The Letter (1982)

Name: The Letter
Genre: Drama, TV Movie
Released: 1982-05-03
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 4.7
Cast: Lee Remick, Ronald Pickup, Jack Thompson, Ian McShane, Christopher Cazenove

The Letter (1982), directed by John Erman, starring Lee Remick and Ronald Pickup.

05/03/1982 BR Drama and TV Movie 1h 36m

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Synopsis

The wife of a Malaysian planter kills an employee of her husband one night, but her motive begins to appear not entirely truthful.

James CrabeCinematography
John ErmanDirector
Jim BensonEditing
Anna CottleProducer

About the film

The Letter is a 1982 American television movie, starring Lee Remick, Ronald Pickup, Jack Thompson, Ian McShane and Christopher Cazenove and directed by John Erman. It is the third film version of the 1927 play of the same title by W. Somerset Maugham.

It screened as part of ABC Theatre.

Read the full article (2k characters)

It screened as part of ABC Theatre.

Plot

Cast

Lee Remick as Leslie Crosbie

Ronald Pickup as Howard Joyce

Jack Thompson as Robert Crosbie

Ian McShane as Geoff

Christopher Cazenove as Officer Withers

Kieu Chinh as Chinese Woman

Wilfrid Hyde-White as Judge

Sarah Marshall as Dorothy Joyce

Soon-Tek Oh as Ong

James Hong as Old Man

Molly Roden as Warden Larkin

Production

Remick's casting was announced in April 1981. The story had been filmed twice before but Remick said "our version is different because we actually show what happened rather than relying on the woman's explanation."

The movie was an early international role for Australian actor Jack Thompson.

Reception

The Chicago Tribune called it "wickedly wonderful."

The Los Angeles Times called it "quite remarkable...literate, sumptuously produced, beautifully acted."

Awards

Remick was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.

The film won the Primetime Emmy Award for Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special, Costume Design for a Special, and Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special. Laurence Rosenthal was nominated for Music Composition for a Limited Series or a Special (Dramatic Underscore).

References

External links

The Letter at IMDb

The Letter at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

The Letter at Letterbox DVD

Text from The Letter (1982 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter_(1982_film)

Trivia

It premiered on May 3, 1982, a Monday.
It runs 1h36 — a typical feature length.
This film's quiz has 11 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.