William Wyler knew Bette Davis could say more with her back than most actresses can say with their faces. This is why Davis plays the majority (literally, it’s got to be about 75-80%) of The Letter with her back to the camera. (I wrote a whole piece for Film Comment about it.) So here they are again – William Wyler and Bette Davis – creating so many – SO MANY – great backting moments. It’s so DELIBERATE, so POWERFUL.
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