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A Letter to Three Wives

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A Letter to Three Wives
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenplay byJoseph L. Mankiewicz
Adaptation:
Vera Caspary
Based onA Letter to Five Wives
1945 novel in Hearst's International Cosmopolitan
by John Klempner
Produced bySol C. Siegel
StarringJeanne Crain
Linda Darnell
Ann Sothern
Kirk Douglas
Paul Douglas
Jeffrey Lynn
CinematographyArthur C. Miller
Edited byJ. Watson Webb Jr.
Music byAlfred Newman
Production
company
20th Century Fox
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • January 20, 1949 (1949-01-20) (New York)
  • [1] ([1])
  • February 3, 1949 (1949-02-03)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2,750,000 [2]

A Letter to Three Wives is a 1949 American romantic drama directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell and Ann Sothern. The film was adapted by Vera Caspary and written for the screen by Mankiewicz from A Letter to Five Wives, a story by John Klempner that appeared in Cosmopolitan, based on Klempner's 1945 novel.[3][4]

The film won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and it was nominated for Best Picture.

Plot

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Friends Deborah Bishop, Rita Phipps and Lora Mae Hollingsway are just about to take a group of children on a riverboat outing when they receive a message from Addie Ross informing them that she has taken one of their husbands as a lover. However, Addie does not specify which woman's husband is involved in the affair. In flashbacks, each woman considers reasons why it might be her husband.

The first flashback involves Deborah, who was raised on a farm. Her first experience with the outside world came when she joined the Navy WAVES during World War II, where she met her future husband Brad. When they return to civilian life, Deborah does not feel welcome in Brad's sophisticated social circle. Adding to her insecurity, she learns that everyone expected Brad to marry Addie, whom all three husbands seem to fawn over.

Deborah is comforted by Brad's friend Rita, who writes stories for radio soap operas. Her husband George is an English teacher. While Rita wishes that George would be more ambitious, he is disappointed that his wife caters to her boss, Mrs. Manleigh. Rita is so intent on pleasing Mrs. Manleigh that she forgets her husband's birthday and invites the Manleighs for dinner. George forgives Rita's mistake but, to George's delight, a birthday gift of a rare Brahms recording arrives from Addie.

Lora Mae grew up in poverty. She pursues Porter, the older, divorced, owner of a statewide chain of department stores where she works. Matters come to a head when Lora Mae sees a picture of Addie on the piano in Porter's mansion. She tells him she wants her picture on a piano: her own piano in her own home. He tells her he isn't interested in marriage and she breaks things off. However, he proposes to Lora Mae and skips a party at Addie's house.

Back in real time, the women return from the outing. Rita is overjoyed to find George at home after attending a play rehearsal. They work things out and she vows not to let herself be pushed around by Mrs. Manleigh.

Porter is late coming home, causing Lora Mae to think he has gone off with Addie. When he shows up and hears his wife's suspicions, he accuses her of being happy at the thought of getting grounds to divorce him and a big chunk of his fortune.

A domestic worker gives Deborah the message that Brad will not be coming home that night. Heartbroken at her perceived loss, she goes alone to the country club dance with the two other couples.

When Porter complains about Lorna Mae dancing with another man, Deborah tells him he has no idea how much she really loves him; still, Porter is certain Lora Mae only sees him as a "cash register." Unable to take the strain anymore, Deborah gets up to leave, announcing that Brad has run off with Addie. Porter stops her, confessing it was he who started to run away with Addie, but had changed his mind. As Deborah leaves to find her late-working husband, Porter tells Lora Mae that admitting his intended abandonment in front of witnesses is enough for her to divorce him and get everything she wants. To his shock, she parries it off by saying she did not hear a word he said. Finally convinced of her love, Porter is overjoyed, and asks her to dance.

The voice of the still unseen Addie Ross then bids all a rueful good night.

