The Letter (1940 film)

:"For the article about the 1927 play from which this film was adapted, see The Letter."

Infobox Film | name =The Letter


caption =Original poster
director = William Wyler
producer = Hal B. Wallis
writer = Howard Koch
Based on the play by W. Somerset Maugham
starring =Bette Davis
Herbert Marshall
James Stephenson
music = Max Steiner
cinematography = Tony Gaudio
editing = George Amy
Warren Low
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = November 22, 1940 USA
runtime = 95 minutes
country = United States
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0032701

"The Letter" is a 1940 American film noir directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Howard Koch is based on the 1927 play of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham, originally filmed in 1929.

Plot synopsis

On a moonlit night in the opening scene, Leslie Crosbie, the wife of a British rubber plantation manager in Malaya, shoots and kills a man whom her male servant recognizes as Jeff Hammond. She tells the servant to send for her husband Robert, who is working at one of the plantations. Her husband returns, having summoned his attorney and a British police inspector. Leslie tells them that Jeff Hammond "tried to make love to me" and she killed him to save her honor.

Leslie is placed under arrest and put in prison in Singapore as a matter of form to await trial for murder. Everyone believes she acted heroically, with the exception of her attorney, Howard Joyce, who is clearly suspicious. Howard's suspicions seem justified when his clerk Ong Chi Seng shows him a copy of a letter Leslie wrote Hammond the day she killed him, informing him she would be home alone that evening and pleading with him to visit her. Ong Chi Seng tells Howard that the letter is in the possession of Hammond's widow, a Eurasian woman who lives in the Chinese quarter of town. Howard then confronts Leslie with the damning evidence and forces her to confess to Hammond's cold-blooded killing; but Leslie cleverly manipulates the attorney into agreeing to buy back the letter.

Howard lends Leslie the money, and Hammond's widow requires that Leslie come personally to pay the $10,000 for the letter so that she can see the woman who killed her husband. With the letter excluded as evidence, Leslie is acquitted of her crime. It is only after she is freed and Robert announces that he plans to draw his savings out of his account in order to buy a rubber plantation in Sumatra that Howard and Leslie are forced to tell him that he owes the money to Howard. Robert is devastated to learn that Leslie had a lover and killed him out of jealousy but offers to forgive her if she can swear that she loves him. Leslie at first agrees and tells him she loves him, but she then breaks down and confesses "with all my heart I still love the man I killed".

Leslie wanders out into the moonlight in the garden of Howard's house and then outside the gate she meets and is killed by Mrs. Hammond, who she knew was there waiting for her with a knife.

Production notes

In the original play, Leslie Crosbie lives out her life without her husband. However, the Production Code Administration rejected the original story that Warner Bros. submitted on the grounds that it contained adultery and unpunished murder. The character of Mrs. Hammond was changed from Hammond's Chinese mistress to his Eurasian wife to placate the Hays Office [ [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2024&category=Notes "The Letter" at Turner Classic Movies] ] .

", disagreed about the climactic scene in which Leslie admits to her husband she still loves the man she murdered. Davis felt no woman could look at her husband when she admits such a thing. Wyler disagreed, and Davis walked off the set. She later returned and did it Wyler's way, but ever after, Davis insisted her approach would have been better [ [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2024&category=Articles "The Letter" at Turner Classic Movies] ] .

Wyler also argued with Warner Bros. head Jack Warner over the casting of British actor James Stephenson as attorney Howard Joyce. Warner originally had suggested Stephenson for the role, but after Wyler cast him, the studio head had second thoughts and thought the role was too important to cast an unknown in it. Wyler stood firm, and Stephenson's performance earned him an Oscar nomination [ [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2024&category=Articles "The Letter" at Turner Classic Movies] ] .

Herbert Marshall also appeared in the 1929 version, in which he played the lover who was killed by Leslie.

Principal cast

*Bette Davis ..... Leslie Crosbie
*Herbert Marshall ..... Robert Crosbie
*James Stephenson ..... Howard Joyce
*Gale Sondergaard ..... Mrs. Hammond
*Frieda Inescort ..... Dorothy Joyce
*Bruce Lister ..... John Withers
*Sen Yung ..... On Chi Seng

Critical reception

In his review in the "New York Times", Bosley Crowther observed, "The ultimate credit for as taut and insinuating a melodrama as has come along this year — a film which extenuates tension like a grim inquisitor's rack—must be given to Mr. Wyler. His hand is patent throughout . . . Miss Davis is a strangely cool and calculating killer who conducts herself with reserve and yet implies a deep confusion of emotions . . . Only the end of "The Letter" is weak — and that is because of the postscript which the Hays Office has compelled". [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9E06E1D71738E532A25750C2A9679D946193D6CF&oref=login "New York Times" review] ]

"Variety" said, "Never has [the W. Somerset Maugham play] been done with greater production values, a better all-around cast or finer direction. Its defect is its grimness. Director William Wyler, however, sets himself a tempo which is in rhythm with the Malay locale . . . Davis' frigidity at times seems to go even beyond the characterization. On the other hand, Marshall never falters. Virtually stealing thesp honors in the pic, however, is Stephenson as the attorney, while Sondergaard is the perfect mask-like threat". [ [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117792559.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&query=bette+davis "Variety" review] ]

"Time Out London" says, "A superbly crafted melodrama, even if it never manages to top the moody montage with which it opens - moon scudding behind clouds, rubber dripping from a tree, coolies dozing in the compound, a startled cockatoo - as a shot rings out, a man staggers out onto the verandah, and Davis follows to empty her gun grimly into his body . . . [The] camerawork, almost worthy of Sternberg in its evocation of sultry Singapore nights and cool gin slings, is not matched by natural sounds (on the soundtrack Max Steiner's score does a lot of busy underlining)." [ [http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/80336/the-letter.html "Time Out London" review] ]

Nominations

*Academy Award for Best Picture
*Academy Award for Best Director
*Academy Award for Best Actress (Bette Davis)
*Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (James Stephenson)
*Academy Award for Original Music Score
*Academy Award for Best Film Editing
*Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black and White

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0032701|title=The Letter
* [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:29107 "The Letter" at Allmovie.com]