Letty Lynton

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Movie
Original title Letty Lynton
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1932
length 84 minutes
Rod
Director Clarence Brown
script John Meehan ,
Wanda Tuchock
production Hunt Stromberg for MGM
camera Oliver T. Marsh
cut Conrad A. Annoying
occupation

Letty Lynton is an American crime film starring Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery and directed by Clarence Brown . It was based on the novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes. The film has not been allowed to be shown commercially since a court ruling in 1939 due to copyright infringement. Letty Lynton is a good example of the lax use of censorship rules before the Production Code came into effect in 1934.

action

Letty Lynton came from an extremely wealthy New York family. She lived for some time in Montevideo, Uruguay, where she had a transgressive affair with the seedy Emile Renaul. Upon her return to the United States, Letty tries to rearrange her life. Her maid and close confidante Miranda advises her to intensify the relationship with the nice but boring Jerry Darrow. Marriage to the respectable millionaire would be the ideal way to forget the unpleasant happenings in South America.

The romance of the two starts well, but Letty secretly misses the passion and danger she felt in Emile. A trip to Havana together ends with the engagement of the two. However, Letty still fears in her heart that spicy details from her past could endanger the relationship. Back in New York, Emile is standing on the pier and waiting for Letty. With presence of mind, Miranda saves the situation and Letty drives Jerry to Long Island to see Jerry's parents. On an impulse, Letty interrupts the trip and makes another stop at her mother, a bitter, cynical woman. She only feels contempt for her daughter and sees in her sexually permissive lifestyle the legacy of her deceased husband. When Letty leaves the house, she is intercepted by Emile, who has heard of the engagement. He threatens revelations and very revealing love letters that Letty once wrote him. The young woman agrees to visit Emile in his hotel room. Letty persuades Jerry to continue the trip without her and promises to comply immediately. As soon as her fiancé is out the door, she takes a bottle of wine and a strong poison to Emile, ready to choose death instead of a life of shame and constant fear of revelation. Just as Letty is about to grab the jar with the poison, a scuffle breaks out. Emile confuses the glass and the horrified Letty makes no move to warn him. Emile dies an excruciating death and Letty hurries off in shock and heads straight to Long Island. There they received Jerry's parents with great kindness. In honor of their future daughter-in-law, they quickly organize a lavish party and Letty, who is still in shock, has a lot of fun. At the height of society, Letty suddenly confesses everything to her future mother-in-law for no apparent external reason. Together with Jerry and Miranda, she accompanies the young woman to the district attorney John J. Haney, who accuses her of the murder of Emile. Letty is about to confess everything when Jerry claims he spent the whole night with Letty and that he also knows all about the compromising letters. Suddenly Mrs. Lynton is in the room. She claims to have heard Letty tell Jerry that Emile would kill himself if she didn't come back to him. Miranda also confirms the story. The district attorney closes the files and certifies Emile's suicide. Everyone leaves the courthouse happy. For Letty and Jerry, nothing stands in the way of a future together. Her relationship with her mother has now also been clarified.

background

Joan Crawford reached a first career high point in the early 1930s. After gaining fame in films like Our Dancing Daughters by portraying fun-loving young women, then called flappers , she began to take on increasingly serious roles from 1930. Most of the time Crawford was seen as a self-confident woman who fought for happiness and social advancement on her own. The studio attached great importance to the wardrobe, which was of more interest to the predominantly female following of the actress than the plot itself.

Letty Lynton was, if you will, the epitome of Crawford's influence on women's fashion of the time. Chief designer Gilbert Adrian designed, among other things, a white dress made of organza and chiffon with puffed sleeves for the film. The reaction of the audience was overwhelming: the model was sold several hundred thousand times in department stores like Macy’s . A coat with a lush, half-high collar made of fox fur was also copied with pleasure. The various hats that Crawford wears in the course of the story also found their way into everyday fashion. Crawford demanded that famous New York hairdresser Sydney Guilaroff be hired exclusively for her hair while filming. The studio was so pleased with the result that Guilaroff was awarded a contract that ended up running for over 30 years. Clark Gable was originally intended to play Jerry, but he was already signed to Polly of the Circus starring Marion Davies , the only commercial failure of any of his films during the decade.

