Love Letters (1945)

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Christopher Massie (novel)
Ayn Rand (writer)

Release Date:

26 October 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Allen Quinton writes a fellow soldier's love letters; tragedy results. Later, Allen meets a beautiful amnesiac who fears postmen...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Love Letter | Murder | WWII | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Cast

Jennifer Jones	...	Singleton
Joseph Cotten	...	Allen Quinton
Ann Richards	...	Dilly Carson
Cecil Kellaway	...	Mac
Gladys Cooper	...	Beatrice Remington
Anita Louise	...	Helen Wentworth
Robert Sully	...	Roger Morland
Reginald Denny	...	Defense counsel Phillips
Ernest Cossart	...	Bishop
Byron Barr	...	Derek Quinton

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language including sexual references, and for some thematic elements.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #10072)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Victor Young created stunning arrangements for two Decca recordings of his Oscar-nominated theme song (lyrics by Edward Heyman): the first in 1945 with a full orchestra for Dick Haymes, and the second in 1954 with a simple guitar-combo backing for Peggy Lee.

Goofs:

Continuity: Dilly Carson relates to Allan Quinnton that she found Singleton sitting by the fireplace with a bloody knife and a letter from which Dilly quotes the signature line, "I think of you my dearest as the distance promise of beauty". But during the climactic flashback, we see the letter with that very line burning in the fireplace.

Quotes:

Singleton: I think very few people are happy. They wait all their lives for something to happen to them - something great and wonderful. They don't know what it is but they wait for it. Sometimes it never happens. What they want is the kind of spirit I found in those letters. A spirit that makes life beautiful. I love that man. I loved him more than my own life. I still love him. So you see, I couldn't have loved Roger Moreland, the man I killed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blue Velvet (1986)

Love letters straight from your heart

"Love Letters" is one of the most interesting films of 1945, yet it's seldom seen these days. We watched an excellent copy of it courtesy of a cable channel. The picture has kept well throughout the years. Directed by an old pro of that period, William Dieterle, and with an excellent cinematography by Lee Garmes, it was a joy to watch again. Victor Young's haunting musical score plays softly in the background.

Some comments seem to indicate that Ayn Rand wrote the original work in which the movie is based. Contrary to those opinions, the fact is it was based on a Christopher Massie's novel, "Pity my Simplicity", and adapted by the author and Ms. Rand into the finished product. Ms. Rand was an obvious admirer of the French playwright Edmund Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, which plays in the action without making it too obvious.

The best thing in "Love Letters" was the casting of the main roles. Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten played with their characters with conviction. Ms. Jones was at a great moment of her movie career; her dual role of Victoria Morland/Singleton proved she was the right choice for it. Mr. Cotten was an actor that always delivered, as it's the case with his character, Allen Quinton, the man who has loved Victoria from a distance.

The marvelous cast is enhanced by Gladys Cooper, who is seen as Beatrice Remington, the woman who brought up Victoria as her own daughter and who holds the key to solving the mystery of the tragedy that involves Victoria. Ann Richards and Cecil Kellaway are also seen in minor roles.

"Love Letters" will delight fans of the genre as it is one of the better exponent of the Hollywood of the 40s.