Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Max Ophüls

Writers:

Stefan Zweig (story) and
Howard Koch (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 September 1948 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

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...

Plot Keywords:

Letter | Pianist | Duel | Flashback | Platonic Love

Awards:

1 win

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

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (MPAA rating: #12855) | UK:U | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Rampart Productions (I)

Trivia:

Joan Fontaine's favorite movie.

Quotes:

Lisa Berndl: The course of our lives can be changed by such little things. So many passing by, each intent on his own problems. So many faces that one might easily have been lost. I know now that nothing happens by chance. Every moment is measured; every step is counted.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La science des rêves (2006)

Soundtrack:

Un sospiro

The reality of romance

This is a well directed film from a director who appears to know what he needs from his actors, and camera operators. He especially manages to portray the lead character Lisa, played by the great Joan Fontaine very well. And Fontaine gives this renowned director what he wants. She plays both the vulnerable and later the hardened Lisa in her mature role adeptly. The very handsome Louis Jourdan, and the Vienna setting are turned into props by the director to exaggerate Lisa's vulnerability.

It is within Lisa's vulnerability that the audience can see how the concept of romantic love has been used to make women emotionally needy, which can then be taken advantage of by the likes of Jourdan's character Stefan. In the real world, romantic love becomes a commodity for transacting a deal which secures relationships. Therefore, women play up to the idea of romantic love, rather than succumb to it, and use it as a meal ticket for their security in a man's world. This is illustrated in the film by Lisa, who later marries a man for financial security, as well as respectability, as opposed to love.

After several viewings of this film, I have to say it's one of the best around!