07.09.10 | guest-blogs | FanFare GuestsPrint this Post
Fanfare Guest blogger Angela Petteys writes:
One Saturday morning, Deborah Bishop (Jeanne Crain), Lora Mae Hollingsway (Linda Darnell), and Rita Phipps (Ann Sothern), get together to take a bunch of children on a boat trip and a picnic. Only problem is, there was supposed to be a fourth woman with them, Addie Ross (played by a never-seen, only heard, Celeste Holm). Just before Deborah, Lora, and Rita leave on the boat, a messenger delivers a letter from Addie in which she says that she has run off with one of their husbands, but doesn’t say which one. As the day progresses, each woman thinks back to an incident that could have made their husband want to leave them and how Addie Ross plays into each scenario.
Deborah remembers the first night she went to the local country club and met her husband Brad’s (Jeffrey Lynn) friends. They live in the small town where Brad grew up and Deborah is worried about being accepted in the tight-knight community. Her hair is a mess, her dress is out-of-date, and she has a few too many martinis. Before going to the country club, Rita tries to reassure Deborah and helps her alter her unfashionable dress. Unfortunately, while dancing at the country club, Deborah has a bit of a wardrobe malfunction in front of everybody. She’s convinced she couldn’t possibly stand up next to the eternally smooth Addie.
Next, Rita recalls a disastrous dinner party. Rita is a radio writer and is married to George Phipps (Kirk Douglas), a teacher who has difficulty accepting that his wife is the primary breadwinner. She arranges a dinner party for her bosses, during which she planned to offer George a job. Rita wants George to be dressed to the nines and ready to impress. George doesn’t understand why she’s so bent on impressing her boss and doesn’t cooperate. Then a delivery comes for George, a record from Addie, and Rita realizes she completely forgot George’s birthday. Once Rita’s bosses arrive, they are more interested in spending hours listening to radio programs than they are in dinner. Before leaving, Rita’s boss asks George for his opinion on the radio programs and he is quite brutally honest. After the bosses leave, Rita and George get into a fight over Rita’s career ambitions.
Lora doesn’t recall one single incident, rather she realizes the entire basis for their marriage is enough to make her husband, Porter (Paul Douglas), want to leave. Porter owns a chain of department stores and met Lora when she was working for him. At the time, Lora was living in a house by the railroad tracks with her mother and sister and was determined to marry up. Porter had already been married and divorced and wasn’t looking to get married again. But Lora refuses to have any kind of relationship with him unless he’s willing to give her what she wants. Although Porter could very easily have Addie, he agrees to marry Lora.
A Letter to Three Wives is the very definition of an under-appreciated classic. Although it was a Best Picture Oscar nominee and earned Joseph L. Mankiewicz Oscars for Best Director and Best Screenplay, I really don’t hear much about this one. That’s really unfortunate because it’s an excellent and unique movie. I don’t recall ever seeing this plot ever being ripped off and used in another movie. It was very well written and has a good twist at the end. The acting was great and it’s just a movie that I’d gladly watch again and again. I just can’t figure out why this movie isn’t talked about more. Maybe it was eclipsed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s next movie, All About Eve. But whatever the reason, if you ever have the chance to see it, I would highly recommend it.
Angela is a classic film enthusiast from Detroit with a degree in Television Production. She runs the blog The Hollywood Revue and is the co-author of Cooking With the Classics: Recipes Inspired by Classic Films.
This is a great movie which I stumbled upon quite by accident. I love Kirk Douglas's tirade towards his dinner guests. Like "All About Eve", it is a movie you can watch over and over and enjoy it each time as if it were the first time you ever saw it.
One of my favorites!
I too have to agree that this film is really one of the "lost treasures". As an avid classic film lover, I have often thought that 20th Century Fox was not regarded in the same manner as MGM or Columbia. It always seemed to me that MGM was looked upon as being in the higher echelon and Fox and RKO were sort of run of the mill type studios. But looking back over the catalog of films, like "A Letter to Three Wives", you can clearly see that Fox put out some of the best classic films of the time-
Look at the talent of the actors/actresses in this film! The three ladies, Jeanne, Ann and Linda are perfectly cast as are their husbands...how can you not love Paul Douglas in this film???
The supporting cast headed by the 'perennial co-star', Thelma Ritter is just as excellent as the main cast. I love Thelma in everything she was associated with, but especially this film. Who doesn't laugh when asked by Rita's boss what she listens to on the radio and Sadie (Thelma) replies, "the police calls and I sleep like a baby"!
With all the junk being produced today, its wonderful to have these classic films available to those of us who enjoy sitting back and seeing a quality of film making that is for the most part long gone.
I love this movie, too. It is available on DVD. It was remade as a TV movie some years ago---of course it was not as good as the original.
