Three Who Loved

"Three Who Loved" could have been an interesting psychological melodrama in which basically good people do bad or foolish things, while selfish, self-centered individuals are colored gray, not black. But somewhere along the way someone decided that such complexity would be too much for moviegoers to handle. Thus, characterizations are inconsistent and simplistic, while the plot is filled with coincidences and melodramatic cliches (and it's made even worse by an atrocious, absurd ending). Betty Compson was a capable performer, but she's totally lost in the part of the foolish immigrant who exchanges love and security for thrills and good times. An ill-fitting blond wig and a Swedish accent straight out of the Beaver, Utah, School for Actors do not help matters any. Director George Archainbaud, a well-known name during the silent era, apparently slept throughout the production. With movies such as "Three Who Loved," it's no wonder that the careers of popular silent players Compson and Conrad Nagel floundered in the early 1930s.

Bank clerk Conrad Nagel wants to marry Swedish Betty Compson. However, he's so busy working for his future, studying for the bar, that she is bored. Fellow clerk Robert Ames squires her around, and they fall in love. When Nagel finds out, he orders Ames to marry her. Ames gets ready to skip town, but $10,000 is missing from the bank -- Bagel has embezzled it -- and Ames goes up the river. Miss Compson marries Nagel, but five years later, Ames escapes fom prison.

It's one of those soap operas in which everyone wants someone he or she can't have, and is miserable as a result. I suppose that's realistic, but the oversaturated script co-written by Beulah Marie Dix doesn't appeal to me. With Robert Emmett O'Conner, Dickie Moore, and Fred Santley.

Conrad Nagel, hardworking bank teller who is working his way through law school loves Betty Compson. Betty Compson, a pretty lass fresh off the boat from Scandanavia, feels not much for Conrad, who is a bit of a stiff, but instead loves (and makes love to) Robert Ames, Nagel's best friend, and another teller at the bank. Robert Ames appears to be one of the THREE WHO LOVED, but mostly appears to love himself. Does shame and destruction await this trio of flawed souls who get caught up in yet another version of the eternal triangle?

This is a not bad (though typically early RKO stodgy) melodrama that betrays stage orgins. The leads are all folks who need a good smack upside the head, and the mechanics of the plot do a good job of delivering them. Only Robert Ames puts in a decent performance, though, as Nagel is insufferable, and Compson is saddled with an accent that comes and goes. Ames, on the other hand, portrays the role of the affable cad well, and does OK in the later part of the movie, when he has plenty of reasons to be embittered. The conclusion is a mess, because it appears to be a sop to censors, rather than truly believed by anyone in the movie.

Worth the time -- particularly because the running time is rather brief.

Betty Compson plays Helga, who comes over from scandinavia to marry John, who ends up ignoring and boring her, but embezzles his bank to provide for them, in the midst of what becomes an unhappy love triangle. The acting is very good, and like all early Archainbaud's, crisply directed. Everyone turns in emotionally vivid performances, and there is a lot more content here than anyone would expect. And Nick Musuraca makes it all look good.

Conrad Nagel and Robert Ames are friends who work in the same bank and live in the same boarding house. Nagel dreams of being a lawyer and invests his money; Ames has no ambition ... until Betty Compson arrives as an immigrant from Sweden. The guys become rivals for Compson's attention as she learns English. Nagel is too careful and she falls for Ames and assumes he will marry her.

At the bank, Nagel (who is the head teller) is at Ames' window when someone rushes in to tell him he needs $10,000 immediately to save his stock portfolio. He grabs the money from Ames' cash drawer but can't replace it before a bank examiner discovers the loss.

Nagel struggles with guilt until the cops pick up Ames who holds a one-way ticket to Rio. Ames never planned to marry Compson. Nagel lets him take the wrap and marries Compson.

Five years later, Compson is bored in her marriage. She has a slight accent and has become a society party giver. Even her son (Dickie Moore) doesn't interest her much. She's about to leave Nagel when Ames shows up, escaped from prison. Compson is willing to run away with him, but he wants revenge on Nagel.

During the following argument, Ames tells her he never wanted to marry her. Nagel, meanwhile, has written a letter of confession. Coompson is still willing to run away until Ames shoves her aside and snarls, "I don't want you!" The cops arrive. Will justice be served? Compson is very good (as always), Nagel is very noble, and Ames is good at being snarky. Robert Emmett O'Connor is the cop, Bodil Rosing in the landlady, Marjorie Beebe has a bit as a flirting bank customer.