A Letter for Evie

An American comedy from the 1940s. Evie works in a shirt factory. The workers have been allowed to slip notes into the soldiers' parcels; she leaves a letter inside a shirt with an address. The letter reaches John. He is short, shy and has no confidence; he wants to answer but knows a photograph will be asked for. Edgar is in the next bunk. Tall, handsome and sure of himself. John sends his picture. The correspondence continues and the letters go well. The trouble starts when a meeting is proposed. From there the film becomes a game of identity: one side writes, the other is seen. When the three come together it grows more tangled, because Edgar takes an interest of his own. What the narrative is interested in is not the lie but a man thinking little of himself: what John does is less a trick than a belief that he is not enough as he is. It was made right after the war years and feeds on the letter-writing to soldiers of that time. Marsha Hunt plays Evie, Hume Cronyn plays John and John Carroll plays Edgar. Jules Dassin directed; one of the light jobs before his noir period. Who it is for: anyone who likes old Hollywood romantic comedy. Who it is not for: anyone looking for consistency of plot; the narrative rests on misunderstandings and much of it is resolved by coincidence.