On the dvd commentary of the film, joseph mankiewiczs son relates an anecdote about how his father, the directorscreenwriter, received a telegram from the aide to douglas macarthur saying he needed the ending explained to him before the general left the country. Mankiewiczs magisterial, buoyant suburban drama, from 1949, concerns three couples and a wild cardthe strongwilled, sophisticated woman whom one of the. Mankiewicz academy awards for writing and directing one year before he gave the audiences one bumpy ride in all about eve by suggesting that at least when it comes to love, sex and ambition fastening ones seat belts is for sissies only. Aug 12, 2019 a letter to three wives is interesting in one way that is not connected to the movie itself and that is because of writerdirector joseph l. A letter to three wives is an omnibus film, its three stories ingeniously interlocked through meetings among the characters, flashbacks, and the voiceover of an unseen romantic catalyst, the town siren, addie ross addies. But as david cairns expertly outlines in the essay.
It stars jeanne crain, linda darnell, ann sothern, paul douglas in his film debut, kirk douglas, jeffrey lynn, and thelma ritter. For whatever the reason, there was a dearth of great comedies in the late forties but thankfully that was remedied with the 1949 release of joseph l. The female driven film combines the mystery with the womans melodrama and succeeds, for the most part. What makes the ending so confusing a letter to three wives. Oct 04, 2018 i love this movie i watch it practically every month. Sep 17, 20 a letter to three wives was an academy award winning film up for best picture the year of release. Jan 27, 2014 in the letter, the friend says she has run off with one of the three womens husbands. And the movie s ending is so ambiguous that the first time, i. The following film notes were prepared for the new york state writers institute by kevin jack hagopian, senior lecturer in media studies at pennsylvania state.
Mankiewicz is understandably considered a writer first so many words in his movies. Originally, the movie would have featured anne baxter as the fourth wife. One of my very favorite films, a letter to three wives, has a famously confusing ending. Mankiewiczs oscar wining comedy a letter to three wives 1949. A letter to three wives youtube viewing a letter to three wives was on my wish list for a long time, so im happy to have finally seen this one. I love this movie i watch it practically every month. The first thing you have to say about a letter to three wives is that its a fascinating insight into the lives of middle class americans just as the 50s were about to dawn. A letter to three wives 1949 ending jeanne crain, linda. Addie ross, leading town socialite, has never failed to make men happy and women miserable. A letter to three wives delicious bites of suburbia, with lucious darnell a surprising prize plum.
And the movies ending is so ambiguous that the first time, i. Basic plot is, three country club wives receive a single letter, from the too perfect divorcee they all resent saying that she has eloped with one of their husbands. During filming, mankiewicz had an affair with leading lady linda darnell that would last for years. A letter to three wives is the type of film that could only work in the late 40s and 50s. Film notes a letter to three wives university at albany. May 23, 2012 one of my very favorite films, a letter to three wives, has a famously confusing ending.
Arcs, endings, and a letter to three wives diana peterfreund. Feb 09, 2011 a letter to three wives richard brody on joseph l. Mankiewicz was a striking and highly sophisticated comedydrama called a letter to three wives 1949. The earlier film is tamer than eves nonstop reparteefest. A letter to three wives jeanne crain linda darnell ann sothern 1949 a flirt tells three women jeanne crain, linda darnell, ann sothern she will be leaving town with one of their husbands. In the letter, the friend says she has run off with one of the three women s husbands. The lines and situations get more hilarious as the film goes on and by the end youve seen one of the most richly satisfying comedies ever about the ups and. A letter to three wives remains one of the choicest, the wittiest, of all american social comedies before annie hall.
Aug 12, 2019 when a letter to three wives first appeared on television, kirk douglas diatribe against radio and advertising was cut by many stations for fear of offending their sponsors. What makes the ending so confusing a letter to three. In fact general douglas macarthur was so confused by the ending that he had his aide write joseph l. I do not see an email to three wives ever being made. Its a necessary way to end the plot, and emphasizes mutual changes.
A letter to three wives while the picture is standout in every aspect, there are two factors mainly responsible for its overall quality. A letter is addressed to three wives from their best friend addie ross. On the dvd commentary of the film, joseph mankiewiczs son relates an anecdote about how his father, the directorscreenwriter, received a telegram from the aide to douglas macarthur saying he needed the ending explained to him before the general left the. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. Mankiewicz enjoyed a successful hyphenate career as producer, writer and director not always at the same time from the late 1920s up until sleuth, his final film in 1972. Equal parts melodramatic and comedic, it deals with issues of gender and class that dont fit into modern society. A flirt tells a trio jeanne crain, linda darnell, ann sothern she will leave with ones husband. Three wives, played by jeanne crain, ann sothern and linda darnell, are about to embark on a boat trip when each receives a letter, written by a mutual friend named addie, informing. Three wives, played by jeanne crain, ann sothern and linda darnell, are about to embark on a boat trip when each receives a letter, written by a mutual friend named addie, informing her that addie. Nov 09, 2011 a letter to three wives 1949 linda darnell, jeanne crain and ann sothern make a beautiful and sophisticated trio in joseph l. Mankiewicz, the director, a letter asking with whom addie had, in fact, run off.