One of the best films ever with some of the most telling dialogue anywhere. I especially liked it when Lora was visiting Porter's home for the first time (she knew he had been married before) and comments that there are no signs of a previous wife. And Porter says (I'm paraphrasing here), "I don't have her fingerprints in this house." They just don't make films like this anymore.
I AGREE WITH THOSE ABOVE WHO HIGHLY RATED A LETTER TO THREE WIVES. THE PERSON IN CONTROL OF THAT FILM AND SO MANY OTHER GREATS WAS THE ONE AND ONLY JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ. THIS MAN COULD DO NO WRONG. HE COULD WRITE, PRODUCE, DIRECT---AND GET THE BEST PERFORMANCES OUT OF BOTH ACTOR AND ACTRESS. ALSO LITTLE KNOWN IS THE HONEY POT BY JLM AND I CONSIDER THIS FILM ONE OF THE BEST. THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE JLM ANYMORE.
COULD THE POWERS TO BE CONVINCE 20TH CENTURY FOX TO SHOW LYDIA BAILEY WITH ANNE FRANCIS AND DALE ROBERTSON AND COLUMBIA PICTURES TO SHOW PORGY AND BESS. BOTH FILMS SHOULD BE PUT ON DVD.
Mankiewcz was simply too good for Hollywood. Even in the overblown Cleopatra, the fine writing soars above other Hollywood epics. His early fifties witty comedies, Letter, People Will Talk and his masterpiece, All About Eve were intelligent, witty, and beautifully acted. The performers in those films gave the best acting in their careers. These films are so refreshing, especially if viewed today when mediocrity in American movies is the standard.
I agree this is an underappreciated classic. I especially like People will Talk with the one and only Cary Grant.
I've always been a big fan of Paul Douglas, who was much better than Hollywood ever gave him credit for, so of course I'm a big fan of this film--a great cast and a fine story; who could ask for more?
A great film and all actors shine. I have always been a fan of Jeanne Crain and feel her talents have been neglected. Whe was terrific in "Leave Her to Heaven."
So glad this site "found me". I love the oldies and am eagerly awaiting the release on dvd of "Margie" starring the beautiful and underrated Jeanne Crain. I love "A Letter to Three Wives" too and watch it every month !
As good as it gets. My favorite. My daughter in-law told me about it. Didn't have the heart to tell her I knew of the movie. Still holds the interest of the younger set. Good writing, directing and acting always lasts thru test of time.
I agree that this is a great film... I watch it whenever it is shown. I can't wait to get it.
Other films that I think are not well known, but still great pix... A Stolen Life with Bette Davis.
She plays twins in this film. The other great film that I love is Tender Comrade with Ginger Rogers. These are rare and had to find!
Thanks for the write-up!
An excellent film, with an ending to keep you interested to the final shots. Great acting through out, especially by Paul Douglas and Thelma Ritter. I thought Jeanne Crain was very good as well. While not greatly remembered today it was highly regarded when it came out. Perhaps "All about Eve" overshadowed it, but in many ways "Letter" was a better film.
This is a terrific movie and Linda Darnell really could act. I remember thinking during the movie, don't let it be Deborah's husband because I really felt for her. She was so sweet.
Always been one of my favorites, and I am delighted to see that I am not alone. This film introduced me to Thelma Ritter, and I was a fan of hers from that moment on. Can anyone tell me the name of the Doris Day flick in which Thelma Ritter played a housekeeper, who was always drunk getting off the fast-moving elevator. Drama or comedy, Thelma Ritter couldn't be beaten as the wise-cracking supporting player.
Yes, a real sleeper that too many people are unaware of. Had the pleasure of meeting Linda Darnell and Jeanne Crain years after this film. Both were really nice ladies.
I've watched this movie about fifty times and still enjoy it.
This is a great movie and I'm glad that so many of you recognized that. I really enjoyed the dialogue and the acting in "Letter to Three Wives," which had so many actors in it who I've enjoyed watching in quite a few of their other movies. I enjoyed Jeanne Crain in films like "Cheaper by the Dozen", "Pinky", among others. The beautiful Linda Darnell in "Zorro", and "Blood and Sand", co-starring in both with Tyrone Power. Kirk Douglas was great in this and so many other films in the '40s, '50s and '60s. I always liked Paul Douglas who, I believe, started his movie career when he was older (40s?) and died at a relatively young age (late 50s?) from a heart attack. I liked him in the original "Angels in the Outfield", "It Happens Every Spring" (another baseball comedy co-starring Ray Milland), and "The Solid Gold Caddillac" (co-starring Judy Holliday). Thelma Ritter was wonderful and stood out in every movie that I've seen her in, especially Hitchcock's "Rear Window", "All About Eve", "Miracle on 34th Street", "Birdman of Alcatraz", and several more. One of the best character/supporting actresses ever.
Anne, the name of the movie is "Pillow Talk", which also starred Rock Hudson.