Letter From an Unknown Woman



""By the time you read this I may be dead.""

Based on the 1922 novella of the same name, Letter from an Unknown Woman is a 1948 film directed by Max Ophuls.

Pianist Stefan Brand comes home one night a few hours from a duel in which he has no interest in participating. Before he prepares to leave the city, he receives a letter that begins with the above quote.


 * Anguished Declaration of Love: Lisa's letter to Stefan.
 * The Casanova: Stefan thinks it's Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places.
 * Downer Ending
 * Framing Device: Lisa's letter.
 * The Gay Nineties
 * Love Martyr: Lisa.
 * Source Music: Stefan plays Il Sospiro by Franz Liszt, which follows throughout the film.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: Stefan and Lisa.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome: Stefan.

"If only you could have shared those moments, if only you could have recognized what was always yours, could have found what was never lost. If only..."