Bette Davis Movie Recommendation #1

The Letter  (1940)*- 1 hr 35 mins

In a powerful first scene, The Letter opens at the end of the story. The wife of a wealthy rubber plantation owner (Bette Davis) has just killed a man. She claims that it was done in self-defense. It seems obvious that she will be acquitted until a letter in the possession of the dead man’s widow (Gale Sondergaard) is discovered, a letter that may shed new light on her shadowy motives.

Based on Somerset Maugham's play, The Letter is an absorbing and well-constructed film. Pardon the pun, but it opens with quite a bang! Davis is at her most tantalizingly evil in a role that does not require her to do her "Bette Davis" thing. It is a melodramatic film, but she does not have to be the "Queen" of melodrama. She brings out her character's cool and calculating deceitfulness as well as silent fear with more than emotive outbursts. It is a film that brings out all her best qualities as an actress and is made that much better because of her.

Behind the scenes with co-star Herbert Marshall

* Please be aware that one scene includes an offensive racial depiction. This is in no way an endorsement of that.

Availability: Youtube, Amazon, Googleplay, and DVD.

• Purchase DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Letter-Bette-Davis/dp/B000055XM8