LETTY LYNTON (1932)

Special Features: Intro by film historian Sheila O’Malley

Unseen for 90 years, this frank, provocative pre-Code film follows Letty (Joan Crawford), a rich girl who, after one final night of dance and drink with her possessive lover (Nils Asther), flees her decadent life of lotus and poppies in South America. A shipboard romance with a hardworking heir (Robert Montgomery) offers a fresh start — until the lover who refuses to stay in the past uses her old letters for blackmail. Letty agrees to meet him, but everything goes wrong. Promoted with the tagline “the story of a girl who loved too often and too well,” the film had two pre-Code working titles, PROMISCUOUS and REDEEMED, which lay bare the moral crossroads facing Crawford’s character. Long remembered mainly for Crawford’s iconic ruffle-sleeve dress, a fashion sensation, the film today reveals one of her finest, most nuanced performances, guided by Clarence Brown’s sensitive direction. DIR Clarence Brown; SCR Wanda Tuchock, from the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes. U.S., 1932, b&w, 84 min. NOT RATED

Run Time: 84 Minutes

Opening Date: Sunday, November 15, 2026

Genre: Silent drama

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