- Actors: Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians, Marcel Journet, Art Smith
- Directors: Max Ophüls
- Writers: Max Ophüls, Howard Koch, Stefan Zweig
- Producers: John Houseman, William Dozier
- Language English
- Classification: U
- Studio: Second Sight
- VHS Release Date: 24 Jan 2000
- Run Time: 86 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004CUNX
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 12,891 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
67 of 68 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
This film has got to be one of the most hauntingly beautiful films ever made. Starting with the line 'By the time you read this Letter I'll be dead', it relates the tale of a young woman (Joan Fontaine)'s love for a brooding pianist (Louis Jordan). This heart-breaking tale spans several decades from the time of their first meeting while she is still a child, to the night they spend together, and finally to the time of this letter's arrival. Joan Fontaine is stunning as the teenager who grows to maturity, always loving the man whose music used to delight her as she sat beneath his window, pretending he was playing only for her; while Louis Jordan is superb as the initially brilliant, temperamental pianist who becomes jaded and despised, apparently the victim of his own talent. The brief time they are together creates a warmth that pervades the whole film: one gets the sense that these people are truly meant to be together, and yet, even then, one knows that it will be her reticence and his fecklessness that are their downfall. She is the woman who could save him from himself, but is unable to speak of how she really feels, and he senses that there is more to her than to those women to whom he is generally drawn, but never values her sufficiently to find out the love of which she is really capable. The delight of the time they are together contrasts sharply with the pain of their separations: she acknowledges and knows the cause of this pain, while his life simply becomes increasingly problematic, his behaviour more erratic, while he searches for the meaning he can only find in her love. It is only through this letter that he realises what he could have had, and that it is too late to attain happiness. However, it is as a result of this letter that he is able to recognise who she was, and, to some extent, to requite her love.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Modern Hollywood tells us that romances are just product for women - guns for boys, love for girls. Forget that, and instead go back to when films were made with intelligence, had depth and meaning, and could keep you enthralled by a great story, beautifully brought to the screen and impeccably acted. Here we trace a life-long quest of unrequited love, and the painful recognition that sometimes when we get what we want, reality can fall short of our ideals. In Hollywood land we get our emotional roller-coaster rides, crisis near the end, and a lovely resolution. In the grown up world of great cinema we know that redemption is possible, but often only when it is too late.....
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
It's hard to believe that the film was made over 50 years ago. Fantastic film made in a beautiful setting (Vienna) with beautiful music on the background, it makes all the difference to some modern films. Two main characters live in their own surreal world that is far from reality. It has a similar story line to 'Anna Karenina'. Highly recommend.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Heaven sent or an easy lay
On the face of it the plot is simple. Lisa, a school girl living in Vienna develops a crush on Stefan, the musician living in an upstairs apartment, and spends her life determined... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Four Violets
At Long Last
It has taken easily a half-century for a film which had no great reception at the time of its release to find its rightful place in the cinema pantheon. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Colin Thurlow
Letter From an Unknown Woman DVD
This is a film that I have wanted to add to my collection of classic films for some time.
It brings the old world of Europe to life in a way that modern films have forgotten... Read more
It brings the old world of Europe to life in a way that modern films have forgotten... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Old Film Fan
One serious stalker
Lisa (Joan Fontaine) recounts her life story in a letter to Stefan (Louis Jordan) who is scheduled to fight a duel in a few hours as a result of their acquaintance. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Alex da Silva
Letter From An Unknown Woman
This is one of the greatest melodramas ever made by the great German director Max Ophuls whilst working in Hollywood. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Fizzy Oppe
All For Love
A beautifully made film, with the elegance of fin-de-siècle Vienna as its backdrop, though there is a short period set also in the smaller Austrian city of Linz. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Aimée Algérie
A Great Romantic classic
This without doubt" letter from an unknown woman" one of the great classic romantic films. Starring at their best is Joan Fontaine and Louis JourdanBut the real star is the... Read more
Published on 1 May 2009 by A. L. Rebbeck
Nostalgia, Romance at its absolute best - a sheer beauty
My dad bought me this years ago for Christmas, we had a sort of estranged relationship although deep down, as they say blood is thicker than water.. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2007 by Georgina
Obsessive passion, superficial lust....
This is visually a beautiful film. Lisa fascination with the rather shallow pianist, Stefan (who assumes a vampire like persona), is the theme of this film. Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2006 by SVP
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