An extremely interesting complement to the classic Warner Bros. superproduction of 1940, this version of Maugham's 1927 play made in New York begins by showing us in full what was only gradually teased out both in the play and the remake. Not only do we see for ourselves the original row which ends with Leslie Crosbie pumping six bullets into the body of her lover (and thus know all along that she's telling a pack of lies about what happened), but we even see her sitting down to write the notorious letter itself (which Hammond stupidly tosses on the floor in front of his mistress so that after he's left she can pick it up and read it for herself).
Being pre-Code, scriptwriter Garrett Fort can have Hammond bluntly declare that yes, "the Chinawoman IS my mistress; and I don't care who knows it!" and this version is spared the bizarre extended climax of the remake in which Leslie pays for her sins with her life. Instead it ends remarkably abruptly with her facing the far worse fate of staring into the abyss of the remainder of her life stuck in the heat of the tropics in a loveless marriage with her youth gone.
Bette Davis' later performance as Leslie actually bears striking similarities to that of Ms Eagels; who died later the same year her version was made from a drug overdose at the age of 39. Davies' interpretation is more calculating and manipulative, while Eagels own emotional fragility comes across loud and clear and adds lustre to her performance (like Vivien Leigh's in many of her later films), her gurgling voice fraught and her dark button eyes darting this way and that; giving the famous Bette Davis eyes a run for their money
Being pre-Code, scriptwriter Garrett Fort can have Hammond bluntly declare that yes, "the Chinawoman IS my mistress; and I don't care who knows it!" and this version is spared the bizarre extended climax of the remake in which Leslie pays for her sins with her life. Instead it ends remarkably abruptly with her facing the far worse fate of staring into the abyss of the remainder of her life stuck in the heat of the tropics in a loveless marriage with her youth gone.
Bette Davis' later performance as Leslie actually bears striking similarities to that of Ms Eagels; who died later the same year her version was made from a drug overdose at the age of 39. Davies' interpretation is more calculating and manipulative, while Eagels own emotional fragility comes across loud and clear and adds lustre to her performance (like Vivien Leigh's in many of her later films), her gurgling voice fraught and her dark button eyes darting this way and that; giving the famous Bette Davis eyes a run for their money