Movie Review: A Letter To Three Wives (1949)

A drama about relationship ups and downs in a leafy small town, A Letter To Three Wives is a spry snapshot of post-war middle class domesticity.

Deborah (Jeanne Crain), Rita (Ann Sothern), and Lora Mae (Linda Darnell) are friends and neighbours, and about to chaperone a community children's picnic. Just before departing for the day, they receive a letter from common acquaintance Addie (voice of Celeste Holm) informing them she has run off with one of their husbands, but not disclosing which one. In separate flashbacks, the women review the state of their marriages.

Emotionally fragile Deborah met husband Brad (Jeffrey Lynn) when they both served in the navy. He is from a wealthy and respected family, while she is from humble origins. Deborah always felt inferior and a misfit with the country club crowd. Brad fuels her insecurities whenever he mentions the vivacious Addie.

Brassy Rita has a successful career as a radio theatre writer, while husband George (Kirk Douglas) is a proud but low-paid school teacher. He looks down upon her commercial brand of writing, and the tension between them rises when Lora Mae nudges him to consider a career change. George knows Addie from college and she is more aligned with his love for the arts.

Confident Lora Mae grew up in a poor household on the wrong side of the tracks. While working at a department store she caught the eye of the wealthy owner Porter Hollingsway (Paul Douglas). He pursues her but she does not yield to his affections until he proposes marriage. They are never truly in love but always honest with each other, including Porter expressing his admiration for Addie.

An adaptation of a story that appeared in Cosmopolitan, A Letter To Three Wives boasts a clever structure, three casually related mini relationship portraits, and a mean streak of humour to punch-up the drama. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz also wrote the screenplay, and delivers an entertaining summary of first-world problems lurking in the households of the haves and want-to-haves.

Addie provides mischievous narration without making an appearance, instead hovering over the lives of others as a cunning plot device to cut through the facade of marital bliss. The three stories expose a range of women's emotions and intentions, including Deborah's deep-seated self-doubt and desperate desire to fit in, Rita's well-intentioned but misplaced attempt to elevate the earning potential of her husband, and Lora Mae's singular focus on snaring a wealthy man.

The men here are mostly static beings, war-winning objects to be captured, cared for, manipulated, improved and jealously guarded. In turn, the revealed lives of Deborah, Lora Mae and Rita revolve fully around their husbands, and even working woman Rita insists on muddling her career with her marriage.

The performances are lively, Jeanne Crain, Ann Sothern and Linda Darnell quickly creating distinct and memorable personalities. They receive equal screen time and ample opportunities to navigate a range of man-instigated crises. Mankiewicz's writing is human-centred: despite their different backgrounds, it's easy to believe these women are friends. In the supporting cast, Thelma Ritter has a significant but uncredited role as a housekeeper.

Although the ending settles for a relatively quick wrap and lacks zing, A Letter To Three Wives remains a savvy peek into three couples' lives.



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Movie Review: Dangerous Crossing (1953)

A woman-in-distress drama, Dangerous Crossing is a compact economy thriller, with plenty of spooky style enlivening the story of a troubled bride on a luxury ship.

In New York, newlyweds John and Ruth Bowman (Carl Betz and Jeanne Crain) board a transatlantic ocean liner, seemingly giddy with happiness. They only met a few weeks prior, with John helping heiress Ruth through a difficult patch. But as soon as the ship sails, John promptly disappears. Ruth is frazzled: none of the crew members can remember John coming on board and there is no record of him as a passenger. Ruth starts to question her sanity.

Doctor Paul Manning (Michael Rennie) is in charge of passenger health, and he tries to untangle Ruth's story. She then receives a phone call from John, claiming they are both in danger and she ought to not trust anyone. With the ship sailing through thick fog, Ruth has to decide whether she can confide in Paul, while holding out hope John will reappear with an explanation.

Filmed on a miniscule budget in a matter of days and on sets built for other movies, Dangerous Crossing makes good use of scarce resources. Leo Townsend's script is stripped of any externalities, and director Joseph M. Newman limits the action to 75 minutes, maintaining tight control over a traditional gaslighting plot.

The opening few minutes introduce the happy couple and all the events that will subsequently be questioned as unreal, casting genuine doubt on Ruth's mental health. Newman appropriates black and white to his advantage, and utilizes seaworthy fog, a relentless fog horn, nighttime shadows and mysterious men in trenchcoats (complete with limp and cane) to elevate the sense of conspiratorial dread engulfing Ruth.

Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie are the film's two main assets, and they quickly embody their characters. Crain glows despite Ruth's predicament as she alternates between frantic, bewildered, vulnerable and determined. Rennie deploys his sturdy presence to try and calm the waters.

The resolution of the mystery is as trim as the rest of the production, Paul finally extracting from Ruth the threads of a conspiracy swirling in the background. Given the constraints, words have to suffice when flashbacks would have enriched the narrative. But Dangerous Crossing is all about doing more with less, cutting through choppy waters with admirable poise.

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Movie Review: Leave Her To Heaven (1945)

A colourful drama with noir shadings, Leave Her To Heaven explores a seemingly perfect marriage undermined by ruinous jealousy.

Author Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) meets beautiful rich socialite Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) on a train. She claims he closely resembles her recently deceased father, and break off her engagement with lawyer Russell Quinton (Vincent Price) to marry Richard.

Richard is devoted to the the wellbeing of his brother Danny (Darryl Hickman) who is slowly recovering from leg injuries. But Ellen is exceptionally possessive and starts to resent Danny's intrusion on her marriage. She is also jealous of her adopted sister Ruth (Jeanne Crain) who develops a deep friendship and perhaps a crush on Richard. As the newly married couple vacation with Danny at an idyllic lake, Ellen's emotional avarice takes a dark turn.

Sometimes designated the first film noir in colour, Leave Her To Heaven is more of an overdone mishmash. While Ellen Berent is certainly a memorable femme fatale, director John M. Stahl is less concerned with noir elements and more interested in showcasing his Technicolor crayons with sparkling scenes of lakefront living. The film more often resembles an overheated melodrama, Ellen admitting early to an excessive demand for devotion and an inability to share attention, creating a sturdy but predictable foundation for misdeeds to come.

The film adapts the novel by Ben Ames Williams with hints of underdeveloped storylines hampered by the cinematic constraints of the era. Ellen's relationship with her deceased father is described in a few different vague terms but never confronted for what it may have been. Less excusable is the rather tepid depiction of the bond between Richard and Ruth, a source of much of Ellen's wrath but otherwise poorly defined. And finally Ellen as a potential victim of a mental disorder is never posited as a narrative avenue. Her venom towards others (and herself) is portrayed as simple evil, denying the film texture.

The final act suddenly transforms into amateur hour at the courthouse. In a ridiculous display of theatrics, Vincent Price takes centre stage as lead prosecutor and the Jo Swerling script demonstrates a childish disdain for basic court proceedings.

The cast members are surprisingly stiff, with only Gene Tierney glowing within the colourful aesthetic. Cornel Wilde is mechanical and Jeanne Crain underutilized.

Instead of a deft touch, sinister nuance, and shades of grey, Leave Her To Heaven opts for brash and bold.

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