance from Gale Sondergaard as the mudered man's, Eurasian wife. The character she plays appears mysterious and Sphinx-like. She rarely speaks, yet is a totally commanding presence in every scene she's in. Sondergaard is so good in the role, she actually steals away her big scene with Bette Davis! Now, that takes some doing! Everything seems to work in this movie to create a forboding mood. From Max Steiner's bewitching score to the beautiful, yet eerie, B&W cinematography. I love this movie and just can't get enough of it. A true classic! Highly recommended!

Movie: ***** DVD Transfer: ***1/2 Extras: *****

"The Letter" is one of Bette Davis' finest films from her heyday at Warner Brothers, a sharply written, sumptuously produced, brilliantly directed, hauntingly scored, and exquisitely photographed melodrama that provided the actress with yet another acting plum. Indeed, Davis enters the film with a Bang! - six of them, in fact, as she dramatically empties a revolver into the body of a man outside her Malayan bungalow. Claiming that her victim was attempting to force his unwelcome attentions on her, the plucky Davis appears to have provided her attorney with an open-and-shut case of murder in self-defense ... until it becomes known that there exists a certain letter written to the victim, by Davis, on the day of the murder. Is there more to the story that Davis isn't telling?

Davis' Oscar-nominated performance is nothing short of a tour-de-force; she's mesmerizingly restrained throughout, and completely in control of every scene. Herbert Marshall effectively underplays the role of her loyal, supportive husband, and James Stephenson (also an Oscar nominee) is marvelous as Davis' astute lawyer. Oustanding work is also offered by Gale Sondergaard as the stoic widow of Davis' victim; aside from a few short sentences spoken in a foreign tongue, the actress delivers her entire performance through a series of beautifully rendered facial expressions. Her scenes with Davis are among the film's most highly dramatic and crackle with intensity.

The DVD transfer of "The Letter" is of generally commendable quality, marred only by some excessive graininess during one scene involving a sequence of close-ups, and a few seconds of distortion that caused a thin blue line of light to appear at the bottom of the picture. The discs extras include two different radio adaptations of the story, both starring Davis and Marshall; the Original Theatrical Trailer; and most interesting of all, an alternate ending sequence that omits a crucial scene between Davis and Marshall ... including Davis' most famous line in the entire script! (Here's tangible proof of how important editing is to the filmmaking process.) Overall, "The Letter" is a bona fide classic, and a sterling example of the studio system at its best. This DVD presentation is most enthusiastically recommended.

The greatest American actress ever (at least in my opinion) did it again in this spectacular drama which is arguably Davis's best performance from her Warner Brothers years. In this film she plays a plantation owner's wife who is accused of killing a man (the opening scene with Davis walking out of the house firing a gun repeatedly is quite famous), who later is found out to have been her lover. James Stephenson, as Davis's lawyer, earned an Oscar Nomination for his understated performance, and Herbert Marshall plays her unwitting husband. Gale Sondergaard also vamps it up as the vengeful Oriental wife of the man Davis has killed (she doesn't speak much, but MAN, is she intimidating). Davis, as usual, upstages everybody without even trying, and she earned her fourth academy award nomination for this performance (she lost to Ginger Rogers for "Kitty Foyle," a movie not even worthy to be compared to this one), and the film scored 6 other nominations including Best Picture. For an older Hollywood film, I find it fascinating to examine some of the psychological elements at play throughout - an example being Davis's knitting, a sign both of sexual frustration and of deceit in literature (both appropriate to the fallen woman type she plays). Highly recommended, very suspenseful drama that will definitely keep you interested until the end.

The Letter is symbolic of absolutely terrific example of 1940's Hollywood filmmaking. With its universal themes of colonialism and the oftentimes unscrupulous and exploitative rule of the British in Singapore, the film also works as a diabolically delectable melodrama.

Bette Davis stars as Leslie, the unscrupulous and rapaciously amoral wife of Robert Crosbie (Herbert Marshall), owner of a Malaysian rubber plantation. As the film begins, shots ring out and a wounded man, Geoffrey Hammond (David Newell) staggers from Leslie and Robert's bungalow. Leslie coldly and calculatingly follows him, pumping the remaining bullets into his body.

She later tells Robert that she shot Geoffrey, because he was drunk and tried to make love to her. Robert believes her story and hires respected lawyer Howard Joyce (James Stephenson) to defend her. But then a letter surfaces in which it is revealed that Leslie had invited Geoffrey to the plantation on the night of his murder.

When Howard confronts her with the letter, Leslie is at first hesitant to tell him the truth, but later admits that she did write it. The letter is damning evidence for the defense because it implies that she and Geoffrey were lovers. Howard, nevertheless, agrees to continue defending her.

