Press Release Warner Archive Press Release: The Letter (1940) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

NEW 2019 1080p HD MASTER!
THE LETTER (1940)
Run Time 95:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio 4 X 3 FULL FRAME, ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO – 1.37:1
Product Color BLACK & WHITE
Disc Configuration BD 50
Special Features:
Alternate Ending Sequence; 2 Audio-Only Bonuses: Lux Radio Theater adaptation starring Davis, Marshall and Stephenson from 4/21/41 and Lux Radio Theater adaptation starring Davis and Marshall from 3/6/44; Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Six years after exploding to stardom in Of Human Bondage, Bette Davis equaled that excitement with another W. Somerset Maugham role as an adulteress using her sexual wiles to escape a murder...

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[Robert Crawford]

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[Robert Crawford]

Bette, Bette, Warner sure took care of you this year.

 

[Cranston37+]

Yessssssss

 

[ahollis]

I am very satisfied with today’s announcements. More so that they didn’t count the TV series as part of their releases. Thank you WAC.

 

[David Norman]

Well, it appears Amazon's WAC Halloween releases should now be completed.

 

[Thomas T]

YES!!! Her greatest performance!

 

[Will Krupp]

YES!!! Her greatest performance!

I hope this isn't much of a spoiler but I'll put it under a tag just in case. This movie contains perhaps my favorite Bette Davis "moment" of all

Spoiler

She's in jail, "counting down the days" and James Stephenson comes to visit her. She's chattering away and we're still not ENTIRELY sure of her guilt or innocence. Stephenson tells her about the existence of the letter, which she denies writing. As he pulls the letter out of his pocket, she glances up towards it and, acting with nothing but her eyes in a gesture that lasts no more than an instant, we immediately know the entire truth.

Gives me chills every time!

 

[Matt Hough]

A great film and among the lady's greatest performances. I have to pinch myself when I keep reading these fantastic announcements.

 

[bujaki]

Alternate ending!! Most curious about this. I just wish they had included the 1929 version, a very good movie in its own right and with the correct ending. Herbert Marshall is in both films. Jeanne Eagels was nominated, posthumously, for Best Actress in this, her last film.

 

[battlebeast]

I'm pretty sure the Alternate ending was included on the DVD. BRB...

Yes, it was.

Can't wait for this!

Man, FIVE BP noms for my collection in four months from Warners. If only some of the 1930's ones would be upgraded... But I really can't complain.

This is a great film. I've only seen it once, but I liked it. Can't wait to watch it again. I'm not the biggest fan of Bette Davis; in fact, I don't really like her at all, but she is an amazing actress.

 

[marcco00]

Although the ending was changed for this film, i love it!! those final close-ups of Bette...

she has worked herself up into a state i have never experienced in my life, yet it rings sooo

true and believeable.... masterful acting from the Grand Dame!

 

[lark144]

Alternate ending!! Most curious about this. I just wish they had included the 1929 version, a very good movie in its own right and with the correct ending. Herbert Marshall is in both films. Jeanne Eagels was nominated, posthumously, for Best Actress in this, her last film.

The alternate ending was included on the DVD, but it still doesn't hold a candle to the original, nor Jeanne Eagels spine-chilling, yet almost matter-of fact reading of the final line. I would have loved to have heard Bette say it though. A pox on all those blue-noses!

 

[bujaki]

I haven't seen the film since MoMA's showing of The Letter in 1973, so I was unaware of the alternate ending. And yes, discovering the 1929 version (35mm print) during the Paramount retrospective (1972) was an unexpected pleasure. Eagels certainly proved that she could have been a major star in the "talkies" had she not succumbed to drugs. What a waste.

 

[Alan Tully]

Bette Davis fans are having a great time lately.

 

[Douglas R]

Excellent film - perfect in every way. James Stephenson is especially good as the lawyer; such a shame that he died at the young age of 52 - after having started acting in films only four years before his death..

 

[Arthur Powell]

I wonder how many of us have come out of watching this film thinking, "Wow, Charlie Chan would be shocked and amazed to see how number two son is acting."

 

[PMF]

WAC is knockin' it outta the park !!!

 

[PMF]

Last month, we got "Jezebel".
And then this month, we got "The Letter".
This makes me wonder if we're headin' towards a Wyler-Davis triple-play;
and by that, I'm talking about "The Little Foxes" for next month.
Maybe I'm being greedy or cleverly insightful; but, alas, only time will tell.

 

[Will Krupp]

Last month, we got "Jezebel".
And then this month, we got "The Letter".
This makes me wonder if we're headin' towards a Wyler-Davis triple-play;
and by that, I'm talking about "The Little Foxes" for next month.
Maybe I'm being greedy or cleverly insightful; but, alas, only time will tell.

Wouldn't THAT be a kick. Wonderful movie. As good as Davis is in that, and she IS, the movie is totally stolen IMO by Patricia Collinge recreating her heartbreaking stage performance.