Based on a W. Somerset Maugham play, The Letter is a compelling study of human duplicity that grips with the tension of a thriller. The setting is a colonial outpost in Malaysia; Leslie Crosbie (Davis), the wife of a British rubber plantation administrator, has murdered a man whom she claims was attempting to assault her. There is, however, more to the story than meets the eye, including a possibly incriminating letter that seems to imply a different explanation for the grisly events. William Wyler’s classic melodrama gifts Davis one of the greatest movie openings as she arrives onscreen, guns blazing.

Screening as part of Fasten Your Seatbelts: The Films of Bette Davis.

Notes by David O’Mahony