After last month's Bette Davis classic, we follow - without turning things into a Bette season - with another, perhaps more typical classic Davis. The Letter (1940) is adapted from a Somerset Maugham short story inspired by a real case involving the wife of a headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur. It is a noir, directed with panache by William Wyler and co-stars Herbert Marshall and James Stephenson. This time, rather than the southern belle style of The Old Maid, Davis shows great range in portraying a murderous woman of passion, whose contradictory tenderness and arrogance is tempered by a cruel honesty. It is a more typical Bette role that demonstrates her magnificence.
Greetings Classic Film Fans,
After last month's Bette Davis classic, we follow - without turning things into a Bette season - with another, perhaps more typical classic Davis.
The Letter (1940) is adapted from a Somerset Maugham short story inspired by a real case involving the wife of a headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur. It is a noir, directed with panache by William Wyler and co-stars Herbert Marshall and James Stephenson.
This time, rather than the southern belle style of The Old Maid, Davis shows great range in portraying a murderous woman of passion, whose contradictory tenderness and arrogance is tempered by a cruel honesty. It is a more typical Bette role that demonstrates her magnificence.
More information on the film here.
Classic Film Club @ SouthBank
Monthly Second Sundays: 5.30 for 6.00pm screening.
SouthBank Arts Cafe and Bar,
Dean Lane, Southville, Bristol.
Guest Membership £3
