FeistyUpper
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Casey Duggan
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
utgard14
Allen Quinton (Joseph Cotten) is a soldier in World War II who has been writing love letters for fellow soldier Robert Morland to his girl back home. Morland's kind of a jerk but the letters written is his name make him appear to be a kind, romantic soul and the girl they are written to falls in love with him. When Allen returns home from the war he discovers Morland married the girl but it ended in tragedy. Allen is intent upon finding out what happened. This leads him to a number of twists and a meeting with an amnesiac girl named Singleton (Jennifer Jones).Joseph Cotten's performance is great. Cotten, one of the great actors of his day, is sadly underrated today. Ann Richards gives a natural, sympathetic turn as Singleton's friend Dilly. Jennifer Jones is not up to Cotten's level. Her performance is OK but a little too manufactured. Still, she's competent here but outshined by Cotten, as well as supporting player Richards and vets Cecil Kellaway and Gladys Cooper.William Dieterle creates a lovely, atmospheric picture. I love the sets, the houses, the matte painting backgrounds. Victor Young's music is evocative and romantic. The script is by Ayn Rand (!) from a novel by Christopher Massie. My one real gripe is that I hated the name Singleton for this girl and every time they said it, it was like nails on a chalkboard for me. Hearing Joseph Cotten say "I love you Singleton" sounds like some secret joke forgotten decades ago. Whether it was Rand's idea or Massie's, I don't know. But it was stupid and provides clunky hiccups in the dialogue. Despite a few quibbles, it's hard to dislike. Interesting, romantic, effective mystery film that should entertain all but the stone-hearted among us.
hjmsia49
Love Letters has always been one of my favorite films. Fine performances by a superb cast, a good script by Ayn Rand and a perfect score by Victor Young. Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten were always compatible in their four films together. The chemistry between them is obvious. I confess a bias for this film because the title song has always been special for my wife and I for over 50 years. It was nominated for an Oscar but did not win. Such was the fate of composer Victor Young who not only failed to win an Oscar for "Love Letters" but also such memorable film songs as "My Foolish Heart," "Stellar By Starlight" and his most popular song "When I Fall In Love" (which surprisingly was never nominated even though it was in two films?) He finally received an Oscar after his death for "Around The World In 80 Days." Speaking of Oscar, Joseph Cotten was one of Hollywood's best actors for many years but he was never nominated for the big prize. Evidently, he made it look so easy he was never noticed. Jennifer Jones was radiant in this film and well deserving of her Oscar nomination. If you are a true romantic, I think you will love this film.
m0rphy
I have seen this video many times mainly because I absolutely adore Jennifer Jones.She is an awesome beauty and I must be honest, a sexual fantasy of mine.The fact she is playing a Canadian orphan in the film at least explains her accent.The story of an amnesiac who gradually becomes her true self is OK but why oh why does Hollywood insist on producing "twee" versions of "little 'ole England" in California complete with "gargoyles"? Surely English actors playing English characters in England would have been more authentic.Just to throw in a few English actors (Gladys Cooper and a boy in the London Journal reading room plus stock film company footage of London England, is not convincing enough to the film connoisseur).Also how could a private home have a view overlooking Trafalgar Square!This is unsubtle image - fixing on innocent susceptible eyes.I am sure Americans cringe just as much when they hear unconvincing American accents from non-U.S. nationals.Jo Cotten had the great good fortune to appear to my knowledge with Ms Jones also in Duel in the Sun (1946)/Portrait of Jennie (1948) and Since you went away (1944).Therefore they had already done a film together and their scenes worked well and I almost found myself forgetting his "English" accent! JJ never looked more lovely than in this 1945 picture and there is a very memorable scene when Alan (Jo Cotton) comes back to his house in Essex and receives a call from Dilly Carson (Ann Richards) that "Singleton" appears to have gone missing.Suddenly there is a giggle and the lovely "Singleton" a.k.a.Victoria Moreland, (JJ), pops up from the sofa to surprise Alan- JJ looks absolutely stunning!
Neil Doyle
Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten are at their best in this absorbing romantic drama with a screenplay by (of all people) Ayn Rand. How the author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" got talked into writing this sort of fragile romance is something I'm still puzzled over--doesn't seem like her cup of tea nor does it bear the stamp of her writing in any way whatsoever. Anyway, the story concerns letters that one soldier (Joseph Cotten) writes for another and what happens when the truth is revealed to the man's sweetheart (Jennifer Jones), who has of course fallen in love with the wrong man. The plot is too intricate to divulge here and doing so would be a spoiler anyway--suffice it to say that it all ends with a startling revelation involving another player in the cast. Lending solid support in minor roles are Gladys Cooper, Cecil Kellaway, Anita Louise and the charming Ann Richards who does splendidly in a key role. Jennifer Jones deserved her Oscar nomination as the bewildered girl who develops amnesia to forget a nasty incident involving the letters. Cotten is his usual charming self as the soldier who finds himself falling in love with the disturbed girl.