3.52-The Letter with Lewis Beer

Today's episode is my conversation about the 1929 film The Letter. I'm joined by

Lewis Beer

from the

Slow Moving Pictures

newsletter and we talk about the importance of sound right from the beginning of the film, the structural differences between the play and the film versions of the story, and the force that was Jeanne Eagles in this film that was sadly lost not long after its release.

You can watch The Letter on YouTube and be sure to check out Lewis's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• Red Desert directed by Michelangelo Antonioni

• The Seventh Seal directed by Ingmar Bergman

• The Exorcist directed by William Friedkin

• The Greatest Story Ever Told directed by George Stevens

• Game of Thrones (series)

• The General Line directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein

• The Letter directed by William Wyler

• A Woman Under the Influence directed by John Cassavetes

• All About Eve directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

• Of Human Bondage directed by John Cromwell

• Dangerous directed by Alfred E. Green

• Babylon directed by Damien Chazelle

• Jeanne Eagels directed by George Sidney

• Mary Poppins directed by Robert Stevenson

• Bedknobs and Broomsticks directed by Robert Stevenson

• The Good Fairy directed by William Wyler

• Murder! directed by Alfred Hitchcock

• The Little Foxes directed by William Wyler

• The Bride of Frankenstein directed by James Whale

• Cavalcade directed by Frank Lloyd

• Pygmalion directed by Leslie Howard and Anthony Asquith

• The Red Shoes directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

• For the Freedom of the East directed by Ira M. Lowry (lost film)

• White Shadows in the South Seas directed by W.S. Van Dyke

• "Killing the Killer" directed by Ulrich K.T. Schulz

• "Tin Toy" directed by John Lasseter

• Toy Story directed by John Lasseter

• Sadie Thompson directed by Raoul Walsh (listen to my previous episode on that film)

• The Invisible Man directed by James Whale

• Island of Lost Souls directed by Erle C. Kenton

Other referenced topics:

• Manchester Guardian article about the arrival of sound cinema

• The Letter by W. Somerset Maugham

• Alt Film Guide review of The Letter

• "Dr. Ramona Curry on Lady Tsen Mei, the First Chinese-American Film Star" by Paul R. Spitzzeri

• Photoplay spread featuring Lady Tsen Mei

• Ethel Proudlock case which inspired the story and play that inspired the film

Listen to the episode on YouTube.