The Letter (play)
Encyclopedia
The Letter is a play by W. Somerset Maugham
dramatised from a short story that first appeared in his 1926 collection The Casuarina Tree
. The story is based on a real-life scandal
involving the wife of the headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur
who was convicted in a murder trial after shooting dead a male friend in April 1911. She was eventually pardoned.
In the play, the action takes place in the house of a plantation owner, Robert Crosbie, and his wife Leslie in the then-British colony of Malaya
, and later in the Chinese quarter of Singapore
. With the husband away on business, the wife claims that she shot the mutual friend, Geoff Hammond, in self-defence, following an attempted rape, and the play focuses on the steps taken by the wife's lawyer to convince the court of her innocence, following the discovery of an incriminating letter. The letter was an invention of Maugham's for dramatic effect.
Gladys Cooper
both produced and starred in the London premiere of the play in 1927 at the Playhouse Theatre
where it ran for 60 weeks, including a tour of the Provinces. The part of the husband was played by Nigel Bruce
. Directed by Gerald du Maurier
, this play was the first that Cooper had produced on her own and proved to be an important milestone in her theatrical career. In return for Cooper agreeing to produce the play, Maugham offered her an option on his next three plays: The Constant Wife, which she refused, The Sacred Flame, which she accepted, and The Breadwinner, which she also declined. Later that year the first Broadway production opened September 26, 1927 at the Morosco Theatre (Broadway) starred Katharine Cornell
, Swezo Kotoro, John Buckler, Allan Jeayes
and J. W. Austin.
The play was revived in 1995 at the Lyric Hammersmith
, directed by Neil Bartlett and starring Joanna Lumley
and Tim Pigott-Smith
, and in 2007 at Wyndham's Theatre
, directed by Alan Strachan and starring Jenny Seagrove
and Anthony Andrews
.
's 1929 version
made by Paramount Pictures
and starring Jeanne Eagels
, and William Wyler
's 1940 version
made by Warner Bros.
and starring Bette Davis
. While de Limur's English-language version was made at Paramount's Astoria studios
, several foreign-language versions were produced at the company's studios in Joinville-le-Pont
: Louis Mercanton
's French version, La lettre (1930), Dimitri Buchowetzki
's German version, Weib im Dschungel (1931), Adelqui Migliar
's Spanish version, La carta (1931) and Jack Salvatori's Italian version, La donna bianca (1931). Another non-English-language adaptation is Kira Muratova
's Перемена участи / Peremena uchasti / A Change of Fate (1987).
The story was also adapted for three television anthology series: in 1956 for Producers' Showcase (directed by William Wyler), in 1960 for The Somerset Maugham Hour and in 1969 for W. Somerset Maugham (directed by Christopher Morahan
). A made-for-TV movie directed by John Erman
and starring Lee Remick
was made and released in 1982 for ABC
.
Clark Gesner
adapted The Letter into a musical called The Bloomers in 2000.
The Santa Fe Opera
commissioned composer
Paul Moravec
and librettist
Terry Teachout
to write an operatic version
. It received its premiere performance on 25 July 2009 in a production directed by Jonathan Kent
and starring soprano
Patricia Racette
as Leslie Crosby.
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
dramatised from a short story that first appeared in his 1926 collection The Casuarina Tree
The Casuarina Tree
The Casuarina Tree is a collection of short stories set in 1920s Malaya by W. Somerset Maugham that came out of travels he paid for by working for the British Secret Service as a spy...
. The story is based on a real-life scandal
Ethel Proudlock case
The Ethel Proudlock case refers to Ethel Proudlock's 1911 trial for murder which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The trial became a cause célèbre scandalising British colonial society....
involving the wife of the headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
who was convicted in a murder trial after shooting dead a male friend in April 1911. She was eventually pardoned.
In the play, the action takes place in the house of a plantation owner, Robert Crosbie, and his wife Leslie in the then-British colony of Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
, and later in the Chinese quarter of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. With the husband away on business, the wife claims that she shot the mutual friend, Geoff Hammond, in self-defence, following an attempted rape, and the play focuses on the steps taken by the wife's lawyer to convince the court of her innocence, following the discovery of an incriminating letter. The letter was an invention of Maugham's for dramatic effect.
Gladys Cooper
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television....
both produced and starred in the London premiere of the play in 1927 at the Playhouse Theatre
Playhouse Theatre
The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery...
where it ran for 60 weeks, including a tour of the Provinces. The part of the husband was played by Nigel Bruce
Nigel Bruce
William Nigel Ernle Bruce , best known as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes...
. Directed by Gerald du Maurier
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
, this play was the first that Cooper had produced on her own and proved to be an important milestone in her theatrical career. In return for Cooper agreeing to produce the play, Maugham offered her an option on his next three plays: The Constant Wife, which she refused, The Sacred Flame, which she accepted, and The Breadwinner, which she also declined. Later that year the first Broadway production opened September 26, 1927 at the Morosco Theatre (Broadway) starred Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
, Swezo Kotoro, John Buckler, Allan Jeayes
Allan Jeayes
Allan Jeayes was a British stage and movie actor.He starred as Howard Joyce in the original 1927 Broadway production of The Letter and played Sir Lawrence Wargarve in the 1943 London production of And Then There Were None.Jeayes made his film debut in the 1918 Nelson as Sir William Hamilton...
and J. W. Austin.
