Film Snail

The Letter
The Letter

5.6

The Letter

NR·1929·65m

Summary

A planter's wife shoots a neighbor, but tells conflicting stories of what happened.

Crew

Director, Dialogue

Jean de Limur

Dialogue

Monta Bell

Screenplay

Garrett Fort

Theatre Play

W. Somerset Maugham

Reviews

Geronimo1967

Geronimo1967

June 6, 2022

7

This is a superb character-driven performance from Jeanne Eagels as the bored wife who turns from her indifferent husband "Robert" (Reginald Owen) to the caddish "Geoffrey" (Herbert Marshall). When the latter shows her his true colours, he gets his comeuppance and a trial ensues. Provocation bordering on attempted rape is cited and she looks set for acquittal until it emerges that his Chinese mistress is in possession of a letter that might not quite support her version of the story - and she wants £10,000 for it! The production is quite heavily styled, very theatrical without very much visual intensity (the print I saw was really rather dark and gloomy) - but it's the performance from the star that sets this apart. She is enthralling, her stage background helping to provide us with an excellent tour de force that is really good to watch.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Keywords

based on play or musical
pre-code