The Letter (1940)

In director William Wyler's great noirish melodrama of murder, betrayal, and deceit:

• the shocking opening murder scene on a porch as British plantation owner's wife Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) pumped six bullets into a man's body - the victim was her neighbor Geoffrey Hammond (David Newell) as he staggered out of a tropical bungalow on the grounds of a Malayan rubber plantation
• the emotional scene of Leslie's dramatic, self-defense narrative and confession to her lawyer Howard Joyce (James Stephenson) about what had happened the night of the murder: ("...When I walked past him toward the veranda to call the boys, well, he took hold of my arm and swung me back. But I tried to scream and he flung his arms about me and began to kiss me. I struggled to tear myself away from him. He seemed like a madman. He kept talking and talking and saying he loved me. Oh, it's horrible, I can't go on...He lifted me in his arms and started carrying me. Somehow, he stumbled on those steps. We fell and I got away from him. Suddenly, I remembered Robert's revolver in the drawer of that chest. He got up and ran after me but I reached it before he could catch me. I seized the gun as he came toward me. I heard a report and saw him lurch toward the door. Oh, it was all instinctive. I didn't even know I'd fired. Then I followed him out to the veranda. He staggered across the porch, grabbed the railing, but it slipped through his hand and he fell down the steps. I don't remember anything more, just the reports one after another till there was a funny little click and the revolver was empty. It was only then I knew what I'd done")
• the timely emergence of an incriminating letter that proved Leslie Crosbie had invited Mr. Hammond to her bungalow the night of the murder, proving pre-meditated murder (and that he was her lover), according to her lawyer Howard Joyce: ("This letter places an entirely different complexion on the whole case. It'll put the prosecution on the track of - suspicions which have entered nobody's mind. I won't tell you what I personally thought when I read the letter. It's the duty of counsel to defend his client, not to convict her even in his own mind. I don't want you to tell me anything but what is needed to save your neck. 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...") - his words caused Leslie to faint and collapse onto the floor

Dramatic Re-claiming of the Blackmail Letter Scene
Mrs. Hammond	Leslie's Debasement

• the dramatic re-claiming of the blackmail letter scene from Mrs. Hammond (Gale Sondergaard), Hammond's Eurasian wife, and her dramatic entrance through a jangling bead curtain; the sequence of Leslie's personal apology and debasement to pick up the incriminating letter, in exchange for $10,000 (that had emptied her long-suffering husband Robert's (Herbert Marshall) bank account); with the suppression of the letter, Leslie was quickly acquitted in her trial
• later, during a celebratory party, as she was standing on her balcony, Leslie saw a gleaming dagger planted there
• the scene of Leslie's incredible confession to her kind and generous husband Robert; although he knew of her affair, he offered to forgive her if she professed her love for him - she admitted her ultimate betrayal in the final line of the film that she still loved the man she killed: (Robert: "That's not enough, unless... Leslie, tell me. Now. This minute. Do you love me?" Leslie: "Yes, l do. (They kissed) No! l can't, l can't, l can't!" Robert: "Leslie, what is it? Leslie, what is it?" Leslie: "With all my heart, I still love the man I killed! Oh, no")
• the final retribution scene as Leslie walked deliberately into her own dark tropical garden where she saw the outer gate was ajar; shadows came over her as the moon was covered by clouds; outside the gate in the darkness, she was confronted by vengeful, retribution-seeking Mrs. Hammond, and another man-servant; she was grabbed and gagged by the man (to stifle her screams), and then stabbed to death by a flashing dagger in Mrs. Hammond's hand
• the view of Leslie's body revealed on the ground, as the moonlight illuminated the murder scene