Love Letters (1945)
Posted: November 2nd, 2007, 8:24 pm
Still another film which I had seen as a boy and never had watched again until now. I must have been an extremely melancholy kid, since my childhood’s fondest film memories are related to such dramas as Garbo’s and Vivien Leigh’s versions of “Anna Karenina”, John Ford’s “Mary of Scotland”, “Portrait of Jennie” et al.
Something happens to me with Jennifer Jones; she definitely “does something to me”. Although her performances might have some flaws for some critics and other film buffs, she has an absolute mesmerizing ethereal quality that totally bewitches and wins me over, especially in such films as “Love Letters”, “Portrait of Jennie” and “Madame Bovary”. Her dreamy expressive eyes, her beautiful smile, her cheeks and her soft voice, among other many assets, are truly spellbinding. It’s more than her acting ability that attracts me, it is a certain magic she has, something ethereal, otherworldly and unexplainable that makes her ideal for this kind of roles, portraying frail, delicate, feminine women; the ultimate dream of any romantic man, such as the characters played in the two former films by Mr. Joseph Cotten, who gives another masterful performance in this film.
Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten made four pictures together, but by far my two favourites are “Portrait of Jennie” and “Love Letters”, both directed by William Dieterle. I’d nominate both actors as the most romantic cinematic couple that ever existed.
This film deals with romantic longing, with Platonic love, with two soul mates that fall in love via letters, the “love” letters of the title. A fragile, yet determined, sweet, young, unhappily married woman who clings to her memories of the man she believes to be her husband, represented by this letters which she thinks were written by him before they were married, when in fact they were written by another man she’s never met… a man whose life has never been the same after writing these letters to help an Army buddy during the Second World War… a man who after returning to England, wounded from action in Italy, retreats in his solace, secluded and almost isolated from everybody and everything in the English countryside, to live through his memories of a woman he loves, but who has never met.
I was so pleased of having being able to rediscover this wondrous film, which has only grown stronger in my soul as an adult –sometimes revisiting films from our childhood becomes a disenchanting and disillusioning experience, this not being the case at all.
What a joy to see dear Cecil Kellaway –who’s also part of the cast of “Portrait of Jennie”- as one of the supporting players in this movie, as Cotten’s “Gargoyle” Gardener. Ann Richards, a forgotten actress from the 1940s, gives a beautiful, sincere, luminous performance as Ms. Jones’ best friend. Anita Louise is charming as Cotten’s ex-fiancée, and they have a very believable scene in which they realize they’ve fallen out of love with each other. Gladys Cooper is excellent –as usual- as Jones’ embittered, sombre aunt.
Two more pluses: author Ayn Rand wrote the adapted screenplay and Victor Young composed the haunting main theme.
The director of this film, Mr. William Dieterle, deserves to have his career re-evaluated. After all he was responsible for these landmark romantic classics and for such vintage gems as “All That Money Can Buy” (1941), “Jewel Robbery” (1932), “Juarez” (1939), “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” (1935), “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939), “The Story of Louis Pasteur” (1936) and “The Life of Emile Zola” (1937), among others.
Something happens to me with Jennifer Jones; she definitely “does something to me”. Although her performances might have some flaws for some critics and other film buffs, she has an absolute mesmerizing ethereal quality that totally bewitches and wins me over, especially in such films as “Love Letters”, “Portrait of Jennie” and “Madame Bovary”. Her dreamy expressive eyes, her beautiful smile, her cheeks and her soft voice, among other many assets, are truly spellbinding. It’s more than her acting ability that attracts me, it is a certain magic she has, something ethereal, otherworldly and unexplainable that makes her ideal for this kind of roles, portraying frail, delicate, feminine women; the ultimate dream of any romantic man, such as the characters played in the two former films by Mr. Joseph Cotten, who gives another masterful performance in this film.
Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten made four pictures together, but by far my two favourites are “Portrait of Jennie” and “Love Letters”, both directed by William Dieterle. I’d nominate both actors as the most romantic cinematic couple that ever existed.
This film deals with romantic longing, with Platonic love, with two soul mates that fall in love via letters, the “love” letters of the title. A fragile, yet determined, sweet, young, unhappily married woman who clings to her memories of the man she believes to be her husband, represented by this letters which she thinks were written by him before they were married, when in fact they were written by another man she’s never met… a man whose life has never been the same after writing these letters to help an Army buddy during the Second World War… a man who after returning to England, wounded from action in Italy, retreats in his solace, secluded and almost isolated from everybody and everything in the English countryside, to live through his memories of a woman he loves, but who has never met.
I was so pleased of having being able to rediscover this wondrous film, which has only grown stronger in my soul as an adult –sometimes revisiting films from our childhood becomes a disenchanting and disillusioning experience, this not being the case at all.
What a joy to see dear Cecil Kellaway –who’s also part of the cast of “Portrait of Jennie”- as one of the supporting players in this movie, as Cotten’s “Gargoyle” Gardener. Ann Richards, a forgotten actress from the 1940s, gives a beautiful, sincere, luminous performance as Ms. Jones’ best friend. Anita Louise is charming as Cotten’s ex-fiancée, and they have a very believable scene in which they realize they’ve fallen out of love with each other. Gladys Cooper is excellent –as usual- as Jones’ embittered, sombre aunt.
Two more pluses: author Ayn Rand wrote the adapted screenplay and Victor Young composed the haunting main theme.
The director of this film, Mr. William Dieterle, deserves to have his career re-evaluated. After all he was responsible for these landmark romantic classics and for such vintage gems as “All That Money Can Buy” (1941), “Jewel Robbery” (1932), “Juarez” (1939), “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” (1935), “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939), “The Story of Louis Pasteur” (1936) and “The Life of Emile Zola” (1937), among others.