Mankiewicz - A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

[Jake Fredel]

A Letter to Three Wives ... not the sort of movie anyone fitting my description would want to be caught watching very often, haha. Seriously though, this wasn't a bad movie, very melodramatic of course, but a number of interesting aspects to it. Mankiewicz wrote a quite sharp and deft screenplay (for the time) and turned it into a good melodrama. The actors all do well at their parts, but I'm a fan of Kirk Douglas and liked the dynamic personality he played in this one. I have to get something else out of the way before I go any further though, and that is the annoying sound effects that repeat mental questions asked by the characters. These sound effects annoyed me so much, brief as they were, that it probably dropped the movie one point in my rating. Even if that's not fair, that was just my reaction to it.

The film is basically three vignettes focusing on one stage of each of the wives' marriages, the titular letter is only a framing device which provides basis for these separate stories. One takes place during the early days of marriage, one seems to have taken place within the last week, and the other takes place during the courtship before marriage. Each serve to reveal certain characteristics about the woman's husband, and their possible reasons for running away the town's prize beauty.

I thought this was a pretty decent film overall, definitely not bad considering it was based off a 'Cosmopolitan novel.' And from what I know of that publication these days, I don't think they're producing fiction anymore that's used as source material for an Oscar-winning film. I give this a 6/10, and I'm ready to discuss it more with whoever wants to.

-Jake

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

I loved this film! Loved it. I liked that we never see Addie Ross. It
makes her even more threat that way :)

I was not sure how to interpret the end. SPOILERS!!! First I thought
Addie ran off with Brad Bishop and that Porter only said what he said
to make Debra feel better and make it easier for his wife to divorce
him, if all she was after was money. After thinking about it I came to
the conclusion that Porter was being honest. He had runaway with Addie
and said it so Debra would not worry with out a reason. He did not
however have to say it because no one would have found out that he ran
away with Addie. He did that for his wife (to give her a way out). How
did you understand the end Jake?

And by the way, I gave it 9/10!

Thorkell

--
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Þorkell Ágúst Óttarsson

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[Jake Fredel]

From what I gathered, Porter felt unloved by Lora Mae, that he was nothing more than a "cash register" to her. We saw early on, that he thought Addie to be the perfect woman, or at least something close to it. You got the feeling that he thought he wanted to be with her. I'm sure he did run away with Addie for a while, before he realized that he needed and loved his wife, and that Addie didn't have all the qualities that would make him happy after all. Also, Brad seemed honest enough, and from what I could see, outside of Debbie's mind and feelings of inadequacy, there was no reason he would want to leave her.

So to answer you specifically, I completely believed Porter's confession to be honest, and that Brad never ran away with Addie.

-Jake

[David D]

I love this film too, and I'm waiting to see it again at the end of
the month when I visit the friend who watched EVE with me last year--
another film she's never seen. From what I remember, the story
originally was about FOUR wives, which wouldn't translate as well to
film. Obviously the script would have been too long, and the stories
more sketches rather than fully developed stories. Of the three
stories, I was least interested in the one about the war bride (Jeanne
Crain) because there didn't seem to be enough reason for her husband
to leave her. I liked the story of the woman who wrote soap operas and
her college professor husband (Ann Southern & Kirk Douglas, who both
gave memorable performances).

The Linda Darnell (woof!) and Paul Douglas coupling would've made a
classic movie all by itself. With their great banter, conic timing and
wonderful secondary characters (there's Thelma Ritter again), when we
get to the denouement, the first time I saw this I really didn't know
if their marriage would make it or not. As for Addie, what a brilliant
way to present her, and Celeste Holme is as far from EVE's Karen as
you could imagine. Of course, this movie would be more difficult to
make today, with our cell phones, iPhones, laptops, etc. So this is
also classic for its moment in time, a look back at the rising
American middle class of the 40s. Love this movie and can't wait to
see it again.

OK, so now that we're discussing the films of Mankiewicz: What is the
contribution of Director Mankiewicz in both EVE and WIVES? As these
films show, Mankiewicz as a writer is at the top of his game: witty,
cynical AND sentimental (almost like an Addison de Witt), but how's he
doing as a director? Is there a Mankiewicz touch? Does he get the most
out of his actors than another director would? If we saw one of his
less memorable films today (not knowing who directed it) would we be
able to say: Yes, definitely Mankiewicz.

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

I think I have to see more films by him to be able to say if there is
a Mankiewicz touch but I can say that the man is a master. He has the
kind of technical control as Hitchcock had. Everything is so perfectly
done!

And I like your review of the film David D.

