A Letter To Three Wives 1949 - Linda Darnell, Jeanne Crain, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas, Jeffrey Lynn, Thelma Ritter

In 1949 and in 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay and Direction for both A Letter To Three Wives and All About Eve. Way ahead of his time and still the only writer-director to win Oscars for both categories two years in a row, Joseph Mankiewicz was that rare thing in 50s Hollywood: a powerful male director who not only liked and understood women, but delighted bringing them to the screen in all their flawed glory, rather than as passive, idealized cheesecake for the men to fight over or be nurtured by. Mankiewicz’s women were usually smart, funny, vulnerable, manipulative, duplicitous, self-destructive… in other words, about as different from the standard pouting bombshell or bland housewife as you could get. In ‘A Letter for Three Wives’ he transforms John Klempner’s novel into a witty vehicle for the talents of three superb leading ladies, giving at least one of them – Darnell – arguably the best role of her career. Friends Deborah (Crain), Lora Mae (Darnell) and Rita (Sothern) are setting off on a boat trip with disadvantaged children. Just as they’re about to board the boat, they receive a letter from Addie Ross, a sophisticated and attractive woman they all know, claiming to have run off with one of their husbands. As the boat journey begins, each woman casts her mind back to a crucial period in her life, when the influence of Addie Ross had made itself known. Which of them will be returning to an empty house… and heartbreak? A Letter to Three Wives’ works on many levels, few of which have anything to do with what is in essence a flimsy melodramatic plot. Most obviously it’s a very funny social satire, but there’s also acute observations about marriage, class, and the dumbing down effect of advertising on entertainment – in the film it’s radio but the criticism can be applied equally to TV today. The upper-middle class ‘society’ setting, well-drawn characters, flashbacks, vitriolic exchanges, a breathy confessional voice-over and the odd but successful combination of high and low-brow wit mark it out as a Mankiewicz film, and ‘Three Wives’ is indeed one of his best writer-director comedy efforts, for many a close second to ‘All About Eve.

Any film that attempts to give six major characters roughly equal amounts of screen time is going to have to be cleverly constructed, well written and sensitively played and thankfully ‘Three Wives’ is all of these. There’s a lot of very funny scenes, particularly in the Lora Mae sequence, where her working class background and the increasingly frustrated pursuit given her by Porter Hollingsway give ample opportunities for laughs. The guys – particularly Paul Douglas – are great but the key roles are of course the three wives and Darnell, Crain and Sothern work very well together, all the more effectively due to their very different personalities. Linda Darnell is a classic 40s screen goddess in the Rita Hayworth mode, a stunning statuesque brunette who simply glowed on camera (her brief appearances in ‘My Darling Clementine’ as Victor Mature’s spurned love toy gave male audiences a non-heroic yearning for dusty plains and provided a compelling reason for that film’s title to have been changed to favor her character’s – admittedly ridiculous – name; yet who would have forgotten a film called ‘My Darling Chihuahua’?). Here she’s in superb form as the mercilessly sexy gold-digger Lora Mae Hollingsway, whose knowing, rat-a-tat exchanges with friends, foes and family – conducted in her unbearably sultry contralto – are a treasure. In fact, I’d have to say that Darnell owned arguably the most deliciously provocative hoisted eyebrow in 40s Hollywood, matched only by Lauren Bacall. Ann Sothern, the oldest of the three, had starred in well over 50 films before this one, often in a variation of the brassy showgirl-with-a-heart-of-gold. Her character Rita in ‘Three Wives’ retains the peroxide moxie of these earlier roles while at the same time being happily married to a teacher. The great Thelma Ritter also appears here in her first major screen role as Rita’s maid. She’d become better known for her roles in ‘All About Eve’ and ‘Rear Window’ but her brilliant comic timing, lugubrious character and serrated Brooklyn tones are all already fully developed here. Thelma Ritter advises Linda Darnell as she prepares to go on her first date with the lecherous Paul Douglas, “Maybe wear something with beads.” “What I got don’t need beads,” smirks Darnell, in a voice that could melt tarmac. How true. Radio executive Florence Bates comments on the effect of advertising on Thelma Ritter’s character: “Sadie may not realize it, but whether or not she thinks she’s listening, she’s being penetrated.” “I’m glad she didn’t hear you say that,” growls Douglas. And so on.

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