On L List of Movie Reviews
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The Letter (1940)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
7/15
7/15:
The Letter is a good example of the film noir genre with superb performances by Bette Davis and James Stephenson
who would die of a heart attack not long afterwards.
However, the plot is unrealistic. At the beginning, I'm shown Leslie Crosbie firing her gun at Geoff Hammond and thus killing
him in cold blood. Then, she proceeds to tell an unbelievable story about how she was physically attacked by him to the point
of being raped. Yet her clothes happen to be in pristine condition. So, where's the evidence of a struggle?
Unsurprisingly, the jury acquitted Leslie of murder. I guess nobody has the faintest idea of how to conduct a solid police
investigation by following up on Crosbie's story. In an attempt to satisfy me, she has her weak but predictable comeuppance to end
the film.
All in all, The Letter isn't convincing just like its fake Malaysian scenery.