Continuing our ongoing tribute to director William Wyler in his centenary year, we present this acclaimed adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s play set in Malaya, about a tycoon’s wife who murders her lover and claims self-defense. After their success with Jezebel, actress Bette Davis and director Wyler collaborated again on The Letter, which earned seven Academy Award nominations for its forceful craftsmanship. Although Maugham’s tale of murder and deceit could easily have been filmed as turgid melodrama, Wyler’s magnificent handling of the material and Davis’s taut and calculated performance converted it into an enduring cinematic classic.