The first big-screen adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s The Letter is showing in a new 35mm restoration – from the sole surviving nitrate print – at 2:30 pm tomorrow, March 2, at the Wexner Centre for the Arts at Ohio State University in Columbus, as part of this year’s Cinema Revival. The screening will be introduced by David Stenn, who has praised the leading lady’s performance as ‘electrifying’ and ‘the most ferocious in Pre-Code history,’ adding: ‘Don’t miss Jeanne Eagels. And don’t mess with her, either …’
Among Mr. Stenn’s restoration projects is another 1929 movie, The Wild Party, Dorothy Arzner’s co-ed romp starring Clara Bow in her first talking picture. Contrary to myth, the transition to sound didn’t finish Clara’s career – but private turmoil and media hypocrisy soon did. The original ‘It Girl’ has been making fresh headlines lately, as superstar Taylor Swift has named a track from her forthcoming album after her – and, thrillingly, an early comedy short starring Ms. Bow (The Pill Pounder, 1923) was recently discovered in an Omaha parking lot!
Clara Bow’s tumultuous life was chronicled by David Stenn in his first book, Running Wild; while a reissue of his Jean Harlow biography, Bombshell, and a timely re-release for Girl 27, Stenn’s documentary about #MeToo pioneer Patricia Douglas, are also in the works.
Based on the play by W. Somerset Maugham, The Letter features an impressive turn from popular stage actress Jeanne Eagels in her only surviving sound film performance. She stars as Leslie Crosbie, the bored wife of a neglectful rubber plantation owner. Leslie carries on a torrid affair with Geoffrey Hammond (Herbert Marshall), who later spurns her for a Chinese mistress. Leslie kills her former lover, and her self-defense claim is about to work until an incriminating letter suddenly materialises. The film is not nearly as well known as the 1940 remake with Bette Davis (who was greatly inspired by Eagels’s performance) but is perhaps far more interesting for some of the pre-Code content not possible in the later version. (65 mins., 35mm)
The Letter is preceded by two shorts. Accent on Girls (10 mins., 35mm) stars Ina Ray Hutton, the ‘Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm,’ who led one of the first all-female big bands. The MGM Convention Reel (10 mins., 35mm) reveals stars such as Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, and Joan Crawford partying and celebrating. Long suppressed due to scandal, the film is still timely and revealing today.
David Stenn, a writer and producer for television, a biographer, and a prominent supporter of film preservation, introduces the films and discusses the unique restoration story behind each.