Editing The Letter (1940 film) (section)

==Reception==
The film was a huge hit with the public, and received seven [[13th Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations (for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Outstanding Production]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] (Davis), [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] (Stephenson), [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography – Black and White]], [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]], and [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]], but failed to win any.

===Critical response===
In his review in ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Bosley Crowther]] observed, "The ultimate credit for as taut and insinuating a [[melodrama]] as has come along this year — a film which extenuates tension like a grim inquisitor's rack—must be given to Mr. Wyler. His hand is patent throughout . . . Miss Davis is a strangely cool and calculating killer who conducts herself with reserve and yet implies a deep confusion of emotions . . . Only the end of ''The Letter'' is weak — and that is because of the postscript which the Hays Office has compelled".<ref>{{cite news |date=23 November 1940 |first1=Bosley |last1=Crowther |title=THE SCREEN; 'The Letter,' With Bette Davis and James Stephenson, a Communication of Brooding Evil, at the Strand |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/11/23/archives/the-screen-the-letter-with-bette-davis-and-james-stephenson-a.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923105811/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/11/23/archives/the-screen-the-letter-with-bette-davis-and-james-stephenson-a.html |archive-date=2020-09-23}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine wrote, "Never has [the W. Somerset Maugham play] been done with greater production values, a better all-around cast or finer direction. Its defect is its grimness. Director William Wyler, however, sets himself a tempo which is in rhythm with the Malay locale . . . Davis' frigidity at times seems to go even beyond the characterization. On the other hand, Marshall never falters. Virtually stealing these honors in the pic, however, is Stephenson as the attorney, while Sondergaard is the perfect mask-like threat".<ref>{{cite journal| date=31 December 1939| title=The Letter|url=https://variety.com/review/VE1117792559| magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

''[[Time Out London]]'' said in 2012, "A superbly crafted melodrama, even if it never manages to top the moody montage with which it opens - moon scudding behind clouds, rubber dripping from a tree, coolies dozing in the compound, a startled cockatoo - as a shot rings out, a man staggers out onto the verandah, and Davis follows to empty her gun grimly into his body . . . [The] camerawork, almost worthy of Sternberg in its evocation of sultry [[Singapore]] nights and cool [[Singapore Sling|gin slings]], is not matched by natural sounds (on the soundtrack [[Max Steiner]]'s score does a lot of busy underlining).<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-letter| title=Review: The Letter| magazine=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]| date=September 10, 2012| accessdate=November 28, 2022}}</ref>

The film holds a 100% rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 8.40/10.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012264-letter |title=The Letter |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=February 22, 2022 }}</ref>

===Accolades===
[[File:James Stephenson in The Letter trailer.jpg|thumb|[[James Stephenson (actor)|James Stephenson]] as attorney Howard Joyce]]
The film is recognized by [[American Film Institute]] in these lists:
* 2003: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains]]:
** Leslie Crosbie – Nominated Villain<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/handv400.pdf |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains Nominees |access-date=2016-08-05}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="7"| [[13th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Outstanding Production]]
| [[Hal B. Wallis]] (for [[Warner Bros.]])
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| [[William Wyler]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| [[Bette Davis]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[James Stephenson (actor)|James Stephenson]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography – Black and White]]
| [[Tony Gaudio]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| [[Warren Low]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]
| [[Max Steiner]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1941|National Board of Review Awards]]
| Best Acting
| James Stephenson <small>(also for ''[[Shining Victory]]'')</small>
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[1940 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| William Wyler
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| James Stephenson
| {{nom}}
|}