Nanette a trois amours

Three Loves Has Nancy is a wonderful comedy from 1938 about a woman from a small town who goes to New York to find her missing fiancée. In the process, she meets a city author and his drunken friend who proceed to fall in love with her as well. What ensues is a madcap dash to win her affections in the process of her scatterbrained antics.

Janet Gaynor plays Nancy, the simple and "neighborly" star. Gaynor is wonderful in the role with a consistent accent and constant seriousness that brings plenty of laughs.

Robert Montgomery plays Mal Niles, the writer and perhaps the most grounded and standard of the lead characters.

Franchot Tone is absolutely hysterical as Bob Hanson, a drunk turned sober lovestruck fool. Although he is quite lovable in this film, he varies from his traditional portrayal, bringing lots of attention to his character.

This film, broadcast by Turner Classic Movies, is highly watchable and enjoyable both due to the content and the beautiful picture quality.

Janet Gaynor is a country bumpkin who finds herself in New York with Robert Montgomery and Franchot Tone while her fiancée is missing in "Three Loves Has Nancy," a wonderfully funny comedy. Montgomery, Gaynor, and Tone are all hilarious as parts of this strange menage. Gaynor, as Nancy, stood up on her wedding day by "George," is sent by her family to New York to find him. After a series of events, she winds up being used by writer Montgomery to get a rapacious female and her mother off his case. When Franchot Tone, his publisher, friend, and neighbor, gets a sniff of Gaynor's southern cooking, the two men battle it out for her attention. Montgomery considers her a jinx and wants to be rid of Nancy - or so he thinks - until Tone decides he's in love with her.

There are quite a few laugh out loud scenes in this film. It's highly recommended. The "goof" described by IMDb indicates that perhaps two men were cast on different days as Tone's father, an uncredited role, but only one actor is listed. Anyway, it's great fun.

This tale about a small town girl who goes to the big city is supposed to be a screwball comedy, but it offers the thinnest of plots, a disjointed storyline, and few real laughs.

Janet Gaynor stars as Nancy, the girl around whom the story revolves, but she lacks the magnetism--homespun or otherwise--to explain why Robert Montgomery and Franchot Tone would be drawn to her so vehemently.

Regardless, they are all working with a script that substitutes non sequiturs for real humor, and a one-note fish-out-of-water story for emotional depth. The result is mere amusement.

I don't think another actress could have saved this film, but Gracie Allen, Irene Dunne or Jean Arthur might have given it a stronger comedic base. The writers of this film were pitching screwball, but they missed the plate entirely.

"Three Loves Has Nancy" is a frustrating film to watch. This is because it has many wonderful moments...but also some bad ones where the characters struggle very hard to make it work...and it doesn't. It's because the film sometimes tries just too hard to be goofy. I really think the film would have been better had they just allowed the film to have some quiet moments and trust the film to work. But, it's all loud and forced.

The film finds Robert Montgomery playing a novelist. In a funny scene, he meets the rather oblivious lady played by Janet Gaynor. And, from her on, Montgomery and Gaynor's paths keep crossing--and in each case, Montgomery comes off on the losing end! It's quite cute--and reminiscent of another 1938 comedy, "Bringing Up Baby". However, once Montgomery brings Gaynor home, the film really loses direction. Having the love triangle of Montgomery, Franchot Tone and the unseen George just doesn't work--I would have just concentrated on Montgomery and Gaynor. In fact, Tone really wasn't necessary at all--and from here on the film is a bit of a disappointment. Worth seeing? Probably....but understand the film is highly uneven.

Delightful comedy. I found myself laughing out loud. Robert Montgomery, as usual, has comic timing down to a fine art. Franchont Tone plays his usually sophisticated drunk to near perfection. Funny characters and a funny plot with just enough sexual tension to hold your interest.