Infâmia

Three innocent people have their lives shattered by malicious gossip.

THESE THREE is a vividly acted, excruciatingly dramatic look at how unrequited love & evil lies can undermine relationships and destroy reputations. Lillian Hellman authored the script (and altered the emotional bias) from her original play, The Children's Hour and director William Wyler created a film which never lets up in its emotional intensity. The viewer feels terribly for the three protagonists as they suffer unjustly and equally powerless to do anything about it.

Teachers Miriam Hopkins & Merle Oberon both love doctor Joel McCrea. One will win him, the other will hurt quietly. All three act at a perfect pitch, each performer complementing and supporting the other two, most especially when their characters experience the devastation created by a wicked student (played with chilling persuasion by Bonita Granville).

Two fine character actresses now in danger of being forgotten have important supporting roles. Catherine Doucet plays Hopkins' silly, vindictive aunt, a vain woman completely capable of doing the wrong thing every time. Alma Kruger plays Granville's wealthy grandmother, proud & patrician, she is seduced into doing much harm through her unwise love.

In a small role, Walter Brennan is a joy as a rustic taxi driver. Marcia Mae Jones is quite compelling as a child struggling against enormous iniquity. Marvelous Margaret Hamilton, as Kruger's no-nonsense hatchet-faced housekeeper, gets to deliver one of cinema's most satisfying face slaps.

Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Greta Meyer as a Viennese waitress.

In Lillian Hellman's original play, THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, the scandal involved lesbianism--certainly NOT a topic they were allowed to address in Hollywood in the strengthened Production Code era. Starting around 1935, Hollywood bowed to pressure to clean up the movies and feature more wholesome images. While today some see this as a totally negative thing, you must understand that nudity, violence, crudeness and very adult topics were frequently used in films and there was no rating system. So, kids might go to the theaters and see rather graphic nude swimming scenes (TARZAN AND HIS MATE and BIRD OF PARADISE are good examples) or Frank McHugh giving someone "the finger" (PARATROOPER). As a result, SOME sort of system needed to be created, though I will admit some of the resulting products from Hollywood were a bit bland. In regard to THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, there was no way the studios would be allowed to discuss homosexuality during this era, so they changed the allegations to promiscuity between a man and a woman. This did NOT appreciably alter the play nor its impact and reportedly Miss Hellman was happy with the film despite this minor change--minor in that it resulted in only minor alterations to the script and kept the overall message intact.

The resulting film, THESE THREE, was produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William Wyler and starred Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon and Joel McCrea. With this terrific combination of talents and the Hellman script, it certainly isn't much of a surprise that the film was excellent throughout--and one of the better pictures of the 1930s. About the only negative at all about the play was the performance of young Bonita Granville. While generally very good (earning her an Oscar nomination), it was at times also a tad over-the-top--and she acted so histrionic that you wonder what sane person would believe all of her lies!!! If this had been toned down just a bit (making her a little more subtle), the film would have earned a 10. As it is, it's still a terrific film with an original and wonderful script.

Karen Wright (Merle Oberon) and Martha Dobie (Miriam Hopkins) are best friends since college. When they graduate, they decide to move to Lancet to the farm that Karen has inherited from her grandmother to build a boarding school for girls. On the arrival, they meet Dr. Joseph Cardin (Joel McCrea) and he helps them to restore the farmhouse working hard. One day Karen meets the influent Mrs. Amelia Tilford (Alma Kruger) that helps them to get students including her spoiled granddaughter Mary Tilford (Bonita Granville). Out of the blue, Martha's arrogant aunt Lily Mortar (Catharine Doucet) arrives at the school and offers to give classes. Meanwhile Joseph proposes Karen and they are engaged to each other.

When the spiteful and compulsive liar Mary, who is a bad influence to the other girls, is punished by Karen after telling a lie, Martha has an argument with her snoopy aunt Lily in another room. Lily accuses Martha of being in love with Joseph and having encountered him in her room. Mary's roommate Rosalie Wells (Marcia Mae Jones) overhears the argument and tells Mary what Mrs. Mortar had said about her niece. The malicious Mary accuses Martha of being the lover of Joseph to her grandmother and Amelia spreads the gossip to the parents of the students that withdraw them from the school. Karen and Martha lose a lawsuit against Amelia and have their lives disrupted with the scandal. Further, Karen calls off her engagement with Joe since she is not sure that he is telling the truth.

"These Three" is a cruel and heartbreaking story that shows how destructive the power of a lie may be. William Wyler is among my favorite directors and this film is a little gem with a magnificent screenplay. In 1961, he remade this movie changing the title to "The Children's Hour" and using the theme of lesbianism instead of a triangle of love, and a tragic ending. Both movies are worthwhile watching and it is hard to pointy out which version is the better. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Infâmia 1936" ("Infamy 1936")

"These Three" is an extremely effective look at the damage a lie can cause. Bonita Granville gives a tour-de-force performance as Mary Tilford, a vicious student who ruins the lives of her two schoolteachers (Merle Oberon and Miriam Hopkins) by telling a lie about their private lives. Based on a play by Lillian Hellman (whose original plot dealt with lesbianism, which was changed for the film version to get past the censors), "These Three" is still a very good film. Miriam Hopkins also stands out as one of the victimized teachers. All in all, one well-acted and well-directed drama.

With Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, and Joel McCrea in the leading roles, I wasn't expecting to find them all upstaged by a brilliant performance from 13-year-old Bonita Granville. I knew very little about the film going in, and that was a good thing, as the film went off in an interesting direction. The setup is that Hopkins and Oberon play a couple of friends who start up a school in rural Massachusetts after graduating from college, and McCrea is a doctor who falls for Oberon. Granville's character is one of the challenges they have; she's spoiled, manipulative, a bully, and overall troublemaker in the school. Another is Hopkins' aunt (Catherine Doucet), a featherbrained leech who imposes herself on them. I won't describe the plot further, except to say that there's just enough of an inkling of truth about a rumor that is whispered about - or in the seeds of a possible truth - that it gives the story nuance, and helps enable a deceitfulness which is as clever and realistic as it is maddening (and it is quite maddening). William Wyler exercises the right amount of restraint as director - letting the events and emotions come to us (if that makes any sense), avoiding mundane tedium such as the details of a courtroom scene, and letting a deep cast deliver fine performances, another of which is from 12-year-old Marcia Mae Jones. It really makes me want to seek out 'The Children's Hour' (1961).