Cast

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Production

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Script

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Seven months after it was first published in a magazine,[5] film rights to John Klempner's A Letter to Five Wives were acquired by 20th Century-Fox in February 1946.[6] Melville Baker and Dorothy Bennett wrote the first treatments of the script. Although he was not credited for the final film, Baker offered the idea for the character of Addie to be heard but not seen.[5] In October 1946, F. Hugh Herbert was assigned to write the screen adaptation.[7] His final participation was not confirmed.[5]

The project was shelved until Mankiewicz returned to work on drafts of the script between March and late April 1948.[5] Studio head Darryl F. Zanuck and Mankiewicz decided in mid-1948 to reduce the number of marriages to three, and Vera Caspary adapted the story to A Letter to Four Wives.[5][8]: 84  By June 1948, the project was listed at the top of 20th Century-Fox's films to be produced over the following ten months.[9]

Casting
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Even before a script was finished, Gene Tierney, Linda Darnell, Maureen O'Hara, Dorothy McGuire and Alice Faye were cast in the proposed A Letter to Five Wives in November 1946.[10] To reduce expenses, the studio removed Tierney's role.[11] By May 1948, Anne Baxter, Crain, Darnell and Sothern were set to play the title roles, and Macdonald Carey campaigned for a secondary role.[12][5] Baxter's part was eliminated when Mankiewicz and studio head Darryl F. Zanuck reduced the number of wives to three.[11] Joan Crawford, Ida Lupino and Tallulah Bankhead all desired to play the unbilled voice role of Addie that was awarded to Celeste Holm.[13]

In October 1946, it was announced that Samuel G. Engel had assumed producer duties,[5] but Sol C. Siegel replaced Engel in 1948.[5]

Filming

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Production began in early June 1948.[14]

The scenes on the riverboat were filmed on the Hudson River in Cold Spring, New York,[15] and the children were underprivileged students from the Paulist School in New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood who were each paid $15 per day.[16] Other area filming locations included Lake Mahopac, Stamford, Connecticut[17] and Hook Mountain State Park.[15]

Darnell and Sothern were reported to have feuded on set.[18]

Differences between novel and film

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John Klempner's novel was titled A Letter to Five Wives, but two wives were lost in the transition to the screen.[19] Joseph L. Mankiewicz intended for the fourth wife to be the granddaughter of the state's governor but said "we never got around to her."[20]

All of the major characters differ substantially between the novel and film, as do the nature of the problems with their marriages. In the novel, Lora May (the character is Lora Mae in the film) is not a gold-digger but a woman who has always been dominated by her wealthy husband, Rita is trying to succeed in a second marriage with a man about whom she has never felt passionate and Deborah is a former spinster whose husband is disappointed by her lack of success in society. The two wives who do not appear in the film are Martha, who argues with her husband about child-rearing issues, and Geraldine, who devotes herself to her singing career with meager results.

The novel also provides no indication that any of the couples will work through their problems, and the identity of the unfaithful husband is different from that within the film, although his rationale is the same.

Release

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A Letter to Three Wives was made available for preview by critics in December 1948,[21] including the National Legion of Decency, which classified the film as A-III (for adults only).[22]

The film premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York on January 20, 1949.[1]

Reception

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In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote:

[I]n the reflections of these ladies, Mr. Mankiewicz cleverly evolves an interesting cross-sectioned picture of the small-town younger-married set. And as writer as well as director, he has capably brought forth a film which has humor, scepticism [sic], satire and gratifying romance. The fact that so many paces are put on display in this film forewarns that a certain unevenness is likely to occur. And it must be admitted frankly that the whole thing is not in perfect time. The earlier phases are draggy and just a bit obvious. ... But the final romantic remembrance—that of the hard-boiled wife—is a taut and explosive piece of satire, as funny and as poignant as it is shrewd. ... It wouldn't be fair to tell you whose husband it is that runs away. But the outcome is thoroughly satisfactory—and so is the film—by us.[1]

In the Chicago Tribune, reviewer Mae Tinee wrote: "Here's a picture that actually deserves some of the adjectives so often lavished on Hollywood products. It's smart, cute and funny—well- rounded entertainment of a sort that's all too rare these days. ... The conclusion is a clever mixture of humor and pathos—and the film so expert that you hate to see it end."[23]

Critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Its ultimate message is to put trust in your husband, though it never states this with any bald emphasis. ... The picture is likely to score a noteworthy hit especially with the feminine audience."[24]

Variety's review praised the film, especially its "unique story" being given "a nifty screenplay."[25]

Adaptations

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In 1985, the film was remade as a television movie of the same name starring Loni Anderson as Lora Mae, Michele Lee as Rita, Stephanie Zimbalist as Debra, Charles Frank as Brad, Michael Gross as George and Ben Gazzara as Porter, with Ann Sothern appearing in a small role.[26][27]

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The 21st-season episode of The Simpsons titled "Moe Letter Blues" parodies the plot of A Letter to Three Wives.[28]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Crowther, Bosley (1949-01-21). "The Screen in Review: 'A Letter to Three Wives' Opens at Music Hall—'Man From Colorado' at Capitol". The New York Times. p. 24.
  2. ^ "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. 4 January 1950. p. 59.
  3. ^ Stern, Sydney Ladensohn (2019). The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1617032677.
  4. ^ Picturegoer, 4 June 1949, p.16
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Notes for A Letter to Three Wives (1949)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  6. ^ Hutchens, John K. (1946-02-24). "People Who Read and Write". The New York Times Book Review. p. 22.
  7. ^ "Paramount Names Lake, Ladd to Film". The New York Times. 1946-10-29. p. 33.
  8. ^ Lower, Cheryl Bray; Palmer, R. Barton (2001). Joseph L. Mankiewicz: critical essays with an annotated bibliography and a filmography. McFarland & Company.
  9. ^ "Hollywood Highlights", Oakland Tribune, June 14, 1948, p. 21
  10. ^ Parsons, Louella O. (1946-10-26). "Engel Wants 5 Stars For His Coming Film". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 10.
  11. ^ a b Clary, Patricia (1948-09-09). "Odd Methods Used to Cut Movie Costs". Hollywood Citizen-News. p. 19.
  12. ^ Thomas, Bob (1948-05-04). "'Babe Ruth' Release Scheduled in August". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. p. 8.
  13. ^ "An Invisible Star Writes 'A Letter to Three Wives'". Brooklyn Eagle. 1949-01-16. p. 32.
  14. ^ "Production Schedule". Hollywood Citizen-News. p. 17.
  15. ^ a b Sheaffer, Lew (1948-06-02). "Screen". Brooklyn Eagle. p. 10.
  16. ^ Berg, Louis (1948-10-24). "3 Girls on a Boat". Los Angeles Times. p. 10, This Week section.
  17. ^ "Coming Here For Shooting". New York Daily News. 1948-05-30. p. B8.
  18. ^ Kilgallen, Dorothy (1948-06-26). "The Voice of Broadway". Washington Times-Herald. p. 29.
  19. ^ Schallert, Edwin (1948-06-21). "Paul Henreid Likely Star in Monarch Role". Los Angeles Times. p. 17.
  20. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (1949-02-13). "Mankiewicz Sees New Film Targets After Dissecting Home and Marriage". Los Angeles Times. pp. 1, 3 (Part IV).
  21. ^ Fidler, Jimmie (1948-12-13). "Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood". Montgomery Advertiser. p. 11.
  22. ^ "Legion Of Decency". The Southwest Courier. p. 4.
  23. ^ Tinee, Mae (1949-02-08). "'Letter to Three Wives' Is Really Clever Comedy". Chicago Tribune. p. 20.
  24. ^ Schallert, Edwin (1949-02-23). "'Letter to Three Wives' Rich in Feminine Appeal". Los Angeles Times. p. 7, Part II.
  25. ^ Variety Staff (December 31, 1947). "A Letter to Three Wives". Variety.
  26. ^ O'Connor, John J. (December 16, 1985). "TV Reviews; 'Letter to Three Wives'". The New York Times.
  27. ^ Schwartz, Dennis (5 August 2019). "A Letter to Three Wives". dennisschwartzreviews.com.
  28. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (2010-05-10). ""Moe Letter Blues"/"Brown History Month"/"Quagmire's Dad"/"An Incident at Owl Creek"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
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