Wednesday, October 11, 2006
The Letter - The Bette Davis Collection
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: It took us two tries to get through this one, even though it was the shortest of the Bette Davis movies we bought in the collection with which this one came. Neither of us found it disturbing, but we just couldn't get into the story. When we finally watched it, at the end Mom and I looked at one another.
"Well," she said, "we don't have to do that again."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
I'm not sure what our problem with it was. It could simply be that we're both hard sells for this type of movie. I have to say, though, since watching it, I've found that several of the scenes have continued to haunt me, probably because of both the staging and framing. As well, I have to admit, Bette Davis was, as usual, a dazzling intepreter of this character. I may, indeed, watch it again. Not soon, though.
I've linked the title of this post to a site that gets it done when it comes to collections (and other reviews, as well). Thank you, DVD Savant, now CineSavant! His review of this movie is the fifth review on the page.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Bette Davis Leslie Crosbie Herbert Marshall Robert Crosbie James Stephenson Howard Joyce Frieda Inescort Dorothy Joyce Gale Sondergaard Mrs. Hammond Bruce Lester John Withers Elizabeth Earl Adele Ainsworth Cecil Kellaway Prescott Sen Yung Ong Chi Seng Doris Lloyd Mrs. Cooper Willie Fung Chung Hi Tetsu Komai Head Boy
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1940
Directed by William Wyler.
Labels: bette-davis, drama9, film-noir2, melodramaA, suspense2