Meanwhile, the letter becomes the object of a $10,000 blackmail scheme from Geoffrey's widow Mrs. Hammond (Gale Sondergaard). Leslie and Howard - against his better judgment - plot to get the letter back by paying Mrs. Hammond the large some of money.

The money however, must come out of Robert's accounts, and Leslie just can't afford to have her naive and devoted husband find out about her surreptitious and clandestine affair.

Davis is absolutely devilish in the role of Louise. Complete with a clipped British accent, and a stylishly debonair wardrobe, she waltzes through the move, weaving a web of lies and deceit in her wake.

When Leslie finds out that the letter exists, and that it threatens to unravel her entire well laid plans and lay bare her genuine passion for the man that she's killed, she becomes absolutely desperate to cover up her tracks.

This is a mesmerizing and unsympathetic performance by Davis; she's so cleverly fiendish and stylishly sinister that you hate her but at the same time also love her for her unabashed audacity.

Beautifully realized, The Letter remains a fitting testament to classic film noir; it's a superbly crafted film, showing how one woman can use all her feminine wiles to get her own way, weaving a profoundly disquieting odyssey to vindicate murder. Mike Leonard June 05.

The Letter represents one of the great collaborations on screen between William Wyler and Bette Davis. This film carefully traces all of the emotions of Davis as she covers her tracks with surreal gestures and facial movements that deceive everyone, until the letter unmasks her, but only for a while. We never see who she loved, but we can guess at someone worth six bullets, and much much more. The camera enunciates her path toward destruction with tragic intensity, as the film balances between film noir and symbolic drama, between crime and love, as noone has filmed it or acted it before.

The opening and the conclusion are remarkable for effects in lighting that Akira Kurasawa watched in this film, and others too, Lang and John Huston. Wyler was always considred a Hollywood giant, but not singular enough to be called a genius. Here he shows he is one and Bette Davis is the reason..with her all things are possible, and Wyler knew it when he worked with other actors; they always disappointd.It is hard to imagine that Wyler was the director of Ben-Hur, but look at what he does with it, making people like Charlton Heston.

See this film and learn about screen acting, and about the evil that can be created by unrequited love, and how that evil can seem like a weird good at the close.

DVD has not found this film yet; it must.

In 1928, when Somerset Maugham was already a world literary figure, his play, THE LETTER opened on Broadway. It was not one of his best works, but like all his writings, it had the solid craftmanship that makes for good theatre. In it, Katherine Cornell gave a memorable performance of the cool-witted wife of a rubber plantation manager who, obsessed with passion, kills her lover, concocts an audacious defence, finds herself inextricably tangled in her own web of lies. In 1929, Paramount made a movie of THE LETTER with Herbert Marshall in a small role and the near-legendary Jeanne Eagels in the lead. Eagels acted intensely in the role, and the film was noteworthy despite the limitations of the early talking picture. Although its talk seems sometimes stilted and its plot a trifle too contrived, Warners rivived the basically engrossing and powerful tale in 1940, and it was considered one of the years' best films. As Leslie Crosbie, Davis gives a fascinating performance which critic Pauline Kael branded as "very likely the best example of female sexual hypocrisy on film". This filmization of the famed novel by W. Somerset Maugham is given sterling treatment by a stellar cast and expertly detailed direction by William Wyler, whose hand is patent throughout. As Leslie Crosbie, Davis is cool and calculating while James Stephenson is splendid as Horward Joyce. The great Gale Sondergaard is most effective as the vengeful Eurasian Mrs. Hammond, and her performance was taken quite seriously by the movie-going public in 1940. Legend has it that Davis secretly idolised the legendary twenties stage actress Jeanne Eagels and repeatedly watched her 1929 early talkie version of THE LETTER - which she managed to have privately screened - today, many believe Davis's version of Leslie Crosbie to be one of her finest performances.

It takes a well-rehearsed pathological liar to beat a murder rap when committed in front of dozens of witnesses. Enter Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis). With passionate warmth and conviction she presents herself as an innocent victim, winning hearts of her husband, attorneys, jurors, but not all peers. There is one little overlooked detail -- a letter that could send her to the gallows -- increasing its value far above all worldly possessions.

The youthful Davis deserves a standing ovation or at least an encore presentation. The latter is granted on this DVD with two special audio-only "Lux Radio Theater" adaptations (1941 and 1944) narrated by Cecil B. DeMille featuring Bette Davis as Leslie Crosbie, Herbert Marshall as Robert Crosbie, and Vincent Price as Howard Joyce. The audio presentation includes some slight adjustments in dialogue that more smoothly round out the story. THE LETTER is a suspenseful classic film noir with superb cinematography.

Movie quote: "This letter places an entirely different complexion on the whole case. It will put the prosecution on the track of suspicions which have entered nobody's mind."