Letter from an Unknown Woman [Blu-ray]

Letter from an Unknown Woman [Blu-ray]

Director: Max Ophuls Cast: Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
, Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan
, Mady Christians
Mady Christians
, Marcel Journet
Marcel Journet
Max Ophuls
Letter from an Unknown Woman [Blu-ray]

Letter from an Unknown Woman [Blu-ray]

Director: Max Ophuls Cast: Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
, Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan
, Mady Christians
Mady Christians
, Marcel Journet
Marcel Journet
Max Ophuls

Blu-ray (Black & White)

$39.99 
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Overview

Perhaps the finest American film from the famed European director Max Ophüls, the film stars Joan Fontaine as a young woman who falls in love with a concert pianist. Set in Vienna in 1900, the story is told in a complex flashback structure as the pianist, Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan), comes upon a letter written to him by Lisa Berndl (Fontaine), a girl who has been in love with him for years. Stefan is in the process of fleeing Vienna on the eve of fighting a duel. As he prepares himself for the nocturnal journey, the letter arrives. It begins, "By the time you read this letter, I may be dead." As Stefan sits back in his study to read this letter, it turns out to be a confession of unrequited love from Lisa. The story flashes backs to when Lisa was 14 years old and Stefan was her neighbor. After following Stefan with a girlish obsession, the romance gets much more serious, and they have a brief encounter. Stefan promises to come back to her after a concert tour, but he never does. Meanwhile, Lisa marries another man when she discovers that she is pregnant with Stefan's child. When she runs into Stefan years later, he doesn't remember her and tries to seduce her. After Stefan reads the letter, he wants to rush to her side, but now poor Lisa is dying from typhus.

Product Details

Release Date: 12/05/2017
UPC: 0887090601504
Original Release: 1948
Rating: NR
Source: Olive
Region Code: A
Presentation: [B&W]
Language: English
Time: 1:27:00
Sales rank: 12,596

Special Features

Mastered from new 4K Restoration; Audio Commentary by Max Ophuls expert Lutz Bacher; "A Deal Made in a Turkish Bath" - Interview with Oscar-winning documentarian Marcel Ophuls; "An Independent Woman: Changing sensibilities in a post-war Hollywood" Interview with Professor Dana Polan; "Ophulsesque: The Look of Letter from an Unknown Woman" - with Cinematographers Ben Kasulke and Sean Price Williams; "Letter from An Unknown Woman: Passion's Triumph" - Visual Essay by film scholar Tag Gallagher; Essay by critic Molly Haskell

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Joan Fontaine Lisa Berndle
Louis Jourdan Stefan Brand
Mady Christians Frau Berndle
Marcel Journet Johann Stauffer
John Good Lt. Leopold von Kaltnegger
Leo B. Pessin Stefan Jr.
Art Smith John
Carol Yorke Marie
Howard Freeman Herr Kastner
Erskine Sanford Porter
Otto Waldis Concierge
Sonja Bryden Frau Spitzer
Audrey Young Pretty
William Trenk Fritzel
Fred Nurney Officer on Street
Torben Meyer Carriage Driver
Hermine Sterler Mother Superior
Ramsey Hill Col. Steindorf
Will Lee Mover
William Hall Mover
Lotte Stein Woman Musician
Ilka Gruning Woman Ticket Taker
Paul E. Burns Concierge #2
Roland Varno Second
Leo Mostovoy Older Man
Shimen Ruskin Older Man
Celia Lovsky Flower Vendor
Lester Sharpe Critic
Michael Mark Cafe Customer
Lois Austin Elderly Woman
Lisa Golm Woman Musician
Rex Lease Station Attendant
Edmund Cobb Carriage Driver #2
Betty Blythe Frau Kohner
Diane Stewart Girlfriend
Vera Stokes Girlfriend
Doretta Johnson Girlfriend
Lorraine Gale Girlfriend
Cy Stevens Man
Douglas Carter Man
Jack Gargan Man
Arthur Lovejoy Footman
Guy L. Shaw Cafe Patron
June Wood Cashier
Jean Ransome Maid
Judith Woodbury Model
Manuel Paris Baron's Second
John McCallum Store Helper
Robert W. Brown Officer
Audrey Wilder Pretty
Daniele Amfitheatrof Composer

Technical Credits
John Houseman Producer
Max Ophuls Director
Howard Koch Screenwriter
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