Ophüls' "Letter from an Unknown Woman" is 75!

by Cláudio Alves

Born Maximillian Oppenheimer in 1902's Germany, Max Ophüls chose the pseudonym to avoid embarrassing his father as he pursued an acting career in theater. He'd change paths along the way, finding purpose in directing actors rather than reveling among them. Moreover, the paternal humiliation was never to be beyond the scandalous nature of theater since the man who would one day make tracking shots his calling card was a virtuoso. As the roaring twenties gave in to a new decade, Ophüls' ability would help him transition from the stage to the screen, where he began as a dialogue director at UFA.

But of course, being Jewish under the Nazi regime was deadly, so the director fled from Germany to France, stopping by Switzerland and Italy...

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Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

Continuing the theme of looking back at 1948 ahead of this weekend's Smackdown. Here's Angelica discussing one of Joan Fontaine's greatest roles...

A few years ago when working at the Chicago International Film Festival I got into a conversation with a coworker about classic Hollywood actresses who, for whatever reason, do not connect with modern women as much as they did in their own time. The conversation centered on Norma Shearer but I think it can also apply to Joan Fontaine. I’ve often had trouble introducing my friends to Fontaine. Sure, they may like Rebecca but the tenor of her infatuation and willingness to lose her identity in love always hits a sour note. At her best, Fontaine made martyrdom on the altar of love an art form. This was never clearer than in the 1948 Max Ophuls film, Letter from an Unknown Woman. If Now, Voyager represents the women’s picture at its most transformative, Letter from an Unknown Woman shows the genre at its most tragic and masochistic.

Based on the novella by Stefan Zweig, the film begins in Vienna 1900. We meet Stefan (Louis Jordan) a rakish pianist planning to run out of town before a scheduled duel. Before he can do so his mute servant (Art Smith) gives him the titular letter. It begins ominously, “By the time you read this letter I may be dead.”

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