A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall.A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall.A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall.
- Awards
- 1 win
Patricia Alphin
- Pretty
- (uncredited)
Edit Angold
- Middle-Aged Woman
- (uncredited)
Lois Austin
- Elderly Woman
- (uncredited)
Polly Bailey
- Passenger
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJoan Fontaine's favorite movie.
- GoofsWhile most signs in the movie are written correctly in German, since the movie is set in Austria, parts of them are in English, e.g. Stefan Brand's concert flyer, which says "Concert Program" instead of "Konzertprogramm".
- Quotes
Lisa Berndl: The course of our lives can be changed by such little things. So many passing by, each intent on his own problems. So many faces that one might easily have been lost. I know now that nothing happens by chance. Every moment is measured; every step is counted.
- Alternate versionsThere is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA srl, "JANE EYRE (1943) + LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (1948)" (2 Films on a single DVD), re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
- SoundtracksUn sospiro
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Liszt
Played on piano by Louis Jourdan (dubbed by Jakob Gimpel)
Also used as main theme in the score
Featured review
Based on Austrian writer Stefan Zweig's novella 'Brief Einer Unbekannten', Ophuls uses all his creativity at disposal to enable his technicians to capture the cowardice of men and vulnerability of women. It is not only the leading pair who serves as a good example of cowards and vulnerable people. There are also some secondary characters who provide fitting description to words such as coward and vulnerable. The names of the woman's mother and her husband come to mind to provide a suitable description. In 'Letter from an unknown woman', Max Ophuls celebrates the immense power of a letter to convey feelings of disappointment arising out of a failed love affair. The letter in question is quite a long one. It was drafted by a woman to tell her doomed life to her lover. Ophuls depicts all the troubles which a woman is compelled to take in order to get love. It would not be wrong to state that love is out of fashion in current times. It has been replaced by something which resembles love but has a certain amount of physical force. There were times in the past when intense feelings of love were appreciated. 'Letter from an unknown woman" is one such film which has the ability to transport viewers to a time when love mattered a lot.
- FilmCriticLalitRao
- Jul 7, 2015
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Brief einer Unbekannten
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $852
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer