THE LETTER (Paramount, 1929), directed by Jean De Limur, stars the famed stage actress, Jeanne Eagels (1894-1929) in her talkie movie debut. Having recently starred in the silent melodrama titled MAN, WOMAN AND SIN (MGM, 1927) opposite John Gilbert, it appeared that following this first screen adaptation to the now famous story by W. Somerset Maugham, along with an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress to her name, Jeanne Eagels would be destined for motion picture popularity. Ironically, following her second talking lead, JEALOUSY (Paramount, 1929), opposite Fredric March, Eagles soon met with an untimely death.
Following some silent scenes of visuals focusing of the Harbor of Singapore followed by a sign reading "British Interstate Rubber Plantation," the camera tracks into a bungalow, introducing the British couple, Robert Crosbie (Reginald Owen) and his lovely wife, Leslie (Jeanne Eagels), having been stationed at the rubber plantation for the past seven years. As Robert heads for Singapore alone to go hunting, Leslie, bored and lonely, writes a letter she handles to her servant to deliver to Geoffrey Hammond (Herbert Marshall), her lover. By this time, Geoffrey, who very much prefers the company of one of his Chinese mistresses, Ti-Ti (Lady Tsen Mui), has by now tired of his illicit affairs with Leslie. He goes to Leslie to tell her their infidelity is officially over. The upset Leslie takes out her gun and shoots him repeatedly. At her murder trial, Leslie is defended by Lawyer Joyce (O.P. Heggie). He soon finds that his client has lied under oath, especially when told about Leslie's letter inviting Hammond to come over to see her, the very letter that was submitted to him by Ti-Ti's servant, Onchi Seng (Tamaki Yoshiwara), demanding $10,000 its return to Leslie. Although Leslie is willing to pay the blackmail money to conceal the evidence, will she be able to hide her guilt?
While THE LETTER is better known today for its 1940 stylishly made Warner Brothers remake starring Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall, this edition, the original, is something to consider for those who have seen the Davis version multiple times. It's especially of great interest seeing how different and precise the 1929 film actually is. Aside from Herbert Marshall appearing in both 1929 and 1940 versions in different roles, his lover part is presented for about ten minutes while the remake limits the lovers role to stumbling down after being shot by Leslie. The Lawyer Joyce (James Stephenson) gets more screen time with longer courtroom proceedings than the original. However, both films do have that famous line recited by Leslie, "With all my heart and soul, I still love the man I killed!"
Surprisingly brief at 60 minutes, THE LETTER did go through several remakes and alterations over the years. Aside from the aforementioned classic Bette Davis edition, for which she, too, earned an Academy Award nomination, there was a revised version re-titled THE UNFAITHFUL (Warner Brothers, 1947) with Ann Sheridan and Zachary Scott; and an updated made-for-television movie THE LETTER (1982) starring Lee Remick and Jack Thompson.
Long unseen and virtually forgotten, THE LETTER, formerly a lost movie later discovered and restored, is slow pace, lacking mood music/underscoring, except for the Chinese dancing sequence. It consists of certain scenes very much like a filmed stage play. Jeanne Eagles herself makes this watchable, even through some of her over-the-top performance. British born Reginald Owen and Herbert Marshall also give good performances in their American movie debuts. Distributed onto DVD, THE LETTER did have its cable television presentation for the first time on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: October 24, 2012).
As much as the name of Jeanne Eagles may be known to modern viewers more for her movie biography, JEANNE EAGELS (Columbia, 1957) starring Kim Novak, than for her stage and movie career, the availability to THE LETTER is a worthy discovery of her work and legend. Seeing her in THE LETTER, it's amazing how much she almost resembled the youthful blonde Bette Davis, and speaking and laughing almost like character actress, Mae Busch, famous for her work opposite Laurel and Hardy in their comedy shorts of the thirties. Had she lived, it's a wonder if it would have been Eagels rather than Joan Crawford playing Sadie Thompson in the sound remake of RAIN (1932)? We'll never know. (*** stamps)
Following some silent scenes of visuals focusing of the Harbor of Singapore followed by a sign reading "British Interstate Rubber Plantation," the camera tracks into a bungalow, introducing the British couple, Robert Crosbie (Reginald Owen) and his lovely wife, Leslie (Jeanne Eagels), having been stationed at the rubber plantation for the past seven years. As Robert heads for Singapore alone to go hunting, Leslie, bored and lonely, writes a letter she handles to her servant to deliver to Geoffrey Hammond (Herbert Marshall), her lover. By this time, Geoffrey, who very much prefers the company of one of his Chinese mistresses, Ti-Ti (Lady Tsen Mui), has by now tired of his illicit affairs with Leslie. He goes to Leslie to tell her their infidelity is officially over. The upset Leslie takes out her gun and shoots him repeatedly. At her murder trial, Leslie is defended by Lawyer Joyce (O.P. Heggie). He soon finds that his client has lied under oath, especially when told about Leslie's letter inviting Hammond to come over to see her, the very letter that was submitted to him by Ti-Ti's servant, Onchi Seng (Tamaki Yoshiwara), demanding $10,000 its return to Leslie. Although Leslie is willing to pay the blackmail money to conceal the evidence, will she be able to hide her guilt?
While THE LETTER is better known today for its 1940 stylishly made Warner Brothers remake starring Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall, this edition, the original, is something to consider for those who have seen the Davis version multiple times. It's especially of great interest seeing how different and precise the 1929 film actually is. Aside from Herbert Marshall appearing in both 1929 and 1940 versions in different roles, his lover part is presented for about ten minutes while the remake limits the lovers role to stumbling down after being shot by Leslie. The Lawyer Joyce (James Stephenson) gets more screen time with longer courtroom proceedings than the original. However, both films do have that famous line recited by Leslie, "With all my heart and soul, I still love the man I killed!"
Surprisingly brief at 60 minutes, THE LETTER did go through several remakes and alterations over the years. Aside from the aforementioned classic Bette Davis edition, for which she, too, earned an Academy Award nomination, there was a revised version re-titled THE UNFAITHFUL (Warner Brothers, 1947) with Ann Sheridan and Zachary Scott; and an updated made-for-television movie THE LETTER (1982) starring Lee Remick and Jack Thompson.
Long unseen and virtually forgotten, THE LETTER, formerly a lost movie later discovered and restored, is slow pace, lacking mood music/underscoring, except for the Chinese dancing sequence. It consists of certain scenes very much like a filmed stage play. Jeanne Eagles herself makes this watchable, even through some of her over-the-top performance. British born Reginald Owen and Herbert Marshall also give good performances in their American movie debuts. Distributed onto DVD, THE LETTER did have its cable television presentation for the first time on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: October 24, 2012).
As much as the name of Jeanne Eagles may be known to modern viewers more for her movie biography, JEANNE EAGELS (Columbia, 1957) starring Kim Novak, than for her stage and movie career, the availability to THE LETTER is a worthy discovery of her work and legend. Seeing her in THE LETTER, it's amazing how much she almost resembled the youthful blonde Bette Davis, and speaking and laughing almost like character actress, Mae Busch, famous for her work opposite Laurel and Hardy in their comedy shorts of the thirties. Had she lived, it's a wonder if it would have been Eagels rather than Joan Crawford playing Sadie Thompson in the sound remake of RAIN (1932)? We'll never know. (*** stamps)