Madeleine Smith’s murder trial for the poisoning of her lover inspired several books, two plays and three films. The first screen treatment, LETTY LYNTON, stars Joan Crawford as a woman who flees her possessive paramour 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, 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. Now with all legal impediments extinguished and the film meticulously restored, LETTY LYNTON finally returns to the screen for the first time in 90 years, showcasing Crawford at her most glamorous.
New 4K restoration by Warner Bros. Discovery.