Movies Like The Letter (1940)

The Letter is a 1940 crime, drama film from William Wyler with a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Laura and In a Lonely Place.

Crime Drama

Laura

1944

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

7.6

MagicScore

In a Lonely Place

1950

A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.

7.6

MagicScore

Mystery Street

1950

When a young woman's skeletal remains turn up on a Massachusetts beach, Barnstable cop Peter Moralas teams with Boston police and uses forensics, with the help of a Harvard professor, to determine the woman's identity, how she died, and who killed her.

6.7

MagicScore

Shadow of a Doubt

1943

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

7.5

MagicScore

Fletch Lives

1989

Fletch is a fish out of water in small-town Louisiana, where he's checking out a tumbledown mansion he's inherited. When a woman he flirts with turns up dead, he becomes a suspect and must find the killer and clear his name.

6.0

MagicScore

Witness for the Prosecution

1957

An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.

8.2

MagicScore

Singapore

1947

After the war, Matt Gordon returns to Singapore to retrieve a fortune in smuggled pearls. Arrived, he reminisces in flashback about his prewar fiancée, alluring Linda, and her disappearance during the Japanese attack. But now Linda resurfaces...with amnesia and married to rich planter Van Leyden. Meanwhile, sinister fence Mauribus schemes to get Matt's pearls.

5.9

MagicScore

A Town Like Alice

1956

In 1941 Malaysia, the advancing Japanese army captures a lot of British territory very quickly. The men are sent off to labor camps, but they have no plan on what to do with the women and children of the British.

6.3

MagicScore

Cause for Alarm!

1951

A bedridden and gravely ill man believes his wife and doctor are conspiring to kill him, and outlines his suspicions in a letter.

5.9

MagicScore

#10

Drew Peterson: Untouchable

2014

The story of Drew Peterson, who is charged with the death of his third wife after the mysterious disappearance of his fourth wife.

5.3

MagicScore

#11

The Night of the Hunter

1955

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

7.9

MagicScore

#12

Scarface

1932

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

7.4

MagicScore

#13

Jigsaw

1962

A woman is found murdered in a seaside house along the coast from Brighton in the county of East Sussex, England. Local D.I. Fred Fellows and D.S. Jim Wilks lead an investigation methodically following up leads and clues mostly in Brighton and Hove but also further afield. _-= Based on the novel "Sleep Long My Love" by Hillary Waugh and Inspired by the Brighton Trunk Murders of the late 1930's =-_

7.3

MagicScore

#14

The Postman Always Rings Twice

1946

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.

7.0

MagicScore

#15

Yield to the Night

1956

Locked in her cell, a murderer reflects on the events that have led her to death row.

6.9

MagicScore

#16

Born to Kill

1947

A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.

6.7

MagicScore

#17

A Kiss Before Dying

1956

A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.

6.2

MagicScore

#18

Killing for the Prosecution

2018

Young public prosecutor Keiichiro Okino is assigned to the department of the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office that deals with violent cases, where he will work with Takeshi Mogami, whom he admires. When a money lender is killed and it is suspected that someone from Mogami’s past is the perpetrator, the team prepares to do his best in order to prove the alleged criminal’s guilt.

6.1

MagicScore

#19

Killing Words

2004

A mild-mannered psychopath plays mind-games with a woman he has tied to a chair in his basement.

6.5

MagicScore

#20

Goodbye Uncle Tom

1971

Two documentary filmmakers go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South, to film the slave trade.

6.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Letter?

The top films similar to The Letter by MovieMagicScore are Laura (7.6), In a Lonely Place (7.6), Mystery Street (6.7). Each shares crime/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Letter worth watching?

The Letter holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10 from 231 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Letter?

The Letter (1940) is a crime, drama film directed by William Wyler, starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Letter?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Laura Movies like In a Lonely Place Movies like Mystery Street Movies like Shadow of a Doubt Movies like Fletch Lives Movies like Witness for the Prosecution

About movies like The Letter

This ranked list pairs The Letter (1940), a crime and drama film from William Wyler, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Bette Davis take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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