Three husbands

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Three husbands
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1950
length 79 minutes
Rod
Director Irving Reis
script Vera Caspary
Edward Eliscu
Gertrude Purcell
production Isidor Goldschmidt
music Herschel Burke Gilbert
camera Franz Planner
cut Louis Sackin
occupation

Without mentioning:

as well as Ralph Brooks , Philip Carey , Jack Chefe , John Dierkes , Maurice Marsac , Ralph Peters , Stanley Prager and Dorothy Vaughan

Three Husbands is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Irving Reis .

action

The recently deceased Maxwell Bard goes to heaven and, like everyone who goes there, has a wish. But instead of “forgetting” or “peace and quiet” like others, he wishes to be able to watch his three best friends, Arthur Evans, Kenneth Whittaker and Dan McCabe from San Francisco , for 24 hours. Max's lawyer and friend Edward Wurdemann is handing each of them a letter in which Max confesses to have had something with the respective woman.

After receiving his letter, Arthur goes home immediately, but his wife Jane is not there. Jane went to concerts with Max every Friday and liked him very much. Arthur recalls a meeting where his lover, Matilda Clegg, tried to get him to break up with Jane. But because he didn't want to do this, Matilda tried to talk to Jane about it. This didn't work because Arthur interrupted the conversation, but instead talked about Arthur's three-day hospital stay, during which Max and Jane had a lot of fun. When Jane comes home, Arthur angrily calls her " Jezebel " and leaves the house.

Ken goes into a bar and shows the letter to Joe, the bartender. The first thing he recommends is to beat up Max. When he learns that he is dead, he recommends Ken that he beat up his wife Mary instead. Ken had met Mary because she was a nurse looking after Max, who had a heart condition. When Mary and Ken were about to celebrate their second wedding anniversary, they - again - were called to see a patient. Ken was initially not interested in the identity of this patient. When his mother, Jenny, suspected that she might be with Max, Ken decided to look there. However, he was noticed by police while watching the house. When Max noticed him too, he pretended to have a mistress in the house. As a result, Ken broke into the house, was arrested and spent one night in jail. The next morning Mary and Max took him out of prison, but Mary no longer wanted to tell him who she had been with and threatened Ken to leave him if he asked further. With this memory, Ken goes home and asks Mary to tell him where she was that night. Mary carries out her threat and leaves.

Dan thinks the letter is a joke and is amused by it. He and his wife Lucille want to laugh about it, but she doesn't feel valued enough about it. She reminds Dan how she met Max at a horse race that she was with Dan. Since Dan met a customer there, he couldn't bring her home, which Max did. That night she came home late and drunk. A celebration for three, at which Dan sat around drunk and Max and Lucille had a lot of fun together, is also remembered. Now Dan is convinced that Max and Lucille had something together, and an argument ensues. Dan leaves the house with the announcement that he will speak to a divorce lawyer.

For probate in was man the next day Jane, Mary and Lucille meet. Neither of the three knows where her husband is. Lucille tells the other two about the letter, but neither can imagine that either of the other two could have had something with Max. Then they are called into Wurdemann's study, where Arthur, Ken and Dan, but also Ken's mother Jenny, who was related to Max, and Matilda are waiting. Matilda and Jenny each get a share that binds them far from San Francisco. The considerable remainder goes equally to Jane, Mary, and Lucille. In his will, Max explains that the confession in the three letters was false, that he had not committed adultery with any of the three women. He also believes that marriage cannot work if the woman is financially dependent on her husband. He wrote the letters to put the three of them in a difficult situation so that they would appreciate their wives again. The three couples reconcile one after the other, kissing each other in front of an open elevator door, driving the elevator operator crazy.

production

Vera Caspary had adapted John Klempner's novel A Letter to Five Wives for the 20th Century Fox film A Letter to Three Women (original title A Letter to Three Wives ) . Together with her husband Isidor Goldschmidt and Gertrude Purcell , she developed the story for the film, which was to be called A Letter to Three Husbands . Since 20th Century Fox also registered the title, the film was renamed Three Husbands . But Goldschmidt had to fight 20th Century Fox for this title too. Caspary wrote the script with Edward Eliscu .

The filming of Three Husbands started in mid-February and ended on March 17, 1950. The film was shot at the Motion Picture Center Studios in Los Angeles . The film was produced by Gloria Film Productions .

Complaints from the Breen Office

The Breen Office , the division of the MPAA that was responsible for enforcing the Hays Code , was concerned about some characters' relaxed attitude towards adultery and the idea that Arthur might happily return to his wife after an affair with Matilda. Therefore, it was emphasized in the film that no adultery took place. In addition, Maxwell's dialogues have been "cleaned up".

music

In Three Husbands the song Poor Chap , written by Herschel Burke Gilbert (music) and Edward Eliscu (lyrics), is played twice. It is sung at the piano for the first time by Emlyn Williams and Ruth Warrick at Max's birthday party in Arthur's Memories. The second time it can be heard in Dan's memories at the party. Emlyn Williams and Eve Arden sing it there without any instrumental accompaniment.

Premiere

Three Husbands premiered on November 17, 1950. The film was distributed by United Artists . Three Husbands was released on DVD on February 27, 2007.

reception

Reviews

The critics pointed to the connection between A Letter to Three Women and Three Husbands and agree that A Letter to Three Women is clearly the better film. However, Three Husbands also has its charm and is entertaining. The film is only about the laughs, but it shows only a few of them. It is just a pleasant comedy.

The actors are quite good, with Eve Arden being emphasized. But Emlyn Williams and Howard da Silva were also highlighted.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Three Husbands (1950). In: American Film Institute. Retrieved May 20, 2018 .
  2. ↑ '3 Husbands' Ruled Not Infringing on '3 Wives' . In: Variety . March 1, 1950, p.  4 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed May 20, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Three Husbands . In: Variety . November 8, 1950, p.  6 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed May 20, 2018]).
  4. ^ Three Husbands (1951). In: Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 20, 2018 .
  5. ^ A b c d Craig Butler: Three Husbands (1950). In: All Movie. Retrieved May 20, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Three Husbands (1950). In: Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 20, 2018 .
  7. ^ Tana Hobart: Three Husbands (1950). In: All Movie. Retrieved May 20, 2018 .
  8. ^ A b David C. Tucker: Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances . McFarland, Jefferson 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-8810-0 , pp. 115–117 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 20, 2018]).