Still, it remains one of my favorite movies ever made. A letter to three wives is dated only by the fact that few people communicate via written letters sent by post. You have to decide which one you think is the one who runs off. Lora may hollingsway, who grew up next to the wrong side of the tracks, married her boss who thinks she is just a gold digger. A letter to three wives may not be a suspensethriller, but it certainly is a supremely wellacted social satire that creates such a vivid and fascinating smalltown world that audiences may be sorry to leave it at the conclusion of the film. Its a story of three women envisioning the end of their marriages in the. The story was inspired by a reallife scandal involving. I think what makes the ending difficult to get at first is that the story we have been seeing is so symmetrical. With jeanne crain, linda darnell, ann sothern, kirk douglas. This week, were doing a complete 180, moving away from horror and into domestic drama. A letter to three wives won the academy award for best director and best writingscreenplay, and was nominated. Nbc presented a movie oftheweek remake of the film in 1985, with loni anderson in darnells role, michele lee taking over for ann sothern and stephanie zimbalist as. A glossy soap opera in every way, a letter to three wives wont be everyones cup of tea or scotch, which they drink a good amount of in this film. A letter to three wives is a 1949 american romantic drama film which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them.
Three women receive a letter from addie ross, a character who doesnt appear physically in the movie but whos the subject of everyones conversations. Joseph leo mankiewicz february 11, 1909 february 5, 1993 was an american film director, screenwriter, and producer. To start horrorfest vii from the beginning, go to its the end of the world. Jan 04, 2019 a letter to three wives was a major hit when it was released, winning oscars for writing and directing and it should have won best picture that year as well. An uncredited celeste holm provides the voice of addie ross, the unseen woman who wrote the. Addie ross informs them that shes just definitely left town in the company of the husband of one of these wives. There was a very bad tv remake in the mid eighties with michele lee, loni anderson and stephanie zimbazlist. There are rita and george phipps, played by kirk douglas and anne southern, he a high school teacher, bitter at being taken for granted by society, she a writer of wretched radio dramas, frustrated at georges brokenrecord. The letter is a 1940 american film noir crime drama directed by william wyler, and starring bette davis, herbert marshall and james stephenson. At one point, the film was called a letter to four wives. Their backstories are told in a series of flashbacks, to presumably, help the viewer decide which ones husband has run off. Watch the front row a letter to three wives the new.
In flashback, each wife wonders if it is her marriage that is in jeopardy. This book was the source material for the 1949 film a letter to three wives in retrospect, in comparison of book vs. Each one is upwardlymobile and insecure in her own way. Ann sothern and jeanne crain in a letter to three wives. It stars jeanne crain, linda darnell, ann sothern, kirk douglas, paul douglas in his film debut, jeffrey lynn, and thelma ritter. I really love this movie, really wish she would have left porter in the first. Mankiewicz known for all about eve jeanne crain, linda darnell, ann southern premise three wives from a semiupperclass neighborhood receive a letter from a girlfriend who has just moved away from town. In short, a letter to three wives is a moderately engaging television movie stuck with the inescapable handicap of having to be compared with its very nearly perfect predecessor. A letter is addressed to three wives from their best friend addie ross, announcing that she is running away with one of their husbands but she does not say which one. Despite its emotional intensity, the film is comic, effervescently so, and its magical ending lends wit a metaphysical dimension. But a letter to three wives is a superior film despite these flaws.
One is the unique story, adapted from a john klempner novel. A letter to three wives, 1949, twentieth century fox films. Mankiewicz had a long hollywood career, and he twice won the academy award for both best director and best writing, screenplay for a letter to three wives 1949 and all about eve 1950. Three women lora mae linda darnell, rita ann sothern, and deborah jeanne crain receive a letter from a friend telling that shes runoff with one of their husbands. Nbc presented a movieoftheweek remake of the film in 1985, with loni anderson in darnells role, michele lee taking over for ann sothern and stephanie zimbalist as. A letter to three wives 1949 linda darnell, jeanne crain and ann sothern make a beautiful and sophisticated trio in joseph l. A letter to three wives is a 1949 american romantic drama film which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing a letter to three wives near you. A letter to three wives is an omnibus film, its three stories ingeniously interlocked through meetings among the characters, flashbacks, and the voiceover of an unseen romantic catalyst, the town siren, addie ross addies purring, sultry voice is that of celeste holm. Mankiewicz is a key entry in his canon of challenging dramas that explore the. Its a good premise, with an even better storytelling method. A letter to three wives 1949 is a terrific triplicate of a melodrama. Three wives, played by jeanne crain, ann sothern and linda darnell, are about to embark on a boat trip when each receives a letter, written by a mutual friend named addie, informing her that addie is about to run off with one of their husbands.
Jul 30, 2015 a letter to three wives won mankiewicz his first oscars for screenplay and director, both of which hed repeat the following year with all about eve, which would additionally net best picture, and well deserved each was. When a letter to three wives first appeared on television, kirk douglas diatribe against radio and advertising was cut by many stations for fear of offending their sponsors. A letter to three wives 1949 deborah bishop, lora mae hollingsway and rita phipps are three friends who all receive letters from another friend, addie ross, telling them that she is about to. One of the friends writes radio plays so theres a great deal about consumerism and a brilliant rant from a her schoolteaching husband a young kirk douglas now. Read about the a letter to three wives dvd and browse other dvd movies.
Watch the front row a letter to three wives the new yorker. Three wives, played by jeanne crain, ann sothern and linda darnell. A 1949 film adapted from the novel letter to five wives by john klempner. In the letter, the friend says she has run off with one of the three womens husbands. A year after a letter to three wives, he made all about eve, winning academy awards for directing and writing for both films, a rare feat. Theres the farm girl trying to figure out country club society. A letter to three wives won mankiewicz his first oscars for screenplay and director, both of which hed repeat the following year with all about eve, which would additionally net best picture, and well deserved each was. A letter to three wives is a 1949 film which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them. Koch is based on the 1927 play of the same name by w. A letter to three wives 1949 journeys in classic film. Which husband ran off with addie ross a letter to three. His career was severely harmed when 20th century fox assigned him their blockbuster budgetary disaster cleopatra 1963 but he did manage to make the honey pot and sleuth afterward. Jun 07, 2016 the ending appears obvious, but theres a bit of a twist, and declarations between one couple change the story in more ways than one.
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