--

[Jake Fredel]

Correction, the original Cosmopolitan novel that the movie was based off of was A Letter to Five Wives, was changed to Four for the film version, and then one of the wive's stories was dropped when the movie seemed too long to the studio. For some reason, if you're talking about dividing a film into sections, three seems to be the perfect number, somehow very suited to the average length of a film. It's been used time and time again, both in movies like this one, or anthology films. For example, I think that Romero and Argento's Two Evil Eyes might have worked better if another short film was added to the mix, and the others were shortened. But mostly just Romero's short - that was terrible! Harvey Keitel in The Black Cat was pure brilliance. But I've gotten off topic.

-Jake

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

Altman could have made all of the 5 stories in the same time though. :)

[Nick Faust]

I think there is a Mankiewicz touch, only it's not what we ordinarily think of when cinema draws our attention. 

His visual style does not draw attention to itself. He merely photographs actions. Even in CLEOPATRA, spectacle is derived from what's in front of the camera and has little to do with how the camera sees things. 

His touch may be found first in his dialogue, and second, his plotting. Mankiewicz characters are intelligent, articulate people who converse with ease and banter with the intellectual dexterity of a debater. Even the Monroe character in EVE comes off as articulate. 

It makes sense that Mankiewicz do the Cleopatra story, following, as he does, in the footsteps of Shakespeare and Shaw. ( The size of that production kills it. The visual impact constantly draws our attention away from Mankiewicz' Shavian battles and debates, rendered in complete harmony in the dialogue. Am not so sure an eight hour version of the movie would be any better.)

Am not as fond of LETTER TO THREE WIVES  and you guys are. JM gets away with a series of static situations in films like ALL ABOUT EVE and SLUETH, but I don't think he does here. I find it tiresome. 

Does anyone out there see a connection between this movie and THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR? See, that's another one of his Shavian-like constructions. It even stars the well know Shavian actor of the time.

On the complete other side of the spectrum, I watched NO WAY OUT, a social drama about a black doctor who gets into trouble in the hospital he works at. JM can't write the lower income characters, and the social conflict comes pounded out with a sledge. 

Nick

> Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 16:30:00 +0200
> Subject: Re: Mankiewicz - A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
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> To: film...@googlegroups.com

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[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

Yes I agree with you on No Way Out. The bad people are too bad and the
good white doctor too good. This could have been a great film but ends
up as an OK one.

[sfdavide]

Great film Ann Sothern and Paul Douglas were great. Linda Darnell
might have been the most beautiful woman in movies. The only negative
was Jeffrey Lynn, he is just not a very good actor. 8/10. According to
Christopher Mankiewicz, Joe's son, his father was surprised about the
confusion of the ending. According to Christophe,r Porter was the one
who ran off with Addie.
.
.

[Linda Key]

Just watched A LETTER TO THREE WIVES. I loved the funny parts, and liked how the story was told. Saw it coming from pretty much the beginning that they were not going to show Addie's face for the entire movie, which I thought was smart on Mankiewicz part. I found the ending to be very confusing and surprising. In fact, the ending pretty much ruined the movie for me. Can't rate on it yet, have to sleep on it some more...

-linda

[David D]

Good-bye Mank.

Rewatched WIVES, my last Mank film of the month, and I have to say
that not only has it withstood the test of time, but for some reason
it reasonated even more with me when I watched it this time. (Probably
the 4th time I've watched this.) In fact, I think it gives EVE a run
for its money. Someone thought this film, like EVE, was too static. I
didn't think so. Example: scene where Ann Southern & her husband Kirk
Douglas are cleaning up a boring dinner party. Camera follows them
from room to room as they argue about art vs crass commercialism. A
boozy Crain dancing at the country club. And those wonderful scenes in
the house by the railroad tracks.

Did Mank get the perfect cast or did he direct them so that they
became the perfect cast? I only saw Southern on TV, never movies, so I
don't know if she played the same character in other films or not. But
she was perfect here. Same with Linda Darnell. So once again, was it
Mank who got those performances out of them? (The way he DIDN'T get a
decent performance out of Ava in CONTESSA.) I agree that the only weak
link was Crain's forgettable husband. And I still wish her story had
more a reason for her husband to leave--didn't think it did.

And (SPOILER) yeah, I bought Porter's story in the end. It made the
most sense, and gave us one of the most satisfying endings. Both too
cynical (and romantic) to see the love was there all the time. Great
movie, worth a month of Manks.

[waj...@googlemail.com]

Sleuth 10/10
The Ghost and Mrs Muir 8/10 (hmmmm - it's a while since I watched this one, I remember it more fondly than 8/10)
Letter to Three Wives 7/10
The Barefoot Contessa 5/10 - the only one of the Mankiewicz films I've seen that I haven't enjoyed
All About Eve 9/10
The Philadelphia Story (produced by Mankiewicz, directed by Cukor) 8/10
Anne