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
- Howard Koch
- Stefan Zweig
- Max Ophüls(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the beginning of the film, Lisa is 16 and played by Joan Fontaine who was 30 years old at the time the film was made.
- 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
Compare with the source
This film grows even more extraordinary when compared with its source, Stefan Zweig's novella of the same name. In the story, Stefan is a writer, not a musician. The film transforms him into a pianist, thereby insuring that his seductive art can work on the audience at the same time as it works on the heroine. This movie gets bigger every time it is viewed. It seems to offer new surprises every time, because of the perfection of its structure and the implicative richness of its mise-en-scene. The echo effects ("Two weeks!") take on fresh meanings, and there is even a good deal of religious symbolism to be found.
helpful•308
- dmburdic
- Jun 3, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Sprache
- 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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![Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan in Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2VhMDdlM2UtYjViZi00OWFjLWI5YjUtYjY4NjRjOTJhOGNlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc0MzMzNjA@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)
Top Gap
By what name was Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer