Letter from an Unknown Woman

Max Ophüls is most famous for the elegant, bittersweet romantic pictures he made in France in the 1950s (notably La Ronde and The Earrings of Madame de…), but his American films of the 1940s are equally good, including 1948's Letter From an Unknown Woman, an exquisitely stylish melodrama that anticipates the grace and continental sensibility of those later classics. Joan Fontaine delivers one of the best performances of her career as Lisa Berndle, an awkward young Viennese woman hopelessly enthralled by dashing pianist and bon vivant Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan), a handsome cad who briefly takes her as a lover and then forgets her in the blur of women who pass through his bedroom. Fontaine's Lisa is vulnerable without lapsing into sentimentality, and she ultimately shows a hidden strength as she risks everything for one more moment with the love of her life, while Jourdan's Stefan is genial and callow, an empty figure confronted by the meaningless of his life and shamed by self-discovery. Ophüls' endlessly moving camera circles around the characters while maintaining a measured distance, offering an intimate view that deftly captures Lisa's life-defining rapture and Stefan's fleeting engagement. A beautiful and devastating romantic drama making its long-awaited stateside debut on both DVD and Blu-ray, this is highly recommended. [Blu-ray Review—Dec. 12, 2017—Olive, 87 min., not rated, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1948's Letter from an Unknown Woman features an excellent transfer and mono audio. Extras include audio commentary by Ophüls expert Lutz Bacher, a “Passion's Triumph” visual essay (25 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurettes “An Independent Woman” (17 min.) and “Ophülsesque: The Look” (17 min.), “A Deal Made in a Turkish Bath” interview with Max's son Marcel Ophüls (14 min.), an essay by Molly Haskell, and a booklet. Bottom line: this classic Hollywood Golden Era drama shines in this Olive “Signature” edition.] (S. Axmaker)