''Three Husbands'' is a 1951 American
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Irving Reis
Irving Reis (May 7, 1906 in New York City – July 3, 1953 in Woodland Hills, California) was a radio program producer and director, and a film director.
Biography
Irving Reis was born into a Jewish family.http://www.hillsidememorial.org/pdfs/Di ...
and starring
Eve Arden
Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades.
Beginning her film career in 1929 ...
,
Ruth Warrick
Ruth Elizabeth Warrick (June 29, 1916 – January 15, 2005) was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on '' All My Children'', which she played regularly from 1970 until her ...
, and
Emlyn Williams
George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor.
Early life
Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flintsh ...
.
Plot
When a recently deceased playboy, Max, gets to heaven, he is granted a wish. His request: to watch his three best friends, with whom he regularly played poker, for the next 24 hours. That day, each man would receive a letter; tomorrow, Max's will is to be read. Each letter states that he had an affair with that man's wife, all of with whom he was close. With one, Max attended Friday symphony matinees and had tea afterwards; with another, he went to night clubs and taught French; the last, he repeatedly hired as his nurse through his long battle with heart disease.
Each husband reacts differently, as does each wife when she discovers that something has happened to make her husband distrust her. At the end of the 24 hours, each couple declares their intention to divorce, mistrust and disbelief having split each relationship. The lawyer reads the will, stating that Max's great fortune has been left to the three wives, as he believes that marriage is stronger when a wife is not dependent on her husband. It states in his will that Max wrote the letters to show each of his friends how much his wife was worth, as each had begun to take her for granted; he believed that jealousy was the perfect motivator to make someone re-appreciate something/someone.
Each wife reiterates her intention to divorce; each husband apologizes and begs her to reconsider. The three couples all reconcile, everyone grateful for having had Max and for his final gift to them - each other.
Cast
*
Eve Arden
Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades.
Beginning her film career in 1929 ...
as Lucille McCabe
*
Ruth Warrick
Ruth Elizabeth Warrick (June 29, 1916 – January 15, 2005) was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on '' All My Children'', which she played regularly from 1970 until her ...
as Jane Evans
*
Vanessa Brown
Vanessa Brown (born Smylla Brind, March 24, 1928 – May 21, 1999) was an Austrian-born American actress who worked in radio, film, theater, and television.
Early life
Born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish parents (Nah Brind, a language teacher, a ...
as Mary Whittaker
*
Howard Da Silva
Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in mo ...
as Dan McCabe
*
Shepperd Strudwick
Shepperd Strudwick (September 22, 1907 – January 15, 1983) was an American actor of film, television, and stage. He was also billed as John Shepperd for some of his films and for his acting on stage in New York.
Early years
Strudwick was ...
as Arthur Evans
*
Robert Karnes
Robert Anthony Karnes (June 19, 1917 – December 4, 1979) was an American film, stage and television actor.
Life and career
Karnes was born in Kentucky. He served in World War II, where he had interest into acting and going to Hollywood, Cal ...
as Kenneth Whittaker
*
Emlyn Williams
George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor.
Early life
Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flintsh ...
as Maxwell Bard
*
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...
as Mrs. Jenny Bard Whittaker
*
Louise Erickson as Matilda Clegg
*
Jonathan Hale
Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley; March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor.
Life and career
Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic Co ...
as Edward Wurdeman, Attorney at Law
*
Jane Darwell
Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...
as Mrs. Wurdeman
Soundtrack
*"Poor Chap" (Music by
Herschel Burke Gilbert
Herschel Burke Gilbert (April 20, 1918 – June 8, 2003) was an American orchestrator, musical supervisor, and composer of film and television scores and theme songs, including ''The Rifleman'' (starring Chuck Connors), '' Dick Powell's Zane Gr ...
, lyrics by
Edward Eliscu
Edward Eliscu (April 2, 1902 – June 18, 1998) was an American lyricist, playwright, producer and actor, and a successful writer of songs for films.
Life
Eliscu was born in Manhattan, New York City. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in ...
)
Reception
The unnamed ''
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 d ...
'' reviewer compared it unfavorably to the similar ''
A Letter to Three Wives
''A Letter to Three Wives'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama 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, but not saying which one. It stars Jeanne Cr ...
'', which ''Three Husbands'' screenwriter Vera Caspary also had a hand in, writing " where 'A Letter to Three Wives' was a dramatic, biting commentary, which often was uproariously funny, 'Three Husbands' is merely a slick sleight-of-hand, ably performed, but chucklesome only in spots."
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Husbands
1951 films
1951 comedy films
American black-and-white films
American comedy films
Films about the afterlife
Films directed by Irving Reis
Films scored by Herschel Burke Gilbert
United Artists films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films