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Letter From an Unknown Woman or The Constant Nymph

posted 11 years ago by marhefka
2 replies | jump to latest

The two movies are common in one aspect: They both feature a young girl loving a musician. As the young girl gets older, she still loves the musician. Of course, the actress was the same - Joan Fontaine.

Although "Nymph" is very good, "Letter" is great. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps it's because Joan played a young girl of 14 better in "Letter." This is, even though, she was five years older. Later she played a girl of 19 or 20 also better. Of course, she played the older beautiful woman to perfection in "Letter." In "Nymph," she never played the older woman because her character had died. For some reason, she was much prettier as a 19 or 20 year old in "Letter" than in "Nymph."

The director in "Letter" was Max Ophuls and he did a better job, imo, than Edmund Goulding in "Nymph."

So, obviously, I pick "Letter From an Unknown Woman." Any thoughts?

[–] jrhpax 8 years ago

I thought Joan Fontaine was ridiculous in "The Constant Nymph" and excellent in "Letter from an Unknown Woman." The latter is infinitely the better movie in every way -- except perhaps for Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score of "The Constant Nymph." That's my opinion, anyway.

[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 4 years ago

I totally agree with you. Letter from an Unknown Woman is a wonderful film. I think that the Constant Nymph is kind of a mess. But I really am not a fan of Charles Boyer at all. Louis Jordan is gorgeous and a better actor.