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The Letter · 1940 — 第 7 / 15 章 · 3'21" · B2

Howard Confronts Leslie Over a Letter, Explained：a hairsbreadth

On the surface it's a lawyer checking on his client before trial. Underneath, Howard is testing Leslie's story, and it holds: she repeats it “in exactly the same words.” Then he produces a letter in her handwriting asking Hammond to come. “But that's not my handwriting,” she insists — a denial the rest of the film will test.

あらすじ

At the prison where Leslie awaits trial, her lawyer Howard Joyce pays a visit. They chat about her garden and her husband Robert, then Howard turns to the case: he asks whether she had any contact with Hammond and reminds her how identical her account has been. Finally he shows her a letter and tells her to read it herself.

InterrogationsCourtroomExplainingConfrontingLawyer & clientB2fastamericanClean
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注目の表現

feel sorry fortake it hardlook forward toa hairsbreadth

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このシーンの表現

a hairsbreadth

the tiniest amount

Howard says her story never varies by the width of a hair, a compliment that is really a probe.

The car missed the child by a hairsbreadth.

このシーンの他の表現

  • feel sorry for

    pity someone

  • take it hard

    be badly affected by it

  • look forward to

    await with pleasure

  • unvarnished truth

    the plain, unadorned truth

  • have in common

    share something

このシーンのメモ一覧

62 行のセリフに 20 件のメモ

表現 · B1a different place since ...

not the same as before

Oh, fine, thanks. It's a different place since Mrs. Crosbie's been here.
表現 · B1it's a shame (that) ...

a pity

It's a shame she has to stay here at all.
表現 · B2do + verb（强调）

really miss

Oh, how lovely. I do miss my garden.
発音I do miss

Stress the word do to hear the emphasis on missing the garden.

Oh, how lovely. I do miss my garden.
表現 · B1used to do something

did regularly in the past

just like I used to when I was in school with the holidays coming.
表現 · B2a good deal of something

a large amount of

I've done a good deal of reading, and I've worked on my lace.
表現 · B2take something hard

be badly shaken by it

He's taking it terribly hard.
文法 · B2more anxious about you than

comparative: The more ... than structure compares two anxieties and drops the repeated verb after than.

He's much more anxious about you than you seem to be about yourself.
表現 · B1look forward to something

await with pleasure

Well, Howard, I must confess to you, I'm not looking forward to testifying in court.
発音forward to

Link forward to so it almost sounds like one word.

Well, Howard, I must confess to you, I'm not looking forward to testifying in court.
文法 · B2that's impressed me is that

subject clause: The clause builds a subject out of the things that impressed him, then states it as the point.

One of the things that's impressed me is that every time you've told your story, you've told it in exactly the same words.
発音you've told

You've reduces to a light /jəv/ before the stressed told.

One of the things that's impressed me is that every time you've told your story, you've told it in exactly the same words.
表現 · C1not vary a hairsbreadth

the tiniest amount

Howard says her story never varies by the width of a hair, a compliment that is really a probe.

You've never varied a hairsbreadth.
表現 · C1the unvarnished truth

the plain, unadorned truth

Howard offers Leslie two readings: a remarkable memory, or the plain unvarnished truth.

Or that you're telling the plain, unvarnished truth.
表現 · C1be on intimate terms with someone

be close to someone

Well, at one time, you were on fairly intimate terms with him.
表現 · B1have something in common

share something

Well, we didn't have anything much in common.
表現 · C1shower someone with something

give in large amounts

A lot of calls upon his time, and, well, I didn't see the necessity of showering him with invitations.
表現 · B1quite by chance

by accident

Leslie mentions seeing Hammond's wife once, framing it at once as pure chance.

And once, quite by chance, I actually saw her.
表現 · B2have something to do with someone

be connected with someone

And it was after you knew about her that you stopped having anything to do with Hammond?
文法 · C1it was after you knew about her that you stopped

cleft sentence: The it was ... that pattern highlights the timing as the point of the question.

And it was after you knew about her that you stopped having anything to do with Hammond?

