MovieChat Forums > The Letter (1940) Discussion > slap in face?

slap in face?

posted 17 years ago by s-hill4
7 replies | jump to latest

From having watched "The Letter" on antenna-TV 40 or 45 years ago, I recall a vivid scene in which Bette Davis suddenly and painfully slapped the face of one of the male characters (James Stephenson?). But tonight, for the first time in decades, when I re-watched this same film on a Warners VHS cassette ("Bette Davis Collection"), either the slapping scene had been left out, or else it was there, but I missed it while raiding the icebox to fix myself a snack. -- Or is it possible that "The Letter" never had such a scene, and my poor memory is conjuring up a slapping scene that was never there to begin with? -- Steven P Hill " S (DASH) HILL4 (AT) UIUC (DOT) EDU "

[–] Mkeydude 16 years ago

No slaps in this movie. Leslie was the perfect English lady, or so we thought. Now perfect English ladies will, if provoked, shoot their lovers for whatever reason and apparently being tossed aside for a hooker is reason enough.

Bette Davis whapped a lot of guys across the face throughout her screen career so its understandable you would get confused. Anything other details about the movie you saw would be helpful.

[–] vermontfudge 16 years ago

She slapped the heck out of Errol Flynn in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, you could see his hair bounce. James Stephenson was in that movie too.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] linda-hardwick 15 years ago

There is no slapping in The Letter! Seriously though, she is depending on this man to save her life, so there's no reason for her to slap him. Besides, she is about deceit rather than anger.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] lastmidnite2 15 years ago

Wyler, not Wilder.

[–] 15 years ago

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