Crawford was very fond of the film. Even decades later, she was enthusiastic about Roy Newquist:

For me personally, "Letty Lynton" was an even bigger success [than "People in the Hotel"]. An incredibly good story and a fantastic script and a character I could relate to thanks to the renewed help of Clarence Brown. (Adrians Again, costumes were absolutely fantastic, but he was such an expert, he never made me feel like I was being relegated to a clothes rack.) If there is ever a Joan Crawford retrospective I hope they show this film be a bit out of date, but not too much. "

Problems with censorship

The film, whose plot borrows loosely from the spectacular murder trial of Madeleine Smith that rocked England in 1857, had enormous problems with censorship. Letty commits a crime by failing to prevent Renaul from drinking the poison, but in the end, a collective lie from her loved ones leaves her unmolested by the judiciary into a happy future with a millionaire. This more than lax handling of the censorship regulations, according to which crime should not be worthwhile for the perpetrator, was typical of the time that film historians call the pre-code era . It was not until the strict Production Code came into force in June 1934 that it was impossible to present a criminal offense with unpunished on the screen. The fact that Letty was not held responsible for her actions led to a ban by the censors in England in 1932, as a result of which the film was one of the few American productions of the 1930s to not be allowed to be shown commercially.

In 1936 there was a lawsuit over the copyrights to the script. Plaintiff Edward Sheldon alleged that the plot was based too closely on his play Dishonored Lady . In 1939, an appeals court ruled on copyright infringement by MGM. The plaintiff was awarded a fifth of Letty Lynton's income and was prohibited from further distribution. In 1947 United Artists brought a film adaptation of Edward Sheldon's play under the title Dishonored Lady with Hedy Lamarr in the cinemas. David Lean avoided further arguments in 1950 when he moved the plot to around 1900 in his adaptation of the events in the film Madeleine .

Theatrical release

With a production cost of $ 347,000, Letty Lynton was a comparatively inexpensive production. At $ 754,000, US revenues were a good third less than the actress' previous films. With foreign revenues of $ 418.00 and total earnings of just under $ 1,172,000, the film fell short of expectations overall. In the end MGM made a profit of $ 390,000, which was more than adequate given the worsening economic crisis.

Reviews

The film received mostly good reviews.

Mordaunt Hall was quite impressed in the New York Times :

“Miss Crawford is an efficient portrayal and Mr. Montgomery is really good at his role. Louise Closser Hale makes the most of the role of Miranda, although her dialogues are not always easy to implement. "

Photoplay was thrilled:

“The tension that the film builds in an effective way is truly unique and makes it one of the best this month. [...] Joan Crawford as Letty is perfect. Nils Asther is a fascinating villain. [...] The direction and a strong cast make Letty Lynton really worth seeing. "

The Motion Picture Herald drew attention to an aspect that is particularly important for female fans:

“Really everything you could want for good entertainment has been built into this very well played and executed film. The clothes Miss Crawford wears will be the talk of the town for weeks ... and how she wears them! "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Letty Lynton was even more of a smash for me [than Grand Hotel], personally. One hell of a story and script and a character I could really come to grips with, thanks to Clarence Brown again. (Adrian's costuming, by the way, was absolutely gorgeous, but he was so expert that he never made me feel as though I was being used as a clotheshorse.) If there is ever a Joan Crawford retrospective I hope they show this one; the acting may be a little out of style now, but not that much.
  2. ↑ Miss Crawford gives an efficient portrayal, and Mr. Montgomery does capital work in his role. Louise Closser Hale makes the most of the part of Miranda, but her lines are by no means easy to handle.
  3. ↑ The gripping, simple manner in which this picture unfolds stands it squarely among the best of the month. [...] Joan Crawford as Letty is at her best. Nils Asther is a fascinating villain. [...] The direction, plus a strong cast, make "Letty Lynton" well worth seeing.
  4. ↑ Almost everything one can wish for in entertainment has been injected into this superbly acted and directed production. The gowns which Miss Crawford wears will be the talk of your town for weeks after ... and how she wears them!