The play was revived in 1995 at the Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
, directed by Neil Bartlett and starring Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
and Tim Pigott-Smith
Tim Pigott-Smith
Tim Pigott-Smith is an English film and television actor.-Early life:Pigott-Smith was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, the son of Margaret Muriel and Harry Thomas Pigott-Smith, who was a journalist. He was educated at Wyggeston Boys' School, Leicester, King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon, and...
, and in 2007 at Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
, directed by Alan Strachan and starring Jenny Seagrove
Jenny Seagrove
Jennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and rose to fame playing the lead in a TV dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance and the 1983 film Local Hero...
and Anthony Andrews
Anthony Andrews
-Life and career:Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes , a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, a musical arranger and musical conductor. He grew up in the North Finchley district of London...
.
Adaptations
There are many film versions of the story, the two most widely known being Jean de LimurJean de Limur
Jean de Limur was a French film director, actor and screenwriter. His works include La Garçonne and The Letter .-Filmography:* 1929 : The Letter...
's 1929 version
The Letter (1929 film)
The Letter is an American drama film which was made in both silent and talking versions by Paramount Pictures.-Preservation status:...
made by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and starring Jeanne Eagels
Jeanne Eagels
Jeanne Eagels was an American actress on Broadway and in several motion pictures. She was a former Ziegfeld Follies Girl who went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of sound films....
, and William Wyler
William Wyler
William Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
's 1940 version
The Letter (1940 film)
The Letter is a 1940 American film noir directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Howard Koch is based on the 1927 play of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham, originally filmed in 1929.-Plot:...
made by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and starring Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
. While de Limur's English-language version was made at Paramount's Astoria studios
Kaufman Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is an historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens.-History:It was originally built by Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short...
, several foreign-language versions were produced at the company's studios in Joinville-le-Pont
Joinville-le-Pont
Joinville-le-Pont is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:The commune was created in 1791 under the name La Branche-du-Pont-de-Saint-Maur by detaching its territory from the commune of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés...
: Louis Mercanton
Louis Mercanton
Louis Mercanton was a Swiss film director, Screenwriter and actor.-Selected filmography:Director* Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth co-director* Le mystère de la villa rose * The Nipper * Octave...
's French version, La lettre (1930), Dimitri Buchowetzki
Dimitri Buchowetzki
Dimitri Buchowetzki was a Russian film director, screenwriter and actor.-Selected filmography:Director* Lily of the Dust * The Swan * Valencia * The Crown of Lies...
's German version, Weib im Dschungel (1931), Adelqui Migliar
Adelqui Migliar
Adelqui Migliar , also known als Adelqui Millar, was a Chilean film actor, director, writer and producer. He appeared in 31 silent films between 1916 and 1928. He also directed 24 films between 1922 and 1954....
's Spanish version, La carta (1931) and Jack Salvatori's Italian version, La donna bianca (1931). Another non-English-language adaptation is Kira Muratova
Kira Muratova
Kira Muratova is a Soviet and Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and actress. She was born in 1934 in Soroca, Bessarabia, Romania . She was born to a Romanian mother and a Russian father. Muratova is known for her unusual and original directorial style...
's Перемена участи / Peremena uchasti / A Change of Fate (1987).
The story was also adapted for three television anthology series: in 1956 for Producers' Showcase (directed by William Wyler), in 1960 for The Somerset Maugham Hour and in 1969 for W. Somerset Maugham (directed by Christopher Morahan
Christopher Morahan
Christopher Thomas Morahan CBE is an English stage and television director and producing manager.-Training and career:Morahan was born in London in 1929, and was educated at Highgate School...
). A made-for-TV movie directed by John Erman
John Erman
John Erman is an American television and film director, actor and producer.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Erman spent the early years of his career, after a few small roles in films such as The Cosmic Man , directing episodes of such primetime series as Peyton Place, The Fugitive, The Outer Limits,...
and starring Lee Remick
Lee Remick
Lee Ann Remick was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder , Days of Wine and Roses , and The Omen .-Early life:...
was made and released in 1982 for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
Clark Gesner
Clark Gesner
Clark Gesner was an American composer, songwriter, author, and actor. He is probably best known for composing You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a musical adaptation of the Charles M...
adapted The Letter into a musical called The Bloomers in 2000.
The Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
commissioned composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Paul Moravec
Paul Moravec
Paul Moravec is an American composer and a University Professor at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York...
and librettist
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
Terry Teachout
Terry Teachout
Terry Teachout is a critic, biographer and blogger. He is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal, the chief culture critic of Commentary, and the author of "Sightings," a column about the arts in America that appears biweekly in the Friday Wall Street Journal...
to write an operatic version
The Letter (opera)
The Letter is an opera by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Terry Teachout. It was commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera and was premiered there on July 25, 2009....
. It received its premiere performance on 25 July 2009 in a production directed by Jonathan Kent
Jonathan Kent (director)
Jonathan Kent is an English theatre director and opera director. He is best known as a director/producer partner of Ian McDiarmid at the Almeida Theatre from 1990 to 2002.-Early life:...
and starring soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Patricia Racette
Patricia Racette
Patricia Lynn Racette is an American operatic soprano. A winner of the Richard Tucker Award in 1998, she has been a regular presence at major opera houses internationally. Racette has enjoyed long-term partnerships with the San Francisco Opera, where she has been a regular performer since 1989,...
as Leslie Crosby.