Director: William Wyler
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Top Billed Actors: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 7 more:
Outstanding Production - Warner Bros.
Best Director - William Wyler
Best Actress - Bette Davis
Best Supporting Actor - James Stephenson
Best Original Score - Max Steiner
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Tony Gaudio
Best Film Editing - Warren Low
Plot: A moonlit woman shoots a man dead and is charged with murder. When a letter between this lace-stitching woman and the notorious ladies (dead)man surfaces, the lawyer has a hard decision to make.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Top Billed Actors: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 7 more:
Outstanding Production - Warner Bros.
Best Director - William Wyler
Best Actress - Bette Davis
Best Supporting Actor - James Stephenson
Best Original Score - Max Steiner
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Tony Gaudio
Best Film Editing - Warren Low
Plot: A moonlit woman shoots a man dead and is charged with murder. When a letter between this lace-stitching woman and the notorious ladies (dead)man surfaces, the lawyer has a hard decision to make.
The Letter (1940) is the second William Wyler/Bette Davis collaboration we have seen in the Project and for my money, this is a winning combination. Based on a 1927 play as well as a 1929 film (one in which Hebert Marshall also appeared in), this film had to alter some important details to comply with that darn Hays Code. These changes don't completely ruin the film, especially since so much is working for it. One key component is the performance by a little-known stock player, James Stephenson. Jack Warner sent Stephenson to Wyler to test the script. However, Warner soon wanted a bigger name in the role of the lawyer. Wyler fought for Stephenson since he tested well and was right for the part and an Oscar nomination was the end result.
As you can see in the summary above, this film garnered quite a number of Oscar nominations. Stephenson turns a wonderful supporting act, complete with courtroom monologues, sullen faces in times of moral conflict, and facial reactions to surprising information. It doesn't hut to be working alongside Davis, who has quickly become one of my favorite actresses of the era. Her steely persona, brought to life with her eyes that are never quite open, is so perfect for this character. I kept waiting for her to crack and the quiet intensity she gives to each suspenseful moment leading up to a possible breakdown is palpable. Davis had a great year starring in two Best Picture nominees, but I'm glad this is the one in which she got her Best Actress nomination. One cannot discuss this film without bringing up the opening shot. Although there are techniques to mask cuts, it's presented like a fluid single shot, panning from the plantation and its sleeping workers to the bungalow. We first hear gunshots before we see who fired them. All this in the exquisite moonlight, which is a visual theme throughout the film. And if Bette Davis holding a smoking gun isn't the coolest shot, I don't know what is. The aforementioned moonlight allows for graceful photography, especially when a single character like Davis or the cold Gale Sondergaard are in a close-up one-shot. To me, the moon ducking behind the clouds signifies that we don't really know a person - that the light can be hidden as easily as somebody's secrets. The twists and turns in the story supports that as we gradually learn more about the Davis character.
I've already mentioned it, but that damn Hays Code strikes again. Like another Wyler Best Picture nominee from the prior year, Wuthering Heights (1939), the ending had to be altered in a way that is far inferior to the original story. With that being said, this ending is a hell of a lot more palatable than that screwjob finish in Wuthering Heights. Another Code-inspired change is the victim's lover's character. Instead of a Chinese mistress, the victim had to be married to a Eurasian woman. Sondergaard filled in nicely and I also condone this casting as it would have been more strange if she was presented as Chinese; she doesn't have much dialogue anyway. Something else I'm somewhat mixed on is the Max Steiner score. The music itself is very evocative but it is used a bit too much. Less would have been more in this case.
Overall, stunning moonlit photography supports a story that twists and turns around a classic McGuffin-type letter. Bette Davis and James Stephenson turn in a couple of the best performances of 1940 and the memorable opening shot is one to behold.
My Score: 8/10
As you can see in the summary above, this film garnered quite a number of Oscar nominations. Stephenson turns a wonderful supporting act, complete with courtroom monologues, sullen faces in times of moral conflict, and facial reactions to surprising information. It doesn't hut to be working alongside Davis, who has quickly become one of my favorite actresses of the era. Her steely persona, brought to life with her eyes that are never quite open, is so perfect for this character. I kept waiting for her to crack and the quiet intensity she gives to each suspenseful moment leading up to a possible breakdown is palpable. Davis had a great year starring in two Best Picture nominees, but I'm glad this is the one in which she got her Best Actress nomination. One cannot discuss this film without bringing up the opening shot. Although there are techniques to mask cuts, it's presented like a fluid single shot, panning from the plantation and its sleeping workers to the bungalow. We first hear gunshots before we see who fired them. All this in the exquisite moonlight, which is a visual theme throughout the film. And if Bette Davis holding a smoking gun isn't the coolest shot, I don't know what is. The aforementioned moonlight allows for graceful photography, especially when a single character like Davis or the cold Gale Sondergaard are in a close-up one-shot. To me, the moon ducking behind the clouds signifies that we don't really know a person - that the light can be hidden as easily as somebody's secrets. The twists and turns in the story supports that as we gradually learn more about the Davis character.
I've already mentioned it, but that damn Hays Code strikes again. Like another Wyler Best Picture nominee from the prior year, Wuthering Heights (1939), the ending had to be altered in a way that is far inferior to the original story. With that being said, this ending is a hell of a lot more palatable than that screwjob finish in Wuthering Heights. Another Code-inspired change is the victim's lover's character. Instead of a Chinese mistress, the victim had to be married to a Eurasian woman. Sondergaard filled in nicely and I also condone this casting as it would have been more strange if she was presented as Chinese; she doesn't have much dialogue anyway. Something else I'm somewhat mixed on is the Max Steiner score. The music itself is very evocative but it is used a bit too much. Less would have been more in this case.
Overall, stunning moonlit photography supports a story that twists and turns around a classic McGuffin-type letter. Bette Davis and James Stephenson turn in a couple of the best performances of 1940 and the memorable opening shot is one to behold.
My Score: 8/10