Carta a tres esposas

Warning! - possible mini-SPOILER to follow...

Other comments herein attest to this film's amazingly well-achieved wit and sophistication, both for its time and, when viewed today, outclassing almost anything I can think of in recent release. Twentieth-Century Fox gave Joseph L. Mankiewicz top-notch professionals to help him win his eventual Oscars for direction and screenplay.

One moment that will always spring to my mind when I recall this film is that wonderful character actress, Connie Gilchrist (so perfectly partnered in her scenes with one of my all-time beloveds, Thelma Ritter), reacting to Laura Mae's announcement of her engagement to her boss, Mr. Hollingsway, so well-played by the great Paul Douglas. As she falls in a dead faint, she emits a jubilant exclamation on her way to the floor: "Bingo!" One of this film's best guffaws and a nice counterpoint to some of the more subtle examples of humor in this example of what Hollywood can do when everything meshes so superbly.

Jeanne Crain was a very pretty girl, Ann Sothern was chiefly noted for her comic turns, and Linda Darnell was a memorable beauty--but although all three appeared in popular films none were particularly celebrated for their acting talents until Joseph L. Mankiewicz tapped them for the roles of three society wives in this poison pen letter to both sexes. Wickedly witty in script, and remarkably acid in tone, A LETTER TO THREE WIVES would put every one involved in the film firmly on the Hollywood map.

Three society wives (Crain, Sothern, and Darnell) are committed to hosting a children's picnic on an isolated island--and as the ferry prepares to depart they receive a letter from town femme fatale Addie Ross (never seen but memorably voiced by Celeste Holm.) Addie informs them that she is leaving town forever... but has decided to take one of their husbands along as a memento. And each of the three wives, cut off from the outside world for the day, is left to wonder: when I go home tonight, will my husband still be there? During the day each of the wives recalls scenes from her marriage. Deborah (Craine) arrived in town as a pretty but very awkward farm girl fresh out of the navy and with a wardrobe consisting of a single and very ugly mail-order dress; she has never felt entirely secure. Rita (Sothern) is married to a schoolteacher, and has committed the unpardonable sin of becoming the writer of a popular radio show that brings her more money than her husband will ever earn. And Lora Mae (Darnell) was a beauty born on the wrong side of the tracks who connived her way into a wealthy marriage and now specializes in bickering with her gruff and boorish husband. And always they have been victim to Addie--a woman who "has class," who stings them with competition and evil wit, and who has their husbands eating out of her hand.

Although the construction is artificial, the script is wickedly knowing, painting a truly subversive vision of American marriage and mores of the late 1940s. Of the three leads, Ann Sothern dominates with her spirited "Rita"--but Darnell has the best of the script, a series of manipulations and drop-dead quips and ripostes, and Crain is perfectly cast as the insecure beauty who is as out of place as a dove at a gathering of eagles. The supporting cast, which includes Kirk Douglas, Thelma Ritter, and Connie Gilchrist is remarkably fine as well. And before all is said and done, small town society gets raked over coals.

If A LETTER TO THREE WIVES has a flaw, it is the same flaw that would trouble Mankiewicz's later and even more celebrated ALL ABOUT EVE: the point of view that a woman is ultimately nothing without a man, an idea that tends to limit the scope of the film and at times even belittle its characters. Some viewers may also be disappointed with the film's conclusion, which--although extremely ironic--lacks the sharp bite you might expect. Even so, this is a truly memorable and often very funny film, and one that deserves to be seen more often today than it usually is.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Though based on a relatively simple idea, "A Letter to Three Wives" is an interesting and well-written story. The cast and the rest of the production are good as well, but it is primarily the carefully written story that makes it work. Joseph Mankiewicz's screenplay does not necessarily have flashy dialogue or lots of surprises, but rather creates well-defined and believable characters, and puts them into an unusual situation, which he then develops at a good pace.

The opening sequences pull you right into the story, introducing the characters efficiently and then setting up the predicament in which the three wives find themselves as a result of the letter from their absent friend. None of the characters are especially interesting as individuals, but all are believable, and you certainly care about what will happen to them. The cast make their characters work together quite well, and there are quite a few good moments. The unseen Addie Ross is also as much a part of the story as any of the others, and her narration is used effectively.

The story moves along smoothly, almost logically, as things are resolved in an unspectacular but satisfying fashion. It's the kind of well-crafted feature that may not dazzle many of today's viewers, but that makes good use of every opportunity.

Usually films are only told from the view of one perspective as a flat narrative. It takes some real writing skills to do a screenplay and then photograph same from many angles.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz who was very involved with Citizen Kane took a page from that book to tell the story of A Letter to Three Wives. Addie Ross who is never seen has written a letter to three of her girlfriends saying she's leaving town and taking one of their husbands with her. The women, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, and Jeanne Crain are on a Day Line type cruise chaperoning some of their town kids. They all think they could be the unlucky jilted one and they start reflecting back on their lives and marriages.

We learn a lot about all of them in those flashbacks and like the way we learned about the complex Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane, we also learn about Addie Ross. Celeste Holm is the voice of Addie Ross and she probably deserves an Oscar for best performance by an unseen player.

Linda Darnell is a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who marries wealthy department store chain owner Paul Douglas. Jeanne Crain is the sensitive girl who met and married upper crust Jeffrey Lynn who she met while they were both in the Navy. And Ann Sothern is a career minded woman married to teacher Kirk Douglas. The strengths and weaknesses of the relationships are carefully examined in each flashback.

I thought Ann Sothern and Kirk Douglas had the best chemistry between them, too bad they didn't work together again. Her flashback consists of a memorable dinner party with a couple of philistine radio executives played delightfully by Florence Bates and Hobart Cavanaugh. Douglas despises the way his wife cheapens her talent by writing tripe for these two and tells them in no uncertain terms.

Addie Ross's portrait is painted by all the comments made about her in each story. She's obviously a glamorous and chic woman, but who has the heart of a mackerel.

Three years later Kirk Douglas got one of his Oscar nominations in The Bad and the Beautiful. In that one he's the Addie Ross character, but he's very much seen. But their are undeniable similarities in A Letter To Three Wives to that film as well.

Joe Mankiewicz got an Oscar for Best Director in 1949 and he really earned it helming a deceptively complex story.

One of the funniest and truest commentaries on married life is set into motion when the three wives receive a letter stating that the town siren has run off with one of their husbands--but which one? Flashbacks trace the course of three stories in one--along with witty dialog and comic situations that keep you entertained from beginning to end. All of the principals are excellent--but if I had to choose the favorite couple it would have to be Paul Douglas and Linda Darnell. Why they weren't both at least nominated for Oscars, I'll never understand. Darnell, in particular, more noted for being a great beauty than a great actress, has some of the wittiest lines in the movie and gets them across with slambang effect. Her Lora Mae Hollingsway just about steals the film in some of the funniest, yet poignant moments in the whole story. Paul Douglas is superb opposite her, as are Thelma Ritter and Connie Gilchrist as two outspoken bystanders. Not far behind are Ann Sothern and Kirk Douglas as the squabbling couple whose marriage is falling apart because of her financial success as a soap opera writer vs. his non-lucrative teaching career. Only sequences that fail to register strongly are those between Jeanne Crain and Jeffrey Lynn--lacking the wit of the other stories. The lines and situations get more hilarious as the film goes on and by the end you've seen one of the most richly satisfying comedies ever about the ups and downs of domestic bliss. Fully deserved its Oscars for best screenplay and direction.