FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
THE LETTER (1940)
This 1940 Best Picture Academy Award nominee features Bette Davis as Leslie Crosbie who, in
the
film's riveting opening sequence, shoots and kills Geoffery Hammond on her husband's Malayan
rubber plantation. Having fired six bullets, she tells her
husband (Herbert Marshall) she was defending herself - Hammond tried
to "make love" to her. As Leslie prepares to go to trial for murder, a
letter appears in the hands of Hammond's widow (Gale Sondergaard). Its contents could
alter Leslie's trail drastically.
The Letter is an intriguing and suspenseful film noir. Davis and Marshall each justly
received Oscar nominations for their
roles. Marshall is great as the faithful husband of Davis' complex and
contradictory murderess. It's great viewing for anyone who enjoys classic
melodramas or is a fan of the gifted Bette Davis.
DVD Extras: Other than the omission of a scene between Leslie Crosbie
and her husband that appears in the original film, the alternate ending is almost
exactly the same as the final cut. (There is only one minor stylistic
difference concerning where Leslie drops her lacework.) In losing the scene
between the Crosbie couple, the movie’s best line, "With all my heart,
I still love the man I killed," is missing.
The two radio broadcasts are very similar except the 1944 edition features
Vincent Price instead of James Stephenson as Leslie’s shrewd lawyer. The radio
advertisements for Lux soap flakes and the tribute to the "fighting forces
overseas" provide an insightful look at the era. Lauren Hines
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