The Letter (1929)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Jean de Limur

Writers:

Monta Bell (dialogue)
Mort Blumenstock (titles)

Release Date:

13 April 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Jeanne Eagels	...	Leslie Crosbie
O.P. Heggie	...	Joyce
Reginald Owen	...	Robert Crosbie
Herbert Marshall	...	Geoffrey Hammond
Irene Browne	...	Mrs. Joyce
Lady Tsen Mei	...	Li-Ti
Tamaki Yoshiwara	...	On Chi Seng
Kenneth Thomson		(as Kenneth Thompson)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

First American film of Herbert Marshall, who plays Leslie Crosbie's murdered lover. In the 1940 remake, he plays her husband.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Leslie Crosbie: [direct to camera] With all my heart and all my soul, I still love the man I killed!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

CLASSIC ACTRESS IN LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE

This Jeanne Eagels performance should have won the Best Actress Academy Award. I love Mary Pickford but her performance was probably the weakest of the six nominees;however, the personality contest prevailed. Eagels' performance was focused and intense. Somerset Maugham's story of murder and intrigue will hold your attention. Film is difficult to find; it is worth the search.