[ April 27, 2024 ]
Tonight's feature film is a film noir classic (my favorite genre, as you well know) — a drop dead killer flick. If you haven't seen The Letter, watch it; you can thank me later. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Indeed.
I love the women in this film — the roles were so juicy back when the left didn't control the culture. The women were revered, respected and desired. Today, they are devalued, objectified and disrespected. Women and girls who hold themselves in high regard do so against the cultural tide. The movies, the music, the art ….. awful.
Here is the NY Times review back in 1949, when it opend at the Strand in New York:
Story continues below advertisement
'The Letter,' With Bette Davis and James Stephenson, a Communication of Brooding Evil, at the Strand By BOSLEY CROWTHER Published: November 23, 1940
Director William Wyler was remarking recently that the final responsibility for a picture's quality rests solely and completely upon the shoulders of the man who directs it. His, said he, is the liability if an actor's performance is at fault; he is the one to censure—or to thank—for the finished effect, since it is the director, after all, who makes the picture and okays it.
Mr. Wyler spoke at a most propitious moment. For seldom has this theory been more clearly and more flatteringly supported than it is by his own screen version of Somerset Maugham's play, "The Letter," which was delivered yesterday at the Strand. Indubitably Mr. Wyler must be grateful to Bette Davis, James Stephenson, Herbert Marshall and an excellent cast for doing as he told them; obviously Mr. Maugham supplied him with a potent play, out of which Howard Koch fashioned a compact script. But the ultimate credit for as taut and insinuating a melodrama as has come along this year—a film which extenuates tension like a grim inquisitor's rack—must be given to Mr. Wyler. His hand is patent throughout.
[…]
It is an evil tale, plotted with an eye to its torturing effects. And Mr. Wyler has directed the film along those lines. With infinite care, he has created the dark, humid atmosphere of the rubber country. His camera generally speaks more eloquently than any one in the picture—when, for instance, it finds a dead body lying in a rubber-curing shed or picks up the lacquered face of the native woman or focuses significantly upon the tinkling decorations in a Chinese room. The tensile strength of Mr. Wyler's suspense is incredible.
And his actors, too, have been directed for the distillation of somber moods. Miss Davis is a strangely cool and calculating killer who conducts herself with reserve and yet implies a deep confusion of emotions. James Stephenson is superb as the honest lawyer who jeopardizes his reputation to save a friend—a shrewd, dignified, reflective citizen who assumes a sordid business with distaste. He is the strongest character in the film, the one person who really matters. And Sen Yung plays a smart Oriental clerk with illuminating candor, Herbert Marshall is properly negative as the unsuspecting husband and Gale Sondergaard cryptically conveys through appearance and attitudes only the enigmatic menace of the native woman.
[…]
THE LETTER; screen play by Howard Koch; based on the play by W. Somerset Maugham; produced and directed by William Wyler for Warner Brothers. At the Strand.
Leslie Crosbie . . . . . Bette Davis
Robert Crosbie . . . . . Herbert Marshall
Howard Joyce . . . . . James Stephenson
Dorothy Joyce . . . . . Frieda Inescort
Mrs. Hammond . . . . . Gale Sondergaard
John Withers . . . . . Bruce Lester
Adele Ainsworth . . . . . Elizabeth Earl
Prescott . . . . . Cecil Kellaway
Ong Chi Seng . . . . . Sen Yung
Mrs. Cooper . . . . . Doris Lloyd
Chung Hi . . . . . Willie Funs
Head Boy . . . . . Tetsu Komai
On the stage; Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra, with Harriet Hilliard, Harris and Shore, Ray and Trent and Roy Davis.
The Truth Must be Told
Your contribution supports independent journalism
Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.
Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.
Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.
Please contribute here.
or
Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding.Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here.
Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.
Follow Pamela Geller on Gettr. I am there. click here.
Follow Pamela Geller on Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. It's open and free.
Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.
Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.
If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.
4 Comments
13 years ago
“I love the women in this film – the roles were so juicy back when the left didn’t control the culture.”
STILL no films about what life was like in the soviet socialist paradise.
13 years ago
Yes, yes, yes. My favorite actress in my favorite film. A true classic in every way.
13 years ago
They won’t give me the movie. They say “.. if you don’t live there or if you received this message in error.. blah-blah.” Please talk to them, or stop using them. I do not want to be discriminated on the base of my IP. We people living far away should be just as important to you.
13 years ago
Not that I have that much time for movies.. I hate Bette Davis, if you don’t mind. I just love those times. I also think Lady GaGa is the greatest and fullest performer and entertainer of all times but I simultaneously hate to death most of what she stands for. I could enjoy a few minutes of an old movie though. I can’t explain why, I just feel they are so crisp and fresh even in black and white.
