IMDb > Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   2,743 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Max Ophüls
Writers:
Stefan Zweig (story) and
Howard Koch (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Letter from an Unknown Woman on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
13 September 1948 (Sweden) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Plot:
In Vienna, about 1900, a dashing man arrives at his flat, instructing his manservant that he will leave before morning: the man is Stefan Brand... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
1 win more
User Comments:
A European masterpiece, made in the USA more (32 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Joan Fontaine ... Lisa Berndle
Louis Jourdan ... Stefan Brand
Mady Christians ... Frau Berndle
Marcel Journet ... Johann Stauffer
Art Smith ... John
Carol Yorke ... Marie
Howard Freeman ... Herr Kastner
John Good ... Lt. Leopold von Kaltnegger
Leo B. Pessin ... Stefan Jr.
Erskine Sanford ... Porter
Otto Waldis ... Concierge
Sonja Bryden ... Frau Spitzer
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
86 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
USA:Approved (MPAA rating: #12855) | UK:U | West Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl
Company:
Rampart Productions (I) more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Joan Fontaine's favorite movie. more
Quotes:
Lisa Berndl: Oh, if only you could've recognized what was always yours, could've found what was never lost. If only... more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in La science des rêves (2006) more
Soundtrack:
Un sospiro more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
19 out of 20 people found the following comment useful.
A European masterpiece, made in the USA, 18 August 2001
Author: Geofbob from London, England

In terms of its construction - eg scenario and acting; recreation of 1900s Vienna; camera angles, movement, and lighting; editing etc - Max Ophuls' 1948 b&w film is rightly regarded as a masterpiece; but I think the term "American Masterpiece" is questionable. The movie was almost certainly not as Ophuls would ideally have wished, due to the notorious Hays Code. His next two Hollywood movies were films noirs, and he moved back to more congenial Europe for the cynical La Ronde, which he almost certainly could not have made in the US.

We're also entitled to raise an eyebrow at the movie's usual categorisation as a "tear jerker" and "woman's picture". No doubt, when it was released, and even today, many women (and some men) would unquestioningly identify with Lisa Berndl (Joan Fontaine), who maintains a deep love, from girlhood through to early middle age, for the handsome pianist Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan), who increasingly shows himself to be a shallow, selfish philanderer; like her, they would fantasise about how they could change his ways, and help him return to the concert stage; and they would weep at the tragic end to Lisa's and their dreams.

But one of the brilliant aspects of this film lies in the way Ophuls maintains enough distance from his characters and situations to allow us, if we wish, to view the movie with a more sardonic eye; to see Lisa - whether due to mental or moral weakness - as failing to grow up; to have no illusions about Stefan's failings as a man or a pianist; and to see his impending death in the duel as a joke played on him by Lisa from her grave - because had her letter not been so long he would have had time to flee Vienna as he originally intended!

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Release date for DVD? mookiemeister
great movie threeone
song played by female band? icblue02
Carol Yorke the unknown woman. bobjacqs
Rating... ainfean
son's name kspilman
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