Letty Lynton (Joan Crawford) had men coming out of her ears. Everywhere she went men were clambering for her. One particular man, Emile Renaul (Nils Asther), whom she met abroad, was determined to possess her at all costs. She was once madly in love with him, then his veneer finish slowly faded and she was no longer in love with him, yet he was certainly still in love with (or infatuated with) her.
Letty peeled free of Emile in Rio de Janeiro and headed home for New York. On the ship she met Jerry (Robert Montgomery) who'd also fall in love with her. By the end of their two week voyage they were engaged to be married. Things got dicey for Letty when Emile was waiting at the dock for her in New York. Now she had to figure out a way to push Emile away for good while not letting on to Jerry she had such a relationship.
In this movie Letty was painted as the sympathetic character. She'd had a fling and was now indefinitely tied to this man whom she loved no more. The drama and suspense wasn't that of a "Fatal Attraction" or "Sleeping with the Enemy" in that Emile was going to do her bodily harm, the drama and suspense was in his ability to expose Letty. She was from a wealthy upstanding family and in the 30's, as I have learned, image is everything to high society. Letty's image would've been indelibly tarnished if Emile revealed to the world their tryst.
The problem I had with the "drama" was that I didn't see it as that big of a deal. Letty didn't want to lose Jerry, hence she wanted to keep Emile a secret. We, as the viewers, were supposed to feel the pain, angst, and desperation Letty had as she sought to free herself from Emile. I just couldn't feel it. I agree, it sucked to be in her position, but a big part of me was thinking, "Cut him off and deal with whatever he decides to reveal." I thought that because A.) I'm sure that the embarrassment would only be temporary B.) I believed Jerry would stick around and C.) Letty and Jerry's relationship never moved me. They met on a boat, had some good times, and decided to marry. The relationship was too simple for me to have any strong feelings about its survival.
Letty would deal with things her own way and find out just how much love she had, or didn't have, from Jerry.
