Bette Davis was reportedly fascinated by the actress Jeanne Eagels, who had played the part of Leslie in the 1929 film version of The Letter.

In W. Somerset Maugham's original play The Letter, after Leslie confesses to her husband that she still loves the man she killed, she gets away with the crime. The implication is that her punishment will be living the rest of her life in an unhappy, loveless marriage. The ending was changed for the 1940 film version in order to satisfy the Production Code Administration who believed that Leslie needed to pay more dearly for her crime.

Actor George Brent was considered to play the role of Leslie's husband, Robert.

In a 1974 interview Bette Davis complimented the performance of co-star Gale Sondergaard in The Letter. "Gale Sondergaard's performance in The Letter as the Eurasian wife of the man Leslie Crosbie killed," she said, "was breathtakingly sinister. I was so lucky that she was cast in this part."

In order to get the perfect shadowy look in some of the scenes in The Letter, director William Wyler reportedly ordered the property department to paint shadows on the floor of the sound stage.

Herbert Marshall, who played Leslie's husband Robert, also appeared in the 1929 film version with Jeanne Eagels. In that version he had played Geoff Hammond, the man that Leslie murders.

Bette Davis and William Wyler battled over how her character Leslie should deliver the crucial line, "With all my heart, I still love the man I killed." Wyler wanted her to look her husband in the eye while saying it, and Davis thought that it was much too cruel, and that she would not be able to meet his eyes. Wyler's idea won out. When Bette Davis was being honored by the American Film Institute in 1977, Wyler referred to the incident in his tribute to her. "Even today 37 years later," he said, "we still disagree on it. Well, Bette read it the way I asked her to, but I'm sure she would like nothing better right now than to drive over to Warner Bros. and re-shoot the scene her way." Davis nodded her head in agreement.

The Letter was shot in seven weeks and three days.

Famous Quotes from THE LETTER

Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis): He tried to make love to me and I shot him.

Robert Crosbie (Herbert Marshall): You did what every woman would have done in your place but nine tenths of them wouldn't have had the courage.

Robert: You've been the best wife a man could have.

Robert: If you love a person, you can forgive anything.

John Withers (Bruce Lester): How can you tell what a man will do when he's drunk?
Robert: Why do they make her go through the ordeal of a trial?
Howard Joyce (James Stephenson): Because she admitted killing a man and in a civilized community a trial is inevitable.
Robert: She shot him! She would shoot a mad dog.

Robert: I'll do whatever you think is right.
Howard Joyce: I don't think it's right, but I think it's expedient. Juries can sometimes be very stupid, and it's just as well not to worry them with more evidence than they can conveniently deal with.

Howard: One of the things that's impressed me is that every time you've told your story you've told it in exactly the same words. You've never varied a hair's breath.
Leslie: What does that suggest to your legal mind? Howard: Well, it suggests that either you have an extraordinary memory....
Leslie: Or?
Howard: Or either you're telling the plain unvarnished truth.

Howard (to Leslie): I don't want you to tell me anything but what is needed to save your neck.

Leslie: Are you going to let them hang me?
Howard: What do you mean by that Leslie?
Leslie: You could get the letter.
Howard: Do you think it's so easy to do away with unwelcome evidence?

Leslie: I've always wanted to visit the Chinese quarter. I hear it's a bit creepy. Of course I'd have chosen other circumstances for a visit. Howard: Be flippant about your own crimes if you want to but don't be flippant about mine.

Robert: Leslie darling, this time you must let me have my own way.

Robert: Buying that gun was a criminal offense wasn't it?
Howard: Well it's not the sort of thing a respectable lawyer does in the ordinary way of business.
Robert: It was a criminal offense?
Howard: Yes, it was. I might be disbarred for it. Robert: Then why did you do it? You of all people. What were you trying to save me from?

Howard: Strange that a man can live with a woman for ten years and not know the first thing about her.

Leslie: There's no excuse for me. I don't deserve to live.

Robert: My wife's a good sport. I can always count on her. She's not afraid of anything.

Leslie: With all my heart, I still love the man I killed.

Compiled by Andrea Passafiume