Weekend for Three

Given the writers of this film you would expect a witty and literate farce.Unfortunately what we get is exactly the opposite.This film seems to have been made on the assumption that the louder and quicker the actors speak the funnier they are.This film was so poor that it sent me off to sleep.The only watchable aspect of this film was the supporting cast.Funny how Franklin Pangbourne is only on screen for a few minutes but he is my only abiding memory of this film.Edward Everett Horton and Zasu Pitts are exempt from any criticism but even they are not able to make this film watchable.Maybe the fact that this film is only 65 minutes long is a clue as to why the main characters perform in such a hyped up manner.

Phillip Reed comes to visit married couple Dennis O'Keefe and Jane Wyatt. He's fun-loving, energetic, and just the tonic their marriage seems to need. Then he won't go away.

With THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER a hit on Broadway, this is an interesting gloss on the idea. Reed is just as obnoxious as Sheridan Whiteside, but it's a matter of cluelessness rather than a joy in tearing other people to shreds. And although the constant barrage of nightclubbing and spaghetti suppers at 2 AM begins to pall on the audience after a while, there's always a sparkling supporting cast to pull things back together; Zasu Pitts, Edward Everett Horton, and Franklin Pangborn can always cheer me up. Tie it all together with a third-act crisis and a funny exit, and you have a pretty good comedy.

Much better than it's low budget and short running time would infer, "Weekend For Three" is a fast moving and tight little comedy written by some great talents-- namely Budd Schulberg and Dorothy Parker.

Although both writers are better known for their many other achievements, this comedy has been staged and filmed a number of times, and under a variety of titles... an 'homage' to both Schulberg and Parker.

The "three" of the title are a young married couple and a surprise weekend guest.

The husband (Dennis O'Keefe) is a young advertising professional, and the wife, an ex-New-Yorker and former deb, is now a housewife.

They are living in suburban Ohio and are enjoying their 3-year-long connubial bliss, when unexpectedly, there enters a loud-mouthed and overbearing houseguest who happens to be a pre-marital acquaintance of the Mrs. (briskly played by Jane Wyatt who, in the 1950's, would get bogged down portraying Mrs.-Father-Knows-Best on television).

The story revolves around the disruption caused by the houseguest, and the oh-too-polite couple's efforts to dislodge him.

Zasu Pitts, as their maid, plays her usual flustered and tongue-tied persona, although not to full advantage for this domestic story. Speaking of flustered, and as fey as always, Edward Everett Horton delivers a flawless and funny performance as the young husband's 5-times-married boss.

And speaking of fey (which I realize is a passe term used in the era when this film was made), the cast includes Franklin Pangborn and Hans Conreid. They are both just fabulous here, but like Pitts, their talents are unexplainably under-used.

Philip Reed, in one of the very few times I can recall, gives a standout performance as the boisterous loudmouth who overstays his welcome.

This is a nicely done and not-to-be-missed little film.

It's well written by the best in the business, well acted by a more-than-able cast, and is simply a delightful watch.

Recommended.

ya gotta love Edward E. Horton ... you know when he's in a flick, its going to be fun... and in a screenplay by Dorothy Parker. The ever-flaming Franklin Pangborn is the dry but fun waiter, and Zasu Pitts is the maid. E.E. Horton is sidekick to Jim (Dennis Okeefe) and Ellen (Jane Wyatt) Craig. They have a houseguest, played by Philip Reed, who keeps getting in the way. While Okeefe and Wyatt have the lead roles, they are the least interesting characters here. The best scenes are the ones with the peripheral actors (Pangborn, Horton, Pitts). There are the usual misunderstandings that must be straightened out, and before you know it, this RKO shortie 65 minute film is over. Directed by Irving Reis, who had done some of the "Falcon" series films, and "Bachelor and the Bobby-soxer" (Cary Grant). Released the same week as Pearl Harbor, so I'll bet it didn't do well at the box office.

Dennis O'Keefe was surely the best farceur of the early 40's. The classics he made for Edward Small are delightful bedroom antics. This one, WEEKEND FOR THREE, actually predates the Small pictures and is perhaps Dennis' first great farce. It's a simple setup, with the scenario played out by a wonderful crew of comedy experts. O'Keefe, Phil Reed, Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Zasu Pitts and Marion Martin all shine doing their stuff. Lovely Jane Wyatt is perky and quick-witted. Roy Webb's score is a delightful departure from his usual brooding works - a very Steineresque comedy score with lots of stings. If this one comes around, sit back and have fun. Everyone on screen is having a ball!