Letter
From an Unknown Woman (1948)
In director Max Ophuls' fine romantic melodrama, told
mostly in flashback (through a letter), and set in turn-of-the-century
Vienna:
- the tale of unrequited love and sorrow suffered
by Lisa (Joan Fontaine) - an "unknown woman," revealed
in a letter (in female voice-over) written to self-absorbed, frivolous
dilettante concert pianist Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan) - after
her death at St. Catherine's Hospital: ("By the time you read
this letter, I may be dead. I have so much to tell you and
perhaps very little time. Will I ever send it? I don't know. I
must find strength to write now before it's too late, and as I
write it may become clear that what happened to us had its own
reason beyond our poor understanding. If this reaches you, you
will know how I became yours when you didn't know who I was or
even that I existed")
- the first of many flashbacked scenes in which as a
shy, fourteen year old schoolgirl, Lisa stood in fright behind a
glass door, holding it open for the pianist she had fallen in love
with, Stefan Brand
- the scene on the staircase in which Lisa looked down
and witnessed Stefan's return home in the early morning hours with
his latest woman-of-the-evening
- Lisa's one night of romantic bliss with Stefan including
his purchase of a single white rose for her
- the sequence at the Viennese fairgrounds - their
cyclorama ride, dancing in a deserted dance-hall, her kneeling at
the keyboard as he played, and her return up the stairs to his apartment
- their goodbye at the train station when Lisa said: "I'll
be here when you get back" as Stefan falsely promised to be
gone only two weeks: ("It won't be long. I'll be back in two
weeks"); however, Lisa's voice-over of her letter recalled:
"Two weeks. Stefan, how little you knew yourself. That train was
taking you out of my life"
Train Station Goodbye
Flashbacked Memory of
Young Lisa
- the sequence in which Lisa left her husband, wealthy,
middle-aged Austrian aristocrat named Johann Stauffer (Marcel Journet)
(who accepted her son born out of wedlock), and returned with a
large bouquet of white roses to offer herself to her pianist love
- the touching scene (and ending scene) years later
of Stefan (still with the letter at his desk), now with tears in
his eyes, looking back and remembering the enamoured young girl shyly
holding the door open for him
The "Letter From an Unknown Woman" - Sent to
Pianist Stefan Brand
Flashback: Shy 14 Year Old Schoolgirl Lisa
Lisa Spying on Stefan with Another Woman From Staircase
At the Viennese Fairgrounds