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Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: golden age, Joan Crawford, Letty Lynton
Joan Crawford Film "Letty Lynton" Returns After 90 Years Vaulted
After being sealed away for legal and "scandalous" reasons for over 90 years, the Joan Crawford film Letty Lynton is returning to the screen
Article Summary
- Letty Lynton, starring Joan Crawford, returns to theaters after being vault-locked for over 90 years.
- The 1932 film was famously pulled due to plagiarism lawsuits and complex copyright battles over its story.
- Based on true events, the film follows a New York socialite caught in blackmail, scandal, and murder.
- A 4K Warner Bros. restoration will premiere at the TCM Classic Film Festival on May 1, 2026.
One of the longest-locked-away films is getting re-released next month, as Joan Crawford's Letty Lynton returns to theaters. The case of the film is unique, as a few issues led to it being shelved in a vault after it was praised by critics at the time. Originally released in 1932 by MGM, the film centers around a New York socialite who becomes involved with a new lover while engaged to another man. The plot thickens when her now ex-lover threatens to blackmail her using love letters between them, leading her to eventually poison him. At the time, many people viewed the film as scandalous, not just for its subject matter, but also for the idea of a leading woman playing a villainous role. But it earned Crawford praise for her part.
Letty Lynton Returns To The Big Screen After 90 Years In The Archives
The reason the film has been in turmoil for years, however, has little to do with the subject matter and more to do with how it was created. The script was lifted and adapted from the play Dishonored Lady, written by Edward Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes, which was based on the novel Letty Lynton, also by Marie Belloc Lowndes. The novel itself was based on a true story of a woman on trial for murder in Scotland in 1857. MGM wanted to adapt the play, but the Hays Code already deemed it "unfit for motion picture adaptation." So the studio tapped Wanda Tuchock to write her own modern adaptation of the play, with Clarence Brown directing it. The studio was eventually sued for plagiarism and copyright infringement, leading to multiple court battles over the decades while it sat locked away.
That all changed, as most things do, over time. Crawford's grandson, Casey LaLonde, posted on Instagram that most of the copyrights and legal disputes over the film had now expired or were out of date, paving the way for the film to finally be seen by audiences once again. The film will now receive a 4K restoration from Warner Bros., set to premiere at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Los Angeles on May 1, 2026.
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