Asians v s Colonials subplot

I agree with all your points; the movie shows the invisible, despised "natives" mowing down their oppressors one by one, effortlessly and silently as a dagger's thrust. The effete colonials are no match for them.

And the character of Ong is deliciously reptilian.

I'd love to see the 1920's version, which ends with Leslie declaring she still loves the man she killed.

At the risk of sounding obtuse, I'll ask: what was the relationship between Hammond's wife and the Head Boy? (If the movie reveals it, I missed the point.) Brother, perhaps? Why was he willing to risk hanging to assist her revenge?

Most the authors storys that take place in the South Sea Islands or Asia are very critical of the presence of the British Colonials. They seem so out of place and sorts in his stories. And they think of the the native people as subordonates. The story which btw is a short short story, The letter is much different then the movie. Leslie and the lawyer are really the only 2 characters that remain some what true to the story. Except Leslie was thought of being so shy that she was thought of as aloof until you grew to know her. She was refined one would never think in their wildest dreams she would kill anyone, no less a fly.. I do not think Bette Davis conveys that image. Usually in Maughams stories there is a voice of reason among the characters. In the Letter in the movie it seemed that the lawyer was that voice. But even though he a major character he was not the voice of reason in the story.. He thought more higly of Leslie and her innocence then anyne else. Even though he could not explain why she shot 6 shots. And only when the Chinese clerk (soon to be lawyer) made him aware of what was really going on did the lightbulb come on. Herbert Marshall who always is in Somerset Maughmas movies was way off. He was considered not to be the brightest light in the hall and he was very gruff and unrefined. But you have a feeling even though he is pleading to get Leslie out of jail he knows she did it as soon as he hears about the gun for a present story.
Hammond and the "chinawomen" were not married and she is described as fat and much older. Leslie resents the fact that he loves her. ANd he had been with her much longer then he was with Leslie. And he clearly chose the "chinawoman over Leslie. In the story she is really put off by him and he basically told her that she was a pest. He was a man that had a reputation of fooling around and Leslie should of known better.
In any case you harldly see the Head Boy who has been working with Crosbie family for eons. They travel all over the place and no affair was going on with him and anyone else. She never tells her husband that she did it like they show in the movie And the end is completley different.

You always have the feeling in Maughams story that the white people are intruders and are very arrogant. But because I am sure of Hollywood code you will never see how a rich good looking white man clearly chose a fat and old Chinese woman who was not even his wife over a white young lady with means. And how she had been chasing Hammond around like a Puppy dog. Also the Chinese clerk was really the only common person between the Brits and the Asians. Hammonds mistress was not a native to the area either. And the area the story takes place is very intergrated not just with the Asian population but with black people and people from all over the world. But they seem to be one communoty while the Brits was a whole seperate one She was found living Hammond when he came back to town, He had met her during the war. Only the white community is outragesd with this arrangement. And Hammond who was viewed to be a respecatable man now was considered a person who deserved to die because of his living arrangement.
The Razor Edge and The Letter are two of my favortie Maugham movies but they really do not come close to telling the underlying message he coveys in his stories.

Mrs. Hammond and the Head Boy get caught? Not in the version I saw. They encounter a cop when leaving the scene of the crime and he lets them go on their way. He moves along too and does not discover Davis dead at the gate. After he leaves, the clouds part and the moonlight exposes the body, but no one is there to see it.


"I can only express puzzlement bordering on alarm."