Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

Film: Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Stars: Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan
Director: Max Ophuls
Oscar History: Somehow, despite this film's reputation, absolutely no Oscar nominations.
Snap Judgment Ranking: 5/5 stars

Few things stir my heart more than a film being referred to as a "forgotten classic."  I'm at the point in my cinematic journey where, if I'm going to see a truly great movie for the first time (and not have it be a new release), pretty much all of the films are going to have to be "forgotten classics," as the "celebrated classics" have all gotten a checkmark next to their name.  So last night, armed with a tub of popcorn and feeling a wee bit off (I think it's the lack of fresh air and exercise, something I hope to remedy today), I decided to see a film that I had heard spoken about in hushed tones by pretty much anyone who had seen it, but that wasn't a lot of people, and it's weirdly hard to find on streaming, TCM, or even Netflix DVD (I had to actually go out and purchase the DVD), and finally watched the celebrated Max Ophuls' film Letter from an Unknown Woman.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is chiefly a duet between Lisa Berndle (Fontaine), a young girl infatuated with a promising piano player named Stefan Brand (Jourdan) (though I loved Art Smith in the small role of Stefan's mute butler).  Lisa is a poor girl, infatuated with Stefan (and his many lovers), and clearly is madly in love with him in the way that we all can be on a first love.  When her mother marries a wealthy gentleman, giving Lisa a chance at respectability, she gives up the opportunity to marry a well-to-do young gentleman because she's still in love with Stefan, and runs back to Vienna, working as a model, but spending every night in front of Stefan's apartment.  One night he finally notices her, and he takes her on a remarkable date, charming her in the ways she'd always dreamed, and they have sex, which because this is a movie in the 1940's, obviously ends with her pregnant.  Rather than force him to marry her, she never tells him about their son, and marries an older man, who gives her a chance at the life her mother hoped for her.  Unfortunately, at one point she sees Stefan again, and though he doesn't remember her, she can't help but fall back in love with him, abandoning her marriage, and running to his side...and then realizing in a truly heartbreaking scene that he is never going to remember her, because what for her was the greatest moment of her life was for him just another conquest.  She leaves, she and her son die of typhus, and Stefan, after reading the letter of her life and realizing that he had a chance at a great love but let it slip away, goes to fight a duel with her jilted husband, his death near certain.

That's a lot of plot, and it's told in 86 minutes so you'd think there's not a lot of time to catch your breath, but Letter from an Unknown Woman is sly in that way.  The movie focuses almost exclusively on its two leads, and as a result the moments of sheer romance and tragedy in the film are heartily felt since they're the only two people you really know in the film (though, again, Art Smith's butler is top drawer).  As a result, the exquisite moments where Lisa gets to finally realize her romance are exceptional, a glorious fleeting glance where you feel like years of admiration were worth it.  They'll remind you of the most romantic moments of your life, whether those led to lifelong companionship or just warm memories.

The film wouldn't work if the two leads weren't fully committed to these roles.  Joan Fontaine hasn't been this good since Rebecca, and plays the gorgeous wallflower exquisitely.  Her Lisa is a woman of independence, but not necessarily pride-her only goal is to obtain more time with Stefan, which makes the moment when she realizes that he was not worthy of her love, that he was just a man and she was perhaps the extraordinary one, all the more damning.  This is some Grade-A "facial journey" acting from Fontaine, and I'm kind of stunned considering she was a big star at the time (and nominating her would have meant a sequel to the Fontaine/de Havilland Oscar feud since Olivia was cited that year for The Snake Pit) that this didn't land her an Oscar nomination; it surely should have.

The same can be said of Jourdan, who has never been better.  His Stefan is the less demanding role on paper, but it's also a challenge.  He has to make us fall in love with him, then earn that love, and then make us understand that he is only a man, but a man who realized too late the folly of his ways.  The scenes toward the end, where he breaks Fontaine's heart, and then has to confront his butler about whether "he remembered her" as Stefan finally did at the time-it's melodramatic and tear-inducing, but it's so enchanting.  Written by Howard Koch (who also wrote the ultimate Hollywood romance Casablanca), Stefan is a weak man more than he is a bad one, and Jourdan knows how to play such a nuanced part brilliantly.  Unlike Fontaine, Jourdan's role is not the type we'd normally see at the Oscars (the young, handsome guys were normally forced to wait a while), but he also deserved that citation, even in a particularly strong field for Best Actor (which also didn't have room for Humphrey Bogart in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, so Oscar screwed up twice that year).

Combined with a beautiful violin score and Franz Planer's moody cinematography, the biggest surprise for me of Letter from an Unknown Woman was not that it was briliant, but how is this a "forgotten classic."  How is a film so romantic, simple, elegant, and devastating not one that is instantly remembered?  If you haven't seen it & but love the movies, do yourself a favor and change that immediately.