“The Letter” quotes
(1940)
William Wyler
directed this movie
in 1940
Title The Letter
Year 1940
Director William Wyler
Genre Drama, Crime, Romance, Film-Noir, Mystery
Year 1940
Director William Wyler
Genre Drama, Crime, Romance, Film-Noir, Mystery
Plot – Robert and Leslie Crosbie live on a rubber plantation near Singapore. One night, while Robert is absent, Leslie shoots Hammond, a young English Singaporean. Leslie tells her husband and her lawyer Joyce that she shot Hammond blindly because he wanted to rape her. However, while she is under arrest awaiting trial, Joyce learns that the widow of the victim, a local, has a letter from Leslie in which she herself invites Hammond to take advantage of the absence of her husband to go see her. The lawyer buys the letter at a a very high price and Leslie is released. After the trial, the lawyer has to justify the high price paid for the letter and Leslie is forced to confess to her husband that she was Hammond's mistress. Robert, overcoming the pain and bitterness, forgives her, but she cannot forget the man who she continues to love even beyond death, so she allows Hammond's widow to take her revenge.
All actors – Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaard, Bruce Lester, Elizabeth Inglis, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Sen Yung, Doris Lloyd, Willie Fung, Tetsu Komai
show all“The Letter” Quotes 15 quotes
“With all my heart, I still love the man I killed.”
“Strange that a man can live with a woman for ten years and not know the first thing about her.”
“You've been the best wife a man could have. I've always loved you. Leslie, darling, if I could love you any more, I would now.”
“Be flippant about your own crimes if you want to, but don't be flippant about mine!”
“- Robert Crosbie: I'll do whatever you think is right.
- Howard Joyce: I don't think it's right, but I think it's expedient.”“- Leslie Crosbie: You won't have to show Bob the letter, will you?
- Howard Joyce: I'll do everything possible to prevent him from seeing it. He'll be an important witness and he should be as firmly convinced of your innocence as he is now.”“Juries can sometimes be very stupid, and it's just as well not to worry them with more evidence than they can conveniently deal with.”
“I wonder why your story never wavers from exactly the same words. It suggests either that you have an extraordinary memory... or you're telling the plain, unvarnished truth.”
“They can prove that Hammond came to your house at your urgent invitation. I don't know what else they can prove, but if the jury comes to the conclusion that you didn't kill Hammond in self-defense...”
“A lawyer has a duty to his profession and to himself.”
“Poor Robert, he doesn't deserve it. He's never hurt anyone in his life. He's so good and simple and kind and he trusts me so. I mean everything, everything in the world to him. It's gonna ruin his life.”
“If you love a person, you can forgive anything.”
“He tried to make love to me and I shot him.”
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