Aah Film
noir. One of the oldest genres around. To be sure it has changed a lot since
it’s heyday in the ‘40s and ‘50s so much so that it has spurned a new genre
called “neo-noir” that differentiates the modern versions from those good old
Hollywood classics. It’s like a roast dinner, fish and chips, your favourite
drink (please note that I am writing this post just before dinner LOL), in
short something you know like the back of your hand and come back to knowing
what to expect. If it is an American Classic like The Letter, you will get a
beautiful woman, seductive but dangerous (Bette Davis), a man of the law (often
a private eye or a police officer but in this particular case the family
lawyer, played by James Stephenson), a crime, a cover-up and the impending
sense of doom despite the best efforts of the characters, be they sympathetic
or not… Adapted from W. Somerset Maugham’s best-seller, The Letter is cited as
an example for “classic American noir” – and there’s a good reason for it…
Leslie
(Bette Davis) and Robert ( Herbert Marshall) lead a charmed life, living on
plantation in Singapore. Servants to tend to their every need and enough money
to make %100 sure these needs are tended to mean that Leslie has little to do
apart from relaxing and enjoying life while her adoring husband makes sure the
plantation is ticking over. She is adored by one and all in the area and part
of the very cream of high society, so everyone is shocked when she admits to
killing one of her neighbours, a man both her and her husband had known for
some time, in her own home in the middle of the night. However, as she is a
trusted and well-loved member of society people are also more than ready to
believe her word on what happened. The man was drunk, had showed up
unannounced, was making unwanted advances and she was alone in the house. She
defended herself. She is of course put on trial – but it really seems to be
little more than a formality – everyone fully expects life to return to normal
very, very shortly. Except… There is talk of this letter… A letter written in
Lesley’s own hand and that could turn this idyllic world upside down… Her
lawyer seems to be the only one who can help her… Stuck between his loyalty to
his client and his loyalty to his vocation, Howard is in a very tight spot indeed…
But he must choose carefully, for no matter which way he turns, his actions
will have grave consequences…
It’s an
interesting combo, the film noir. Becoming popular, and holding a lot of its
roots in the Depression era the genre takes a step away from “classic”
Hollywood. You can definitely sense the general disillusionment with the
establishment and the “system” (whatever that may be) as criminals who get away
with murder (among other crimes), officers of the law who fully believe that
“everyone has their price” but who have lost all faith in justice they are
meant to uphold are prominent along with the dark and striking photography that
owes a not a little to German Expressionism but doubtless also contributes to
the atmosphere of the film and the constant sense of “something bad being about
to happen”.
The Letter
is a textbook example of all of the above, but don’t think for a minute it is a
hard tale of doom and gloom that you will find difficult to “get into”. In fact
this film, as do a lot of its genre, relies a lot on emotions and feelings. In
fact I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Bette Davis; as an actress she is
as brilliant as always, however there are times when you note a gesture or a
pose that is so exaggerated you can very clearly see the lingering effects of
the pre-sound era of cinema. It is literally the kind of stuff I do today when
I’m clowning around and want to give a sense of an “overly exaggerated”
whatever it is… Oh you’ll recognise it. You really, really will. But you have to
remember that cinema is an art form like any other, and it grows, changes and
develops. Find it funny or not, The Letter is one of the great-grandparents of
the crime dramas we watch today. And visiting your grandparents (or indeed your
great grandparents) can be both fascinating and great fun… If you can find time
in your “modern existence” to actually do it that is… ;)
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