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The Letter

The Letter

Crime · Drama · 1940

After a woman shoots a man to death, a damning letter she wrote raises suspicions.

Movie details

The Letter

“Fascinating, Tantalizing and DANGEROUS!”

1940 Crime · Drama 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

After a woman shoots a man to death, a damning letter she wrote raises suspicions.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Letter?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Night and the City

Night and the City

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Londoner Harry Fabian is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary, becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan.

Richard Jewell

Richard Jewell

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Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime by sloppy FBI work and sensational media coverage.

Cry of the City

Cry of the City

Crime · 1948

Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?

Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution

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An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.

Madame X

Madame X

Drama · 1966

Holly Parker, the wife of a wealthy diplomat, is compromised by the accidental death of a man who has been romantically pursuing her. She is forced by her mother-in-law to assume a new identity in order to save the reputation of her husband and infant son. She wanders the world, trying to forget her heartbreak with the aid of alcohol and unsavory men. Eventually returning to the city of her downfall, she murders a blackmailer who threatens to expose her past. Amazingly, Holly is represented at her murder trial by her now adult son, who has become a public defender. In the hope of protecting her family, she refuses to reveal her real name and is known to the court as "Madame X".

Hamlet

Hamlet

Drama · 1948

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.

The Mask of Dimitrios

The Mask of Dimitrios

Crime · 1944

A mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.

Footsteps in the Fog

Footsteps in the Fog

Thriller · 1955

A Victorian-era murder mystery about a parlour maid who discovers that her employer may have killed his first wife.

Evil Under the Sun

Evil Under the Sun

Thriller · 1982

An opulent beach resort provides a scenic background to this amusing whodunit as Poirot attempts to uncover the nefarious evildoer behind the strangling of a notorious stage star.

The Pelican Brief

The Pelican Brief

Thriller · 1993

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

William Wyler

Written by

Howard E. Koch

Bette Davis

Bette Davis

Leslie Crosbie

Herbert Marshall

Herbert Marshall

Robert Crosbie

James Stephenson

James Stephenson

Howard Joyce

Frieda Inescort

Frieda Inescort

Dorothy Joyce

Gale Sondergaard

Gale Sondergaard

Mrs. Hammond

Bruce Lester

Bruce Lester

John Withers

Elizabeth Inglis

Elizabeth Inglis

Adele Ainsworth

Court is in session

Put The Letter on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.