Lisa (Joan Fontaine) recounts her life story in a letter to Stefan (Louis Jordan) who is scheduled to fight a duel in a few hours as a result of their acquaintance. As the story unravels, we follow Lisa's tragic tale of unrequited love and, if you ask me, mental illness. Stefan, who hardly notices her, is blind to her obsessive love for him. However, by the end of the letter, he's got the message and he can now see her.......literally.....
The cast are all good and the film has a stamp of quality in the way that each scene is constructed and filmed. Memorable scenes include the period where Lisa And Stefan have a whirlwind romance. They spend time on an amusement train which pretends to go to different countries by having a man peddle the scenery alongside the window. I want a go! The ending also sticks in the mind as Stefan leaves his apartment and sees a ghostly image.
There are a couple of daft ideas that are set down in the story. Firstly, we are encouraged to sympathize with a lunatic of a woman who actively stalks her victim for a whole year by showing up outside his window every night. Just watching for him. What a freak! Yet I found myself wishing for her to get acquainted with him. Secondly, how could Stefan possibly forget his love affair with Lisa? It's just baloney. Or else he has lived one seriously fun alcohol and drug-fuelled life - but he is presented as a wreck of a man, so it can't be that.
It's a bit slow-moving at times but I liked this film and it contains some great-looking scenes and images that stay in your head.
The cast are all good and the film has a stamp of quality in the way that each scene is constructed and filmed. Memorable scenes include the period where Lisa And Stefan have a whirlwind romance. They spend time on an amusement train which pretends to go to different countries by having a man peddle the scenery alongside the window. I want a go! The ending also sticks in the mind as Stefan leaves his apartment and sees a ghostly image.
There are a couple of daft ideas that are set down in the story. Firstly, we are encouraged to sympathize with a lunatic of a woman who actively stalks her victim for a whole year by showing up outside his window every night. Just watching for him. What a freak! Yet I found myself wishing for her to get acquainted with him. Secondly, how could Stefan possibly forget his love affair with Lisa? It's just baloney. Or else he has lived one seriously fun alcohol and drug-fuelled life - but he is presented as a wreck of a man, so it can't be that.
It's a bit slow-moving at times but I liked this film and it contains some great-looking scenes and images that stay in your head.