The Letter (1929) on Netflix
Leslie Crosbie lives on her husband Robert's rubber plantation in Singapore. She takes Geoffrey Hammond as a lover. Geoffrey turns to Li-Ti, and Leslie demands to see him.
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- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.6/101,052 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
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Plot summary
Leslie Crosbie feels no affection for her husband Robert, who owns a rubber plantation in Singapore. Lonely there, she begins an affair with Geoffrey Hammond. Geoffrey loses interest in her and takes a Chinese mistress named Li-Ti. Learning of this, Leslie asks Geoffrey to see her while Robert is away and hopes to win him back. Geoffrey tells her he prefers Li-Ti instead. Leslie shoots him, and at her trial she claims he attacked her and she fired in self-defense.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Letter (1929)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The story was inspired by a real-life scandal: the Eurasian wife of a school headmaster in Kuala Lumpur shot dead a male friend in April 1911, was convicted of murder, and was later pardoned by the local sultan after a public furor.
- Jeanne Eagels died just months after finishing The Letter, and her posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actress made her the first performer ever nominated by the Academy after their death, though the nominations that year were unofficial.
- Long believed lost, The Letter resurfaced when a workprint was found on April 3, 2011 and given to the Library of Congress and The Film Foundation, which restored the film that June.
- The Chicago Board of Censors passed The Letter but restricted it to "for adults only", and the 4,400-seat Chicago Theatre advertised it as "too daring" for immature eyes, taking $59,500 in one week.
- The Letter was the first full-sound feature shot at Astoria Studios in Queens, New York City, and a silent version of the film was also released.
- Warner Bros. put the restored The Letter out on made-on-demand DVD, and it is the only surviving sound film starring Jeanne Eagels.
