The Letter

E144658
drama film film film noir

The Letter is a 1940 film noir drama starring Bette Davis as a woman accused of murder in colonial Malaya, renowned for her powerful performance and the film’s tense, atmospheric storytelling.

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All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
The Letter canonical 7
The Letter (1940 film) 2
The Letter (play) 1

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf drama film ⓘ
film ⓘ
film noir ⓘ
adaptationOf 1927 play The Letter ⓘ
artDirectionBy Carl Jules Weyl ⓘ
basedOn The Letter self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: The Letter (play)
basedOnWorkAuthor W. Somerset Maugham ⓘ
blackAndWhite true ⓘ
cinematography Tony Gaudio ⓘ
costumeDesignBy Orry-Kelly ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
director William Wyler ⓘ
distributedBy Warner Bros. Pictures ⓘ
surface form: Warner Bros.
distributorRegion United States theatrical release ⓘ
era Hollywood Golden Age ⓘ
surface form: Golden Age of Hollywood
filmEditingBy Warren Low ⓘ
genre drama ⓘ
film noir ⓘ
leadCharacter Renée Asherson ⓘ
surface form: Leslie Crosbie
musicBy Max Steiner ⓘ
narrativeLocation rubber plantation in colonial Malaya ⓘ
nominatedFor Academy Award for Best Actress ⓘ
Academy Award for Best Cinematography ⓘ
surface form: Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

Academy Award for Best Director ⓘ
Academy Award for Best Film Editing ⓘ
Academy Award for Best Original Score ⓘ
Academy Award for Best Picture ⓘ
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ⓘ
notableFor Bette Davis’s powerful lead performance ⓘ
opening scene of a shooting on a moonlit plantation ⓘ
tense atmospheric storytelling ⓘ
originalLanguage English ⓘ
plotSummary A married woman in colonial Malaya is tried for the murder of her lover after claiming self-defense. ⓘ
portraysCharacter Bette Davis as Leslie Crosbie ⓘ
Gale Sondergaard as Mrs. Hammond ⓘ
Herbert Marshall as Robert Crosbie ⓘ
James Stephenson as Howard Joyce ⓘ
previousAdaptation The Letter (1929 film) ⓘ
producer Hal B. Wallis ⓘ
productionCompany Warner Bros. Pictures ⓘ
surface form: Warner Bros.
releaseDate 1940-11-02 ⓘ
releaseYear 1940 ⓘ
runtimeMinutes 95 ⓘ
screenwriter Howard E. Koch ⓘ
settingLocation British Malaya ⓘ
starring Bette Davis ⓘ
Bruce Lester ⓘ
Frieda Inescort ⓘ
Gale Sondergaard ⓘ
Herbert Marshall ⓘ
James Stephenson ⓘ

Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bette Davis → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ
William Wyler → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ
William Wyler → directed → The Letter ⓘ
Herbert Marshall → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ
The Letter → basedOn → The Letter self-linksurface differs ⓘ
subject surface form: The Letter (1940 film)
this entity surface form: The Letter (play)
The Letter → title → The Letter ⓘ
Ruth Elizabeth Davis → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ
Gale Sondergaard → performedIn → The Letter ⓘ
this entity surface form: The Letter (1940 film)
Victor Sen Yung → appearedIn → The Letter ⓘ
this entity surface form: The Letter (1940 film)
Elizabeth Inglis → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