racechange: The Letter

The movie

Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis), the wife of a rubber plantation administrator, shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defence. She shot him six times but everyone believes her and she thinks that thinks she is going to get away with it.

But then Mrs Hammond (Gale Sondergaard), her lover’s Eurasian widow, turns up with that letter.

A great film but the Hays Production Code dictated two changes from the original story that detracted from its moral ambiguities: Gale Sondergaard’s character had to be a wife not a mistress; and Leslie had to be appropriately punished (stabbed by Mrs Hammond).

The makeup

Perc Westmore was responsible for the makeup.