Search Museum of the Moving Image

SCREENING

Letter from an Unknown Woman

Ongoing

Dir. Max Ophuls. 1948, 86 mins. Restored 35mm print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Preservation funding provided by The Film Foundation. With Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan. 35mm restored print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Preservation funding provided by The Film Foundation. The greatest Hollywood film made by Austrian director Max Ophuls (whose movies such as The Earrings of Madame de… and Lola Montes still stun viewers with their dazzling camera work), this is an exquisite Vienna-set tale of a former concert pianist (Jourdan) who discovers, via an unsigned letter, that a woman has harbored a destructive lifelong unrequited passion for him. Crafted with masterful precision, Letter from an Unknown Woman is an emotional experience and technical accomplishment of the highest order.

Tickets are included with paid Museum admission on a first-come, first-served basis. Museum members may reserve tickets in advance. View the Museum’s ticketing policy here. For more information on membership and to join online, visit our membership page.