Emaisie39 Review of The Unfaithful

The Unfaithful (1947)

Ann Sheridan is excellent in this fine reworking of the classic "The Letter"

[8/10 · 21 October 2007]

I just saw this on TCM and was so surprised at how gripping it was. Loosely based on Somerset Maugham's "The Letter" that was a major early talkie hit for Jeanne Eagels at Paramount and then remade into a the William Wyler-Bette Davis-Warner Brothers classic of 1940, this version pulls you in and gives Ann Sheridan one of her finest roles. Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden and Marta Miltrovich are all outstanding as well. Top notch Jerry Wald production includes excellent Max Steiner score, superb Ernest Haller cinematography, and a very good script. Outstanding direction by Vincent Sherman allows Sheridan to shine in her central role as a woman who kills a supposed stranger in self-defense and then watches her life implode around her. The ending is the only letdown. Definitely a must for fans of the "Oomph Girl" at her Warner Brothers peak.