''Three for the Show'' is a 1955
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
and in
CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
of ''
Too Many Husbands
''Too Many Husbands'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''My Two Husbands'') is a 1940 American romantic comedy film about a woman who loses her husband in a boating accident and remarries, only to have her first spouse reappear—yet another var ...
''. It stars actress
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer.
Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...
, in her last musical, opposite
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
,
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion (June 22, 1919 – August 25, 1980) was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.
Early years
Champion was born on June 22, 1919, in Geneva, Illinois, as the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice ...
and
Marge Champion
Marjorie Celeste Champion ( Belcher; September 2, 1919October 21, 2020) was an American dancer and actress. At fourteen, she was hired as a dance model for Walt Disney Studios animated films. Later, she performed as an actress and dancer in film ...
. It is based on the 1919 play ''Home and Beauty'' by W. Somerset Maugham, which was retitled to ''Too Many Husbands'' when it came to New York.
Plot
Singing-and-dancing stage star Julie (
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer.
Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...
) is told that husband Marty (
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
) is reported missing in action during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. After a long waiting period, she makes plans to marry Vernon (
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion (June 22, 1919 – August 25, 1980) was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.
Early years
Champion was born on June 22, 1919, in Geneva, Illinois, as the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice ...
), who is Marty's best friend. After the marriage, Marty (who crashed but survived on an island) turns up at one of Julie's shows. Upon discovering Julie's new marriage, Marty demands his rights as her first husband.
Julie finds that she is legally married to both Marty and Vernon. She soon realises that she must choose who she wants to be with, if only to avoid being branded a bigamist. But Julie loves the idea of having two husbands and so she decides to try to live with them both, to the annoyance and disapproval of Marty and Vernon who both know that her idea will not work out.
Meanwhile, Julie's close friend Gwen (
Marge Champion
Marjorie Celeste Champion ( Belcher; September 2, 1919October 21, 2020) was an American dancer and actress. At fourteen, she was hired as a dance model for Walt Disney Studios animated films. Later, she performed as an actress and dancer in film ...
) has a secret crush on Marty and hopes to be with him, if only Julie could make her up mind as to who she wants. After a long serious decision and a talk with them both, Julie decides that she is more in love with Marty and she leaves Vernon, who has now fallen for Gwen.
Cast
*
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer.
Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...
as Julie Lowndes
*
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
as Martin 'Marty' Stewart
*
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion (June 22, 1919 – August 25, 1980) was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.
Early years
Champion was born on June 22, 1919, in Geneva, Illinois, as the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice ...
as Vernon Lowndes
*
Marge Champion
Marjorie Celeste Champion ( Belcher; September 2, 1919October 21, 2020) was an American dancer and actress. At fourteen, she was hired as a dance model for Walt Disney Studios animated films. Later, she performed as an actress and dancer in film ...
as Gwen Howard
*
Myron McCormick
Myron McCormick (February 8, 1908 – July 30, 1962) was an American actor of stage, radio and film.
Early life and education
Born in Albany, Indiana, in 1908, Walter Myron McCormick was the middle child of Walter P. and Bessie M. McCormick' ...
as Mike Hudson
*
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
as Col. Harold J. Wharton
*
Robert Bice
Robert Bice (March 14, 1914 – January 8, 1968), was an American television and film actor.
Biography
He was born on March 14, 1914, in Dallas, Texas. He died on January 8, 1968, in Los Angeles, California.
Career
Bice appeared in 199 films an ...
as Sgt. Charlie O'Hallihan
*
Charlotte Lawrence
Charlotte Sarah Lawrence (born June 8, 2000) is an American singer-songwriter and model.
Early life
Lawrence was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of actress Christa Miller and television producer Bill Lawrence (TV producer ...
as Miss Williams
Reception
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the film a "slight but cheerful item" and said "''Three for the Show'' does serve to bring Betty Grable back to the screen. Luminously blonde and shapely enough to give the
megrims
Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few h ...
to most of the readers of fan magazines, Miss Grable proves she can fill a musical, assignment as neatly as she does her pleasantly revealing wardrobe.
Songs
*
How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
"How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" is a song written by vaudeville comedy duo Gene Austin and Roy Bergere in 1924. It has later been covered by many artists, and is considered a jazz standard.
Austin and Bergere were a vaudeville comedy duet act p ...
::Words and Music by Gene Austin and Ray Bergere
::Performed by Betty Grable
*Down Boy
::Words and Music by Hoagy Carmichael and Harold Adamson
::Performed by Betty Grable, Gower Champion, and Jack Lemmon
::The song had been written by Carmichael for
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
in ''
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''; a film that had originally been offered to Betty Grable, however Darryl F. Zanuck ordered the song removed from the film.
[pp.283-284 Sudhalter, Richard M. ''Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael'' Oxford University Press, 2003]
*
I've Got a Crush on You
"I've Got a Crush on You" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It is unique among Gershwin compositions in that it was used for two different Broadway productions: ''Treasure Girl'' (1928), when it was introduced by ...
::Words and Music by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
::Performed by Betty Grable and Jack Lemmon
::Also performed in the finale by Betty Grable, Jack Lemmon, Marge Champion and Gower Champion
*
Someone to Watch Over Me
::Words and Music by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
::Performed by Marge Champion and Gower Champion during the opening titles
::Later sung by Marge Champion
*
Just One of Those Things
::Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter (uncredited)
::Performed by Betty Grable, Marge Champion and Gower Champion
*Which One
::Words and Music by Lester Lee and Ned Washington
::Performed by Marge Champion
*
Polovetsian Dances
The Polovtsian Dances, or Polovetsian Dances ( rus, Половецкие пляски, Polovetskie plyaski from the Russian "Polovtsy"—the name given to the Kipchaks and Cumans by the Rus' people) form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Al ...
::Music by Aleksandr Borodin (uncredited)
::Used as introductory music for "Which One"
*I've Been Kissed Before
::Words and Music by Bob Russell and Lester Lee
::Performed by Betty Grable.
*Finale from "
William Tell Overture
The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera ''William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), whose music was composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, af ...
"
::From the opera ''
William Tell
William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland.
According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...
' by Gioacchino Rossini.
::Danced to by Gower Champion in the Two Husbands fantasy
See also
*
List of American films of 1955
A list of American films released in 1955.
The United Artists film '' Marty'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1955.
A–B
C–D
E–H
I–L
M–R
S–Z
See also
* 1955 in the United States
External links
1955 filmsat ...
*''
My Favorite Wife
''My Favorite Wife'' (released in the U.K. as ''My Favourite Wife'') is a 1940 screwball comedy produced by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. The picture stars Irene Dunne as a woman who, after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for ...
'', a 1940 film, in which it is the wife (played by
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...
) who returns, just as her husband (
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
) embarks on his honeymoon
*''
Move Over, Darling
''Move Over, Darling'' is a 1963 American comedy film starring Doris Day, James Garner, and Polly Bergen and directed by Michael Gordon filmed in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope released by 20th Century Fox.
The film is a remake of a 1940 screw ...
'', the 1963 remake of ''My Favorite Wife'', starring
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
,
James Garner
James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...
, and
Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur.
She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in ''The Helen Mo ...
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Three For The Show
1955 films
1955 musical comedy films
American musical comedy films
1950s English-language films
CinemaScope films
Remakes of American films
Musical film remakes
Films scored by George Duning
American films based on plays
Films based on works by W. Somerset Maugham
Films directed by H. C. Potter
Columbia Pictures films
Comedy of remarriage films
Films based on adaptations
Films based on Enoch Arden
1950s American films