Easy to imagine that there was only ever the Bette Davies version of "The Letter" but back in the late 1960's the BBC made an excellent series of Maugham short-story adaptations. This one starring (later Dame) Eileen Atkins was award-winning. They were transferred to film for overseas sales but oddly were never, as far as I know, shown again in the UK. As they were shot in colour unlike an earlier ITV series which was in black and white, they could, as are other programmes of similar vintage, still be shown on the digital channels. I'm not aware that there have been subsequent television versions of these Maugham stories so why aren't they re-shown?
2 Reviews
Bland, poorly acted and directed version of Maugham masterpiece
tabacblond1 February 2024
I was able to obtain a VHS copy of this production from a private collector and it is quite awful. Not just the quality of the print, but the production itself.
The sets are tawdry, the pace is funereal, and the direction is absent. Atkins is so drab, so depressed in her performance, that it is unimaginable any man would want to involve himself with her. The other players are completely forgettable. The 50 minutes of the film were barely standable.
The 1929 Eagles version, the 1940 Davis version, and the 1982 Remick version are all wonderful in their own way, especially the latter as it peels layer after layer off the lies and subterfuge of Leslie Crosbie.
The sets are tawdry, the pace is funereal, and the direction is absent. Atkins is so drab, so depressed in her performance, that it is unimaginable any man would want to involve himself with her. The other players are completely forgettable. The 50 minutes of the film were barely standable.
The 1929 Eagles version, the 1940 Davis version, and the 1982 Remick version are all wonderful in their own way, especially the latter as it peels layer after layer off the lies and subterfuge of Leslie Crosbie.
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