The Letter (1940)

The Letter is first class entertainment.



This 1940 film noir from director William Wyler (Ben-Hur, The Little Foxes) offers plenty to savour.



There's great performances from Bette Davis, James Stephenson and Gale Sondergaard (The Mark of Zorro) and beautiful cinematography from Tony Gaudio (The Adventures of Robin Hood, High Sierra).



The Letter earned an eye-popping seven Academy Award nominations, including Davis (best actress) and Wyler (director).



This film opens with a bang, or bangs, to be more exact. Leslie Crosbie (Davis) has just filled a Geoffrey Hammond (David Newell) with slugs outside her home at a rubber plantation late at night.



She suggests Hammond was a surprise visitor who planned to sexually assault her. The story sounds believable until her lawyer Howard Joyce (Stephenson) learns of a letter Leslie wrote to Hammond that same day, demanding to see him. They were lovers. Leslie is riled he chose to tie the knot with Sondergaard. Murder follows.



Joyce puts his career on the line to help his client. Her husband, Robert (Herbert Marshall), is her loving and totally clueless better half who knows nothing of his wife's lengthy affair. His dreams of a new business opportunity are also risked because of the cash it'll take to make the sure chances of a murder conviction disappear.



Sondergaard says little in this film, but boy does she make a big impact on the screen as she continually glowers at the woman who killed her husband. The spooky mood surrounding her character gets a big help from the score courtesy of Max Steiner (Casablanca, Gone with the Wind). Watch, and listen, for a scene at a Chinese merchant's shop with wind chimes dangling as Mrs. Hammond and Leslie meet. This is great cinema, followed by a chilling finale.



There's plenty of drama after the murder trial as Robert tries to deal with his wife's infidelity, Joyce wondering if he's thrown his career away and Leslie still tormented by her lover. The DVD I watched offered an alternate ending, but there's nothing Earth shattering about its content. The original packs a real punch and a fine overhead shot leading to the film's final scene.



RATING: 9/10



FUN FACTS: Prison matron Doris Lloyd was Baroness Ebberfeld in The Sound of Music. She also had an uncredited role in the original Mutiny on the Bounty.



Victor Sen Yung, who appears as James Stephenson's assistant, was Hop Sing in Bonanza. He also played Jimmy Chan in several Charlie Chan films.

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

It's no problem to watch Trouble in Paradise.

This romantic comedy from director Ernst Lubitsch (Heaven Can Wait) is a true gem filled with great performances and an incredibly witty script.

MUST WATCH, MUST WATCH, MUST WATCH

This film, which remains a joy to watch 80 years after its release, is a must-see.

Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) is a true talent in the business of fraud. He works his way around Europe fleecing the very rich. When he strikes at a peace conference, a police reporter sums up his effectiveness with "He took practically everything except the peace."

Monescu finds love with another thief, Lily (Miriam Hopkins). A talented team of schemers is born.

"I love you," Monescu tells Lily early in the film. "I loved you the moment I saw you. I'm mad about you, my little shoplifter. My sweet little pickpocket. My darling."



Monescu sees a prime opportunity for a major score by targeting Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), the widow of a perfume boss. This lady is r-i-c-h. She's busy turning down other suitors ("Marriage is a beautiful mistake which two people make together, but with you I think it would be a mistake.")

PLEASURE MIXES WITH BUSINESS Monescu smooth talks his way into becoming Colet's secretary with plans for a major heist in a matter of weeks. But it's hard for him to separate business from pleasure when he finds himself falling for the stunning Colet.

"I came here to rob you, but unfortunately fell in love with you," he tells her.

Lily gets wise to Monescu's funny business just as an earlier victim gets suspicious of Colet's new hired hand. The fraudsters plan to head to Germany, but will Monescu ride the rails to freedom or try and make a go of things with Colet?

"I love you as a crook," Lily says when she first gets suspicious about his intentions with his latest mark. "I worship you as a crook. Steal, swindle, rob, oh but don't become one of those useless good-for-nothing gigolos."

Who writes this kind of dialogue now?

Trouble in Paradise offers quick jabs at advertising ("Remember it doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter how you look. It's how you smell.") and the affluence of the rich during the Great Depression. Colet is berated by a Communist (Leonid Kinskey) for spending so much money on jewelry.

The more recent Lost in Translation offered an interesting scene where Bill Murray whispers something to Scarlett Johansson. The audience can't hear what's said. Lost in Translation has several such scenes as well as numerous quick edits when characters react to news from others. Here's an example. A female character at a start of an opera sings, "I love you." When the film moves ahead to later in the show, things have changed. "I hate you," she sings. Great stuff.

Hey, there's even a nod to the rich being treated differently than the average Joe when it comes to crime. Shades of the financial meltdown of 1988 anyone? "You have to be in the social registry to keep out of jail," suggests Monescu. Zap!

This movie-goer suffered thorugh nearly three hours of The Dark Knight Rises. Trouble in Paradise wins your heart in just 83 minutes. Watch this movie!

RATING: 10/10

FUN FACTS: Leonid Kinskey was a bartender in Casablanca, Professor Overbeck in television's Batman and an agitator, again, in Duck Soup.