The Letter (1940)

Set in Malaya when it was still a British colony, a plantation owner's wife (Bette Davis) shoots a man after he tries to force himself on her when her husband (Herbert Marshall) is away. But what at first seems like a simple case of self defense begins to unravel. Based on the play by W. Somerset Maugham (previously filmed in 1929) and directed by William Wyler. One of Wyler's best films and arguably, Davis's greatest performance. While you can greatly appreciate Davis's performance the first time you see it, it's only in subsequent viewings after you know the entire plot that you can grasp the nuances and layers (which are slowly peeled away) of her magnificent performance. Make no mistake about it, this is Davis's film all the way but she is assisted by some marvelous performances that stand on their own like James Stephenson's low key performance as her defense attorney or Gale Sondergaard's economical performance as the murdered man's widow. She has very few lines (and none of them in English) yet she makes her presence strongly felt. Even Max Steiner rises to the occasion and provides one of his best underscores. With Frieda Inescort, Victor Sen Yung, Doris Lloyd, Willie Fung and Elizabeth Earl (Sigourney Weaver's mother).