The Letter

E144658

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.

All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
The Letter canonical 10
The Letter (1940 film) 2
The Letter (play) 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

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

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (13)

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 (1940 film) → basedOn → The Letter (play) ⓘ
subject linked to: The Letter
linked to: The Letter
The Letter → title → The Letter ⓘ
Ruth Elizabeth Davis → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ
Gale Sondergaard → performedIn → The Letter (1940 film) ⓘ
linked to: The Letter
Victor Sen Yung → appearedIn → The Letter (1940 film) ⓘ
linked to: The Letter
Elizabeth Inglis → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ
Gaetano Gaudio → notableWork → The Letter ⓘ