A Letter to Three Wives

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.

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.

A Letter to Three Wives has a stellar cast with Ann Southern, Jeanne Craine, Linda Darnell, Paul Douglas, and Kirk Douglas. Any one of those actors would assure the viewer of a terrific performance. All of them together creates one of the first ensemble casts that are so popular today as in ER or Friends. Ann Southern is great as she plays off of Kirk Douglas and Thelma Ritter. Just looking at Linda Darnell makes watching the movie worthwhile. She was one of the most beautiful women who ever acted in a motion picture. Paul Douglas plays his usual rough and tumble character with a heart of gold. The premise is that a group of friends has one female who has the attention of all the men, and all the stares of the women. One day when the three wives are working on a volunteer project with some children when they receive a special delivery letter from the target of their stares. In the letter the woman states that she is moving away and will never return, and she is taking one of their husbands with her. The women then think about how easily it could be each one of their husbands. It's a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon, and boy will it surprise your wife when you watch it with her. She won't know what to think.

One of Hollywood's best directors, Joseph Mankiewicz, who gave us "All About Eve," had a previous winner with "A Letter to Three Wives," starring Linda Darnell, Jeanne Crain, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas, Jeffrey Lynn, Thelma Ritter, and Connie Gilchrist.

The never-seen Addie Ross (voice of Celeste Holm) has run off with the husband of one of her friends - whose? Three women look back over their marriages, each realizing she could be the one who will not come home to anyone that evening.

Linda Darnell was involved with Mankiewicz during the filming of "A Letter to Three Wives" in what would be a devastating relationship for her. Her story is the most fun and interesting of the film. Lolamae works in one of Porter Hollingsway's department stores, and she manages to nab the boss by playing her cards just right. He assumes throughout their marriage that she's with him because of his money. The funniest parts of the film take place in the home Lolamae shares with her mother (Connie Gilchrist) and sister. They live next to the train tracks and when a train goes by, the house rattles and shakes. Each time this happens, everyone just waits patiently for the train to go by as they rattle right along with it and then takes up where they left off as if nothing happened. When Lolamae and Hollingsway announce their engagement, Gilchrist cries out, "Bingo!" and faints! Thelma Ritter plays Gilchrist's best friend. The two provide some of the best moments in the film - Ritter is also the maid in the home of Ann Sothern and Kirk Douglas. Lolamae and Paul are the most fully drawn couple, and the one the audience is most invested in.

As with "All About Eve," the female characters are the focal point. Sothern is married to Kirk Douglas - he's a schoolteacher and she writes for radio, so it's intellect vs. the dumbing down of America fight; Jeanne Crain plays a woman who married upper class Jeffrey Lynn after leaving the service, and she originally feels out of her element among his tight-knit group of country club members. All of these women have to contend with the much admired (by males) Addie Ross, who remembers their men's birthdays, dresses beautifully, sends wonderful gifts, and has loads of class.

When it was pointed out to Mankiewicz that Jeanne Crain had played a character named Deborah in two films for him, he replied, "I don't like the name Deborah, and I don't like Jeanne Crain." Hers is the weakest storyline, but she is beautiful and gives a good performance. Lynn as her husband has very little to do. Sothern and Douglas make a spirited couple - he's at the height of his good looks, and Sothern makes the most of her witty dialogue.

But in the end, the focus is on Darnell and Paul Douglas. Darnell is stunningly beautiful and, because of this, isn't often thought of as a great actress. She brings a dry humor, sexiness, and vulnerability to the role of a woman who on the surface appears clever and a little too street smart for her own good. Douglas is a wonder, a complete natural - he plays his role as if Porter could just as easily be a hardware salesman as a filthy rich department store owner. He's both endearing and sympathetic, with his dumb, lovable face and his immaculately tailored suits. While they don't look like a perfect couple, their chemistry and what's underneath their bantering dialogue makes them one.

Now, which husband ran off with Addie? See if you can figure it out during this highly entertaining and well-acted film.

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.