WORLD PREMIERE RESTORATION

Madeleine Smith’s murder trial for the poisoning of her lover in 19th century Scotland inspired several books, two plays and three films. The first screen treatment, LETTY LYNTON, stars Joan Crawford in a contemporary story about a woman who flees her possessive paramour (Nils Asther) in South America and falls for American tycoon Robert Montgomery. It was a big hit, and the white organdy gown with ruffled sleeves Adrian designed for Crawford flew off the shelves at Macy’s. MGM based the film on a 1931 novel, Marie Belloc Lowndes’ Letty Lynton, but the writers of a play that focused on the same case claimed that the film had too many similarities to their work, made claims for copyright infringement, and as a result the film was pulled  from circulation in 1936. While the film was a critical and financial success upon release, those legal complications precluded further distribution for over 90 years. Now with all legal impediments extinguished and the film meticulously restored, LETTY LYNTON finally returns to the screen, showcasing Crawford at her most glamorous.

New 4K restoration by Warner Bros. Discovery.