Tres pretendientes

When the story begins, Alison (Deborah Kerr) learns she has just inherited a ranch in Texas. She and those around her assume she's wealthy. On the cruise ship across the Atlantic to the States, three men all set after her. Terence (Robert Walker) is a crook and plans on bilking Alison. Jeremy (Peter Lawford) is rich and plans on winning her with his charm. And, finally, Matthew (Mark Stevens) is with the DA's office and falls for her...but also wonders if she might be a crook because she's often with Terence and his 'gentlemans gentleman' (James Whitmore)...a crook Matthew recognizes.

The film started off well and I enjoyed it through the long ocean voyage. But when the film made it to land, it really sank. The plot just got dumb and the film dragged....so much so that I longed for it all to end.

What superb direction -- and please, hard as it is, believe this is the same Norman Taurog that basted more Elvis Presley turkeys than any other director. Here, Taurog is the star, slowed down only by an uneven cast and a script that creaked in a couple of places as it flexed its plot. Deborah Kerr is supreme, though, as the sentimental English poppy who is tricked up and down until she buckles on her sound, common sense English ingenuity and carries the day. And she had some carrying to do: co-star Mark Stevens is pure avoirdupois with no sense of the camera. Nice jackets, though. Peter Lawford is perfect as the rich guy with a sense of fun, flaunting his sleek biceps and slim waist in a swimming pool scene he steals with aplomb. The script is a beaut, too, but the way Taurog fills each scene with exposition and shtick is a joy to behold. The lighting is highly skilled 40s workmanship. And check the roulette scene for b/w colour play. But the scene that is all Seven Wonders of Hollywood script- writing rolled into one is the showdown in gangster Quinn's office. Unbeatable for its half a dozen plot twists inside three minutes. Believe me.

The film Please Believe Me is based on a simple premise, that people who are from Texas have to be rich and vulgarly so in fact. When Deborah Kerr, a most prim and proper English lass inherits property in Texas everyone assumes she inherited something like South Fork. Especially after the English tabloids get a hold of the story and she goes sailing to the other side of the pond to claim her inheritance.

On ship three guys start buzzing around Kerr, playboy Robert Walker, millionaire Peter Lawford, and lawyer Mark Stevens. Walker has a real good reason for wanting to marry her, he's owing big bucks to gangster/gambler J. Carrol Naish so his courtship is tinged with some big desperation.

People will recognize the resemblance with this and the earlier RKO Ginger Rogers classic, Tom Dick, And Harry. If you think you know who Rogers winds up with after seeing that one, you'll be wrong. Please Believe Me also bears strong resemblance to another MGM film with Jane Wyman, Three Guys Named Mike.

Kerr's career in America was zooming into high gear at this time, she was doing a number of classic films like King Solomon's Mines and Edward My Son. This one is funny, but it seems like it was done as an afterthought, all the men and her happened to be free so let's do this property we've had sitting around for a while.

Funny, but Please Believe Me won't be on anyone's top ten.

Zippy little comedy that never bogs down thanks to both director Taurog's pacing skills and writer Curtis's snappy dialogue, though plot developments don't make much sense. But then, this is a comedy. There's more amusement than hilarity even though the ensemble cast doesn't meld that well. The plot's something about the guys trying to romance Kerr out of her big Texas ranch. But get a load of that big inheritance ranch that none of plotters nor even Kerr have seen. It's a hundred miles of nothing, so someone's in for a big surprise. Meanwhile the guys shuffle in and out of Kerr's life whether on shipboard or in hotel rooms, while she slowly succumbs.

Kerr does well enough as the lady-like mark, though I don't think she looks comfortable. However, Mark Stevens comes across as something of a bland dead spot among Kerr's prospective suitors. Fortunately, he later found his strength as a successful director and producer. The surprise is tough guy Whitmore who shows a spirited comedic side that viewers of the Asphalt Jungle or Battleground might never suspect. And who would think horror meister Val Lewton-- Cat People, I Walked With A Zombie--- would act as producer of a comedy like this one.

Overall, it's a fairly pleasant little diversion if you're not expecting too much. Plus, I can't help thinking the filming would have been better done in Technicolor rather than the bland b&w that flattens what should be livelier visuals.

Sometimes I wonder why people who don't understand little movies like these didn't just turn them off. No offense to the other reviewers. They are, of course, entitled to their opinions.

However, for the romantics out there that can easily grasp the comic confusion of 3 men after (and sometimes not) one supposed heiress, this is a well-made romantic comedy that would hold up today with gorgeous scenery and a lovely soundtrack. I'm a chick who loves chick flicks. This isn't a guy flick by any stretch unless said guy digs chick flicks. We chicks don't get films like The Departed (this one doesn't care for it), but we romantics get a film like this.

2 of the 3 leads didn't quite make the first tier of films (one died at age 32, sadly). If this film had one more certifiable movie star, then this would have sent it to the level that might have made it memorable to many. I'm so grateful I take a chance and record films like these on TCM and then discover new faces and a new film to keep on my DVR.

This isn't the finest review. This is a suggestion to the lovers of light romantic comedy to record it the next time they see it and give it a look see. It works for me and did for this film, too:)