''Letty Lynton'' is a 1931 novel by the British writer

Marie Belloc Lowndes Marie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Lowndes (née Belloc; 5 August 1868 – 14 November 1947), who wrote as Marie Belloc Lowndes, was a prolific English novelist, and sister of author Hilaire Belloc. Active from 1898 until her death, she had a li ...

. It is loosely inspired by the case of

Madeleine Smith Madeleine Hamilton Smith (29 March 1835 – 12 April 1928) was a 19th-century Glasgow socialite who was the accused in a sensational murder trial in Scotland in 1857. Background Smith was the first child (of five) of an upper-middle-class ...

, a young woman accused of murder.

Adaptation

In 1932 it was adapted by

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

studio

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

into the film ''

Letty Lynton ''Letty Lynton'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code drama film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery (actor), Robert Montgomery and Nils Asther. The film was directed by Clarence Brown and based on the 1931 Letty Lynton (novel), ...

'' directed by

Clarence Brown Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Early life Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he ...

and starring

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

, Robert Montgomery and

Nils Asther Nils Anton Alfhild Asther (17 January 1897 – 19 October 1981)Swedi ...

.Goble p.294

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Vinson, James. ''Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers''. Macmillan, 1982. 1931 British novels Novels by Marie Belloc Lowndes British novels adapted into films Heinemann (publisher) books {{1930s-novel-stub