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IMDbPro

The Letter

  • 19401940
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
13K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,938
2,694
Bette Davis in The Letter (1940)
Trailer for this classic starring Bette Davis
Play trailer2:18
1 Video
34 Photos
CrimeDramaFilm-Noir
The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter in her own hand may prove her undoing.The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter in her own hand may prove her undoing.The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter in her own hand may prove her undoing.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
13K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,938
2,694
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • William Wyler
    • Writers
      • W. Somerset Maugham(play)
      • Howard Koch(screen play)
    • Stars
      • Bette Davis
      • Herbert Marshall
      • James Stephenson
    Top credits
    • Director
      • William Wyler
    • Writers
      • W. Somerset Maugham(play)
      • Howard Koch(screen play)
    • Stars
      • Bette Davis
      • Herbert Marshall
      • James Stephenson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 143User reviews
    • 62Critic reviews
    • Nominated for 7 Oscars
      • 1 win & 9 nominations total

    Videos1

    The Letter
    Trailer 2:18
    The Letter

    Photos34

    Bette Davis, James Stephenson, and Victor Sen Yung in The Letter (1940)
    Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, and James Stephenson in The Letter (1940)
    Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall in The Letter (1940)
    Bette Davis in The Letter (1940)
    Bette Davis with directors Frank Capra and William Wyler. "The Letter," 1940.
    Bette Davis Warner Bros. Letter, The (1940) 0032701
    Bette Davis Warner Bros. Letter, The (1940) 0032701
    Bette Davis Film Set/ Warner Bros. Letter, The (1940) 0032701
    Bette Davis in The Letter (1940)
    Bette Davis in The Letter (1940)
    Bette Davis in The Letter (1940)
    Bette Davis in The Letter (1940)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Bette Davis
    Bette Davis
    • Leslie Crosbie
    Herbert Marshall
    Herbert Marshall
    • Robert Crosbie
    James Stephenson
    James Stephenson
    • Howard Joyce
    Frieda Inescort
    Frieda Inescort
    • Dorothy Joyce
    Gale Sondergaard
    Gale Sondergaard
    • Mrs. Hammond
    Bruce Lester
    Bruce Lester
    • John Withers
    Elizabeth Inglis
    • Adele Ainsworth
    • (as Elizabeth Earl)
    Cecil Kellaway
    Cecil Kellaway
    • Prescott
    Victor Sen Yung
    Victor Sen Yung
    • Ong Chi Seng
    • (as Sen Yung)
    Doris Lloyd
    Doris Lloyd
    • Mrs. Cooper
    Willie Fung
    Willie Fung
    • Chung Hi
    Tetsu Komai
    • Head Boy
    Zita Baca
    Zita Baca
    • Undetermined Role
    • (uncredited)
    Brooks Benedict
    Brooks Benedict
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    William A. Boardway
    William A. Boardway
    • Trial Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    David Bruce
    David Bruce
    • Undetermined Role
    • (uncredited)
    James Carlisle
    • Attorney
    • (uncredited)
    George Ford
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • William Wyler
    • Writers
      • W. Somerset Maugham(play)
      • Howard Koch(screen play)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      After shooting was completed, William Wyler watched a rough cut and decided that he wanted the character of Leslie to be more sympathetic. He ordered some re-writes and planned to shoot them. Bette Davis recalled - "I was heartbroken," she said, "as I felt, after reading the rewrites, that my performance could be ruined with these additions. I asked Willie if I could see the film before doing the retakes. To my horror I was crying at myself at the end of the showing. There was dead silence in the projection room when the lights came up. I said, 'If we film these retakes, we will lose the intelligent audience. It is impossible to please everyone with any one film. If we try to accomplish this, we can lose all audiences.' Plus, to my shame, even though I played the part, I deeply sympathized with Leslie Crosbie. We only made one small addition to the original film. Wyler had agreed with me. Thank God!"
    • Goofs
      The motor vehicles throughout are all left-hand drive. In Singapore traffic drives on the left and all vehicles there are right-hand drive.
    • Quotes

      Leslie: With all my heart, I still love the man I killed.

    • Alternate versions
      Also shown in computer colorized version.
    • Connections
      Edited into Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

    User reviews143

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    The Letter
    Such a great opening to a movie: the sound of the rubber tree dripping, the plantation workers drowsing in hammocks. The shots ringing out, a man stumbling out onto the veranda of the big house, the camera panning in to a woman gunning down the man over and over again, closing in on Bette Davis' grim mask of a face. The moon hides behind a cloud, then reappears to starkly light the scene of the crime, exposing what she did. The woman coolly instructs her men to send for the police and her husband, then retires to her bedroom. The muffled sound of her sobbing through the door.

    The film never really matches the taut, detailed perfection of this beginning, and there are too few twists and surprises from here on out, but it largely retains the sultry, adult and intelligent mood up until the ending, which, although apparently added by the Hayes Office for the sake of morality, reintroduces the full moon, once again witnessing - and this time covering up - a death, in a satisfying, circular way that the play's original ending would have lacked.

    I was struck while watching this what a "Woman's Picture" it is, with Bette Davis in almost every scene, and her face and name the only things one sees on the film posters of the time. It seems strange to me such a fuss is being made over women-led films today when there have been countless great movies with "strong female leads" all the way back to the silent days. To believe the effluence being squeezed out of Hollywood today is any great groundbreaking leap forward for women, one would have to believe we live in a *more* sexist, segregated and oppressive era than the time of the Suffragettes a hundred years ago. Do we?

    The difference between the two ages really is how back then the sexes were presented as equal but different, the men and women interacting with one other in mutual respect, and easy, familial love and affection, whereas the female-helmed films today are, almost without exception, antagonistic, confrontational and belittling in regard to men. The films back then were all about the story, and transporting the audience to another world. Now, they are but tools for political propaganda, no longer fit for purpose as either entertainment or art.
    helpful•11
    3
    • MogwaiMovieReviews
    • Nov 21, 2019

    FAQ2

    • What's notable about Herbert Marshall playing Robert Crosbie?
    • Where can I hear radio adaptations of this film?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 23, 1940 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Das Geheimnis von Malampur
    • Filming locations
      • Stage 1, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $16,455
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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