POISON PEN [1939 / 2019] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] A village Community is set at odds by a Writer of Vindictive anonymous letters!
Adapting a play by award-winning novelist and screenwriter Richard Llewellyn best known for his classic work “How Green Was My Valley” this powerful, highly acclaimed drama explores the darker side of a seemingly idyllic English hamlet. Featuring an outstanding cast, including British screen legends Flora Robson and Robert Newton, ‘POISON PEN’ is featured as a High Definition remaster from original film elements in its as-exhibited 1.37:1 aspect ratio.
The placid, harmonious life of a quiet village becomes a hotbed of paranoia and hatred as anonymous letters accusing the villagers of moral and sexual misdemeanours begin to circulate. As speculation and malicious gossip spread, suspicions begin to centre on Connie Fateley, a shy, solitary seamstress; it is only a matter of time before events take a tragic turn...
FILM FACT: The film version was made by the Associated British Picture Corporation at their Elstree Studios and opened in London on 4th July, 1939. Flora Robson and Reginald Tate inherited the leading roles played on stage by Margaret Yarde and Walter Fitzgerald. (Flora Robson's character name – Phryne Rainrider in the play was simplified to plain Mary Rider.) The only actor common to both play and film was Roddy Hughes. Novelist Graham Greene, at that time film critic of The Spectator, called it "a deplorable example of an English film which tries to create an English atmosphere." Latterly, however, it has been described by film historian David Quinlan as a "slow, sordid but striking dark drama" and by Raymond Durgnat as "a bleak story prefiguring Clouzot's Le Corbeau."
Cast: Flora Robson, Robert Newton, Ann Todd, Geoffrey Toone, Reginald Tate, Belle Chrystall, Edward Chapman, Edward Rigby, Athole Stewart, Mary Hinton, Cyril Chamberlain, Catherine Lacey, Wally Patch, Ella Retford, Jean Clyde, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Marjorie Rhodes, Beatrice Varley, Empsie Bowman, Eileen Beldon, Laurence Kitchin, Kenneth Connor, Megs Jenkins, Esma Cannon, Charles Mortimer, Merle Tottenham, Roddy Hughes, Roddy McDowall (uncredited), Peter Murray-Hill (uncredited), Norman Pierce (uncredited) and John Rae (uncredited)
Director: Paul L. Stein
Producer: Walter C. Mycroft
Screenplay: Doreen Montgomery (writer), Esther McCracken (writer), N.C. Hunter (writer), William Freshman (writer) and Richard Llewellyn (play)
Composer: Harry Acres [Musical Director] (uncredited)
Cinematography: Philip Tannura (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 78 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Associated British Picture Corporation Ltd. / STUDIOCANAL / Network
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘POISON PEN’ [1939] finds us in a calm of a peaceful English village is shattered when a series of anonymous letters starts being delivered to village homes, containing scurrilous allegations about the recipients and their families. Upstanding and respectable inhabitants find themselves and their loved ones accused in lascivious detail of all manner of moral, sexual and criminal misdeeds. The Reverend Rider [Reginald Tate] and his sister Mary Rider [Flora Robson] attempt to defuse the increasing consternation of the villagers by pointing out that the letters should be ignored as the malicious nonsense they are. Their efforts meet with little success, and Rider's daughter Ann (Todd) also becomes a target with lewd accusations being made about her fiancé David [Geoffrey Toone].
As the poison letters continue to arrive with ever more outlandish content, the social fabric of the village starts to fall apart. The letters all bear the local postmark, and people start to look suspiciously at their friends and neighbours, wondering who could be behind the campaign. Despite Rider's insistence that the contents of the letters should be disregarded, some notice that the letter-writer seems to have a very detailed knowledge of their personal circumstances, and start to question whether there may be a grain of truth in what is being written. Personal relationships too come under strain.
Soon the entire village is overtaken by suspicion and paranoia, and fingers start to point at Connie Fateley [Catherine Lacey], a shy young seamstress who lives alone and does not tend to socialise. Convinced that hers is exactly the kind of personality that would find vent in a malicious poison-pen campaign, the villagers turn against Connie Fateley, openly accusing her of being the guilty party and ostracising her from village life. Tragedy follows when the despairing Connie Fateley hangs herself from the bell rope in the village church.
Reverend Rider preaches a sermon in which he expresses his disgust with his congregation for having driven Connie Fateley to suicide without a shred of evidence against her. Most, however, believe privately that Connie Fateley's death was an admission of guilt and feel relief that the ordeal is over. But letters are soon arriving again and the police become involved, keeping watch on local letterboxes in an attempt to catch the culprit. David now starts to receive poison letters detailing Ann Rider's alleged infidelity, and unstable villager Sam Hurrin [Robert Newton] is targeted with information that his wife Sucal Hurrin [Belle Chrystall] is dallying behind his back with local shopkeeper Len Griffin [Edward Chapman]. After drinking himself into a rage, Sam Hurrin goes out to confront Len Griffin and shoots him fatally.
