directed by William Wyler
Other people have the intelligence or integrity not to go that far but point out that after all is said and done, most rape or sexual assault charges are not deliberate lies. They wonder about the motives of people who become wondrously wroth over the few and far between proven false rape charges.
None of us are immune to bias. We often believe the best of our friends, relatives and lovers. The Letter examines these biases in a 40s noir setting, one in which as normal in these films, "evil" can be a question of perspective. Although race isn't the film's emphasis it's certainly something which has an influence on the film's settings and characters. This film is set in pre- WW2 Malaysia, in and around rubber "plantations" owned by White Americans and White Europeans. These people all live the good life, buying and selling their "plantations" among their small group. There's no war to worry about yet.
Several characters refer negatively to a White man who did such a thing, citing his actions as proof of his depravity, bad upbringing, or social unworthiness. The opposite case, a White Woman taking up with an Asian or Eurasian man, is unthinkable.
Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis in all of her bug-eyed glory-no disrespect as I have similar peepers) is the wife of rubber plantation manager Robert Crosbie (Herbert Marshall). Robert is away on business. There's someone in his home besides his wife. That someone is Geoff Hammond. Well he was in the Crosby home. As the film opens he's running/stumbling out of the house, while being shot by Leslie. Leslie's not taking any chances. Leslie shoots Geoff at close range several times, ensuring that Geoff is removed from the planet. Leslie tells her servants to send for her husband.
Robert just wants to hold, hug and support his wife. He doesn't want her to answer any more questions. And he gets upset with anyone who asks her more questions. Robert is a gentle devoted trusting husband that does his best to provide and protect. He can't stand any idea that he might have failed to protect his dearest.
But Howard, despite being friends with both Robert and Leslie, can't shake his feeling that something isn't right. Why did Geoff come to Leslie's home late at night when her husband was away? Why did Geoff park his car away from the home where no one could see it?
Why did Leslie shoot Geoff so many times? Why did Leslie shoot Geoff in the back? Even obliquely raising these questions upsets Robert and Leslie. So Howard lets it go. Heck he's a defense attorney, not a prosecutor.
Although it's Davis' Leslie who gets top billing you could argue that the film is just as concerned with the moral choices that Howard must make. He must choose between his duty as an attorney and his duty as a friend to both Leslie and Robert.
And almost any choice he makes is going to be the wrong choice. Howard's frustrations and attempts at compromise drive a lot of the film's tension, as do the slowly revealed secrets. Your sympathies may change as you learn more of what really happened. Or they may not. That's what I liked about this film, you can sympathize with different characters who are "right" in their own minds.
Like all the best noir films The Letter features stunning black and white cinematography with meaningful use of shadow and darkness. The Letter received Oscar nominations for its cinematography. It is always a bit of a shock to my system to realize that actors and actresses whom I had firmly fixed in my mind as old or even elderly people past their glory days were once young. Time marches on.
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