Letter of Introduction (1938)
A young actress presents a letter of introduction to a fading matinee idol and discovers he is the father she never knew. He asks her to keep the tie secret while he attempts a Broadway comeback, and the concealment leads columnists and her own suitor to assume she is the older man's mistress.
Directed by woman’s-picture specialist John M. Stahl, Letter of Introduction is best remembered now for teaming Adolphe Menjou’s dissolute actor with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, whose radio fame was then at its peak. Universal let the copyright lapse, placing the film in the public domain in 1966.
Background
Letter of Introduction was directed by John M. Stahl, a director known for women’s pictures, and stars Adolphe Menjou as a fading matinee idol. Andrea Leeds plays the young actress who discovers he is her father; she had received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress the previous year for Stage Door (1937). The film is also remembered for its supporting cast, which includes Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, whose radio popularity was at its peak in 1938. Universal released the picture, and its story of a secret family tie plays out against the Broadway theater world.
What to watch for
The story’s comedy and drama depend on the concealment the actor asks his daughter to maintain, a secret that leads columnists and her suitor to assume she is his mistress. Watch for how Menjou plays a vain performer whose charm hides real regret, and how the Bergen and McCarthy scenes bring a familiar radio voice to the screen. The film is a backstage melodrama about reputation and family, shaped by the conventions of 1930s Hollywood, and its central relationship is allowed to develop slowly.