「Howard Confronts Leslie Over a Letter」を読み解く

What's really going on

The visit looks like kindness — flowers, small talk, concern for Robert — but it is really an interrogation, and Howard runs it gently. “Every time you've told your story, you've told it in exactly the same words,” he observes; that could mean honesty or rehearsal, and he lets Leslie hear both. Her answers are smooth until the letter appears. The scene's real subject is the gap between Leslie's composed performance and the evidence against her. When she says “But that's not my handwriting,” the audience has to decide whether she is innocent, lying, or simply unable to admit what she did.

Theme

SecretsHoward slowly uncovers the hidden connection between Leslie and the man she shot.
LiesHer rehearsed account and the letter force the question of whether she is telling the truth.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Her calm never varies, and that is exactly the tell.
  • Pity offered to a proud woman can wound.
  • Each denial is shorter than the answer before it.
  • A letter turns a quiet visit into an interrogation.

発音のポイント

  • I do miss — Stress the word do to hear the emphasis on missing the garden.
  • forward to — Link forward to so it almost sounds like one word.
  • you've told — You've reduces to a light /jəv/ before the stressed told.
Oh, fine, thanks. It's a different place since Mrs. Crosbie's been here.

Ordinary pleasantries around a prison visit, but the line quietly tells us Leslie is the one everyone talks about.

Oh, how lovely. I do miss my garden.

A polite comment on the flowers Howard brought, and a small sign of how cut off Leslie feels.

He's much more anxious about you than you seem to be about yourself.

Robert is suffering more over the case than Leslie herself seems to be, a hint that she is keeping calm for a reason.

One of the things that's impressed me is that every time you've told your story, you've told it in exactly the same words.

Howard's polite way of saying her story is suspiciously perfect: either a remarkable memory or a rehearsed lie.

Well, we didn't have anything much in common.

Leslie's tidy explanation for drifting apart from Hammond, which Howard is quietly testing.

Horrible. She was all covered with gold chains and bracelets and spangles, her face like a mask.

Leslie's blunt description of Hammond's wife, revealing her contempt and the jealousy behind the case.

But that's not my handwriting.

Leslie's flat denial of the letter, the moment the whole defense starts to depend on whether it is true.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Howard show Leslie the letter instead of hiding it?

He wants to see how she reacts and to prepare her: if the letter can be traced to her, the defense has to deal with it before it surfaces in court.

Is the letter really Leslie's?

She insists it isn't, but Howard calls it an exact copy of one written the day Hammond died, so her word is set against the evidence.

What does “a hairsbreadth” mean?

It means the smallest possible amount. “You've never varied a hairsbreadth” means her story never changed even slightly.

Who was Hammond to Leslie?

An old friend the Crosbies used to see socially, according to Leslie; Howard suspects the two were once much closer and is pressing her on it.

What happens after Leslie sees the letter?

She denies the handwriting, and the question of whether the letter is hers hangs over the coming trial and her defense.

The Letter · 全 15 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 8 章talk very plainlyHoward Confronts Leslie About the Letter
第 1 章riddled with bulletsLeslie Confesses After the Shooting第 2 章put my back upLeslie Recounts the Night Hammond Died第 3 章the last strawLeslie Describes Shooting Hammond第 4 章like grim deathJoyce Questions Leslie About the Body第 5 章go to blazesOng Brings Joyce a Delicate Matter第 6 章put a different complexion onOng Brings Joyce the Letter再生中 · 第 7 章a hairsbreadthHoward Confronts Leslie Over a Letter第 8 章talk very plainlyHoward Confronts Leslie About the Letter第 9 章save your neckHoward Refuses to Buy the Letter第 10 章go to the devilOng Chi Seng Names His Price第 11 章get hold ofHoward Tells Bob to Buy the Letter第 12 章put all your eggs in one basketRobert Announces the Move to Sumatra第 13 章throw cold water onRobert Learns What the Letter Cost第 14 章in love withLeslie Confesses Loving Hammond第 15 章good sportLeslie's Party After the Trial
第 7 / 15 章 · 残り約 28 分