Le vie del cielo

Jane Wyman is perky, freshly-scrubbed and impertinent (as usual) playing an stewardess-trainee with American Airlines. She clashes lightly with pilot Howard Keel and passenger Van Johnson up in the air before having a run-in with Barry Sullivan on the ground. All three men--each named Mike--quickly come around with romantic notions--this is the kind of '50s comedy where men can't wait to get hitched--but Wyman is so busy hatching ideas and shooting from the hip that she barely notices all their attention. What begins as a smartly-written and executed glimpse at a stewardess's life in the sky is soon hustled right into romantic comedy territory. The question is obvious: which Mike will our heroine choose? However, I didn't find any of these potential suitors capable of handling Wyman, who is continually mouthing off in a wide-eyed, nonchalantly feminine way. This puff-piece, directed with snap but no flair by Charles Walters, is nearly impossible to critique seriously; if pressed, I would have to say the fistfight in the photographer's apartment wouldn't really be worthy of front page news in the paper (did the fight last long enough for the reporters and shutterbugs to show up?). Walters captures first-day-on-the-job jitters exceptionally well, but Sidney Sheldon's screenplay goes soft too fast. The final line between the men is amusing, but what we don't get see at the fade-out is a career girl who feels alive up in the air quickly tied down in suburbia with kids tugging at her apron. **1/2 from ****

Three Guys Named Mike is a pleasant and amusing comedy about an airline stewardess who gets romanced by Three Guys Named Mike. Jane Wyman is the stewardess and she sparkles as usual. The three guys she has to choose from are Van Johnson: research scientist, Howard Keel pilot: and Barry Sullivan advertising executive.

The story is based on the real life experiences of American Airlines stewardess Ethel Welles who told them to none other than C.R. Smith the charismatic president of American Airlines. He commissioned a story and then a screenplay.

The resemblances and that's a kind word to RKO's Tom, Dick, and Harry are unmistakable. But in terms of quality of production look at these two films back to back and check the production values from and RKO film to an MGM film. But Jane and her guys do their usual performances and are fine in the parts.

Howard Keel in his memoir says that in his first screen fight he got a little over enthused and gave Barry Sullivan a mouse over his eye. Keel was not left unbruised either. Neither of these guys were schooled in how to pull punches.

One thing that surprised me about Three Guys Named Mike was the lack of a nomination for musical score since the instrumental version of it is entitled Confetti. Many orchestras recorded it in the early fifties and the theme was repeated in many MGM productions.

Three Guys Named Mike holds up well today because the problems of the stewardesses flying today's 747s versus the DC-3s you see here are the same. This film could use a remake, I could see Reese Witherspoon as the one trying to choose between Three Guys Named Mike.

Jane Wyman is a fledgling airline stewardess -- note the tie-in to American Airlines. She is bright, creative, a bit ditzy, and has three beaux, all named Mike: Van Johnson, Howard Keel and Barry Sullivan.

We're definitely entering the cultural 1950s, with Miss Wyman's character considered an oddball, with a view to marriage, and "no ambition to be the oldest stewardess in the business." Careers for women are temporary matters, and her choices are good providers -- an airline pilot and a successful ad executive -- and an idealistic teacher. This was an era far different from ours, when people dressed well to travel on airplanes, and smoked cigarettes while doing so. Airlines were looked on as travel, instead of our modern idea of transportation, when every passenger, from infant to wheelchair-bound nonagenarian is looked on as a potential bomber (given how people dress these days). Stewardesses were the smiling faces of the airlines, sexy drink servers who could deal with emergencies. And that is what this movie offers.

Miss Wyman offers an amusing shadow of her 'ditz' personna from her bleached-blonde-comedienne phase from the early 1940s. Charles Walters demonstrates that his excellence as a director of musical drama does not carry over particularly well into comedy.

Jane Wyman is great as Marcy Lewis, an ambitious flight stewardess, in the golden era of flying, where flight attendants and flight crew were somewhat celebrity. Those days are gone obviously. Most people fly the friendly or unfriendly skies. The film shows Marcy, a young woman from Ohio, with aspirations to become one of the best flight attendants anywhere. During her fabulous career, she is courted by three men who all happen to be called Mike. There is Captain Mike Denison, the pilot who she offends as he offers her a lift to the airport on her first day. Then there is Mike Tracy, the science scholar and bartender, and Mike Lawrence, the advertising executive. They are played by some of Hollywood's leading men like Van Johnson. The supporting cast is equally impressive with Phyllis Kirk. It's a good film despite the fact that it's outdated by decades. Of course, there is one scene where Marcy is constantly sexually harassed by two male passengers aboard the flight.

So which one of the three Mikes will new stewardess Marcy end up with as she tries to learn the ropes of feeding people 30,000 feet in the air.

It's a romantic comedy that's really a Wyman showcase. She's coming off her Oscar-winning Johnny Belinda so her screen time is not really surprising. Her airline stewardess Marcy doesn't have to do much except be charming, which she does in subdued fashion. Since none of the four leads-- Wyman, Johnson, Keel, and Sullivan-- are comedic actors, it's the humorous situations that provide the fun.

As a result, the first part is best (at least in my view) where Marcy has to break-in as a new air hostess. Naturally, it takes a bit of doing like remembering to get the food aboard, so there are plenty of chuckles as she fumbles around. Almost all the scenes in this part focus on air travel; thus we get a good view of American Airlines passenger planes, circa 1950, both inside and out. The second part, however, gets her involved with each of the three Mikes, her air travel left mostly behind. Here, unfortunately, we get more blandly romantic overtures than chuckles.

Of the three Mikes, Johnson is best equipped for comedy, while I expected Keel's baritone to break into song any moment. For me, seeing Sullivan as something other than a gangster took some getting used to. Looks like MGM was more interested in screening stars than undergirding comedy, which may be why the film remains pretty obscure. Too bad the script didn't engage the sprightly girls more than they did, especially Donnell and Kirk, who could have added comedic spirit. Then too, I'm surprised MGM, the king of Technicolor, filmed in b&w, not the usual format for their top stars of the time. Frankly, I suspect there's an interesting backstory to this odd production.

Anyway, the 90-minutes is mainly for fans of Wyman and her cute nose.