Sans tambour, ni trompette

"Paradise for Three" is a wonderful movie, full of laughs and winter sports. The delightful and handsome Robert Young is a contest winner who is mistaken for a millionaire by villainous Herman Bing, with Frank Morgan (at his befuddled best) as the real millionaire, mistaken for a hobo. It's also got Sig Rumann, and Mary Astor as a shameless gold-digging hussy. 10 out of 10.

I read the original novel "Drei MŠnner I'm Schnee" many years ago when I was an undergrad at my university and thought at the time it would make a fun movie. To my great delight I watched "Paradise for Three" not knowing it was adapted from that book and was more than pleased when I recognized the story. Frank Morgan was always one of my favorite actors, Robt Young was at his youthful and handsome best and Ms Rice was, as could only be expected, exceptionally beautiful as Tobler's daughter. The manager and butler at the hotel were classic and hilarious -- a more appropriate cast would have been difficult to assemble.

I doubt if today's youth would appreciate such a movie, but those of us who like the old ones definitely would. What a shame to realize that the setting was Vienna in 1938, a city destined to be overrun by Hitler's hordes and its society shattered within 2 years.

You'd never believe Frank Morgan and Robert Young could be mistaken for one another, would you? Well, in Paradise for Three, Frank stars as the millionaire CEO of a soap company who sponsors a contest: submit a slogan for the soap brand and win an all-expenses paid trip to a German ski lodge! Frank enters his own contest under a false name and wins, so he travels to Germany incognito to see how he'll be treated if no one knows who he is. Then, when Robert Young shows up at the same time, the hotel staff think Robert is the contest winner.

This movie is so adorable and hilarious, thanks to an all-star cast and fast-paced dialogue. Frank is very cute as the millionaire-turned-everyman, and he's forced to make do in the drafty attic room while washing dishes to pay his bill. He falls in love with Mary Astor, but she's a gold digger only interested in Robert Young. Robert Young is a gold digger himself, only pretending to be rich so he can land a good job. With Florence Rice, Reginald Owen, Sig Ruman, and Edna May Oliver as Frank's very faithful secretary, this comic romp will have you smiling from start to finish. And as a bonus, Frank has a penchant for Siamese kittens, so you'll get to see a few accompany him on his vacation.

This is sort of the reverse of the sublime, and rarely shown "Easy Living." In that, working girl Jean Arthur is treated to life as a rich person. Here, tycoon Frank Morgan masquerades as an average Joe.

The cast could (with the exception of Robert Young, though he is OK here) scarcely be improved on. Mary Astor graces anything in which she appears. She was one of the true greats. Edna May Oliver, Frank Morgan, Herman Bing … They're all fine and here work well as an ensemble.

The title is a bit misleading. It sounds racy and, though there are some faux naughty scenes involving devious divorcée Astor, it is good clean fun. I wonder who actually are the three?

Nevertheless, it's a charmer: not a great movie but a highly appealing one.

Of all the innumerable B movies churned out by MGM to fill the lower half of a double bill it was inevitable that every once in a while one would jell into an mini classic. Paradise for Three is one of those happy accidents.

The story of hidden identities and crossed signals played for laughs certainly wasn't new even in 1938 but director Buzzell moves things along at breakneck speed and is fortunate to have the cast filled out with some of the best character actors working at that time.

The nominal leads are Robert Young and Florence Rice and while Young is his usual polished, amusing self and Rice is pretty and game they aren't really the engine that makes the movie run. That falls to the main trio of supporting players, Mary Astor, Edna May Oliver and especially the delightfully wacky Frank Morgan.

Astor is all sly cunning as a gold digger with an amazing wardrobe and Edna May grumbles and fusses as only she can enduring hilarious indignities along the way. But it is Morgan and his dithery befuddlement and kindly manner who steals the picture. The blending together of all their terrific work manages to take the ordinary material and add an extra punch to it that makes it laugh out loud funny in several spots and an undiscovered gem.