The police now begin a round-the-clock surveillance of all letterboxes in the village, the collected letters are analysed and everyone who has been recorded as posting a letter is required to provide the address on the envelope. A handwriting expert is also brought in. The investigations lead in a surprising direction, towards Mary Rider, the vicar's sister and a respected community member who has managed to hide a severely disturbed mind behind a mask of caring efficiency. Realising that the net is finally closing in, the perpetrator descends into a destructive mental frenzy before fatally jumping from a cliff above a local quarry.
The film ‘POISON PEN’ is a totally guilty pleasure enjoyable “who-dunnit” and featuring some very well-known faces from the British stage and screen. Even a young Roddy McDowall sneaks into shot, as an un-credited choirboy! Other minor roles include Kenneth Conner connecting with the audience as a local telephone receptionist. Even the delightful comedienne Esma Cannon has a small part as Mrs. Cannon. In fact, anyone who had any kind of contact with this British film went on to have successful acting careers.
By today's story-telling standards, the outcome does seem a bit obvious but that minor flaw is over-ruled by the magnificent performance of the guilty party. Some fun moments include when the whole nosy crowd of villages gate-crash the post office and gather round to listen in on a phone call all the way from... Australia! There is also some sharp dialogue shared between the dancers at the charity shindig in aid of church restoration. A definite must for film buffs but probably not so much for casual film watchers!
POISON PEN MUSIC TRACK LIST
DREADED MOMENTS (uncredited) (Music by J.S. Zamecnik)
FOXTROT (uncredited) (Music by Sydney Baynes)
WHISPERING (uncredited) (Written by John Schonberger, Vincent Rose and Richard Coburn)
MONTAGE (uncredited) (Music by Harry Acres)
VOLUNTARY (uncredited) (Music by George Griggs)
PLAYOUT (uncredited) (Music by Harry Acres)
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Associated British Picture Corporation Ltd., STUDIOCANAL and Network presents us the film ‘POISON PEN’ with a wonderful Black-and-White 1080p image and is of course enhanced with a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The Network Company has done a good job as possible in bringing this 1939 film up to scratch, It is always heart-warming in seeing this Associated British Picture Corporation film of this vintage restored to close to its former glory as possible. The contrast is spot on it has terrific it has strong black levels, and the mid-range greyscale has been restored as best is possible. Now and again you get some dust speckles, as well as couple of tears, but most of the time the image is rock solid, and the detail is still crisp than you would find on a standard inferior DVD. But while the interiors are highly stylised, the shadows and contrasts are typical of this “film noir” style, especially again with the black levels that again are very solid looking, but overall it was a very pleasant viewing experience. REMASTERING NOTES: ‘POISON PEN’ has been scanned to a 2K resolution from a 35mm fine grain master positive and restored in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The restoration carried out involved careful grain management, both automated and manual removal of film dirt and damage, and correction of major instability, warping and density fluctuations. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Associated British Picture Corporation Ltd., STUDIOCANAL and Network brings us the film ‘POISON PEN’ with just one standard 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience. The Network Company has equally done a really fantastic job in bringing this 1939 film up to scratch with an audio mix that offers a very solid soundtrack, especially with the very atmospheric Harry Acres Musical Director composed music that compliments this 1932 black-and-white film so brilliantly in giving it that extra we can expect from this composers composition. Dialogue is very cleanly presented, and though there's no real damage to report, the mono audio sounds are really excellent for a 1939 black-and-white film and as usual The Network Company has brought us a very high standard we have always come to expect with their Blu-ray presentations.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Image Gallery [1939] [1080p] [1.78:1] [7:15] Here we get to view 147 stunning colour and black-and-white publicity images from the film ‘POISON PEN.’ This runs automatically like a slide show.
Special Feature: Original Script PDF: This can only be viewed via your computer.
BONUS: Reversible printed Blu-ray cover featuring original publicity photos, Film Posters and Black-and-White scenes from the film.
Finally, ‘POISON PEN’ is a gripping melodrama with an excellent cast. Though I began to have an inkling of the denouement toward the end, it was still an exciting film and great performances by all. Happy to see the wonderful Flora Robson in another great film and Robert Newton and Ann Todd are always wonderful to see. The story has pathos, romance, and melodrama. At the end of the film we are truly affected by the story of malice and its outcome as the Vicar attempts to calm the congregation and restore peace within the community and also at the same time causes devastation to the community and is very much like with today’s modern technology of the mobile phone and anonymous nasty evil people [trolls] sending out malicious evil nasty messages to the point of people ending their lives. As a big fan of British films of the 1930's through to the 1950's, it was really fun to see all the familiar names at the beginning. The supporting actors and actresses are the star quality icing on the cake with this film. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
