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: Pickup On South Street (1953)

A Cold War espionage film noir, Pickup On South Street packs thrills, romance and complex characters into the story of a pickpocket who unwittingly disrupts a communist spy operation.

On a busy subway train in New York City, courier Candy (Jean Peters) has her wallet stolen by professional pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark). The theft is spotted by investigators tracking Candy, who is a mostly clueless courier working for ex-boyfriend Joey (Richard Kiley), a member of a communist spy ring. Her wallet contains a valuable stolen microfiche, and now Skip is the most wanted man in the city.

Police agents seek the help of dotty underworld informer Moe (Thelma Ritter) to identify and locate Skip, while Candy uses her own contacts to find his riverfront shack. Skip now realizes he is in possession of valuable merchandise and can sell to the highest bidder, if he can stay alive. But a simmering romance ignites between him and Candy, complicating all agendas.

An uncompromising story of treason crashing upon the rocks of passionate individual desires, Pickup On South Street combines a Cold War-inspired national security thriller with intimate portraits of small people caught up in big events. Writer and director Samuel Fuller jams three character studies into 80 minutes, and still allows time for soul searching, brutality, murder and expertly crafted moments of devious suspense.

Secondary people on the margins of other films here take centre stage. Skip is cocky, sarcastic and one misstep away from lifelong incarceration. Attracting the attention of a communist ring and police investigators is the last thing he needs. And yet he recognizes the opportunity of a lifetime when he sees it, but pesky romantic feelings towards Candy start to interfere. Meanwhile she proves more resourceful and resilient than an average underworld courier, first to find Skip then understand their joint predicament. At personal cost she buys them both just enough time to manoeuver.

And finally, and most poignant, is the stoolie Moe. In many ways Pickup On South Street is the story of the eccentric informer, surviving by selling neckties for $1 and information for whatever amount she can extract from any buyer on either side of the law. Only Moe cares about Moe, and she is deeply aware how disposable and irrelevant she is. Ultimately she will have to decide if any cause actually matters more than a few crumpled bills thrown her way.

Apart from the characters, Fuller packs the film with violence, and the brutality towards women is sometimes difficult to stomach. Elsewhere suspense takes over, including a clever interlude involving a dumbwaiter.

Despite the short length some sections do drag, the romance between Skip and Candy laboriously reaching a slow boil, and the climax features a few unlikely contortions towards a brighter-than-needed ending.

But Fuller leans on his dream cast to get through the lethargic sections, and intense close-ups are rewarded with career highlights. Richard Widmark is smooth and slick, Jean Peters seductive and sly, and Thelma Ritter sad and soulful.

Pickup On South Street features one stolen wallet and three unforgettable lives changed forever.

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Movie Review: Move Over, Darling (1963)

A lame bedroom comedy, Move Over, Darling over-stretches a flimsy premise to excruciating extremes.

In the courtroom of eccentric Judge Bryson (Edgar Buchanan), lawyer Nick Arden (James Garner) applies to have his wife Ellen declared dead. She has been missing for five years after her flight ditched in the Pacific Ocean. Bryson agrees, and Nick immediately marries his new sweetheart Bianca (Polly Bergen).

As soon as Nick and Bianca set out on their honeymoon, Ellen (Doris Day) reappears, having been rescued off an island by the Navy. She reconnects with her two daughters and her mother-in-law Grace (Thelma Ritter), and chases after Nick and Bianca at their Monterey Hotel. Nick is shocked but also happy to see his wife again, but is also very reluctant to break the news to his new bride Bianca.

Directed by Michael Gordon, Move Over, Darling is the salvaged remains of Something's Got To Give, after that troubled production was abandoned following Marilyn Monroe's death. Day eventually replaced Monroe, Garner stepped in when Dean Martin wisely stepped aside, and Gordon took over the reins from George Cukor. None of them need to have bothered. A re-imagining of 1940's Too Many Husbands, Move Over, Darling is bereft of laughs, strains to no avail, and chews away at a single idea long after all the juice is gone.

The film's central conflict can be resolved within minutes of Ellen's unexpected reappearance, but Nick artificially and repeatedly contrives to avoid facing his new facts, and the comedy wilts and dies along with his dithering. No amount of overacting, arm waving or running around can obscure the fact that these are supposedly smart characters acting in an incredibly stupid manner for the sole purpose of prolonging a movie.

Once the one-man-with-two-wives joke is beaten to death, the film introduces a second, even flabbier source of jealousy between Nick and Ellen, this time involving her behaviour while marooned on the island for five years. Again Ellen could resolve her predicament in seconds, but instead this revelation is an excuse for the likes of Don Knotts and Chuck Connors to make appearances in a further series of scenes choking on protracted misunderstandings.

Move Over, Darling is comedy at its worst, flat humour as a toxic byproduct of imbecilic behaviour.

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Movie Review: All About Eve (1950)

The story of jealousy, backstabbing, ageing and the desperate climb to the top among Broadway's elite actresses, All About Eve is a breathlessly magnificent view of the raw human desire to succeed, often by knocking others out of the way.

The film starts with Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), the latest sensational star of the theatre world, accepting the distinguished industry award for best actress under the watchful eye of caustic critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders). In flashback, the story of Eve's remarkable rise to the top is revealed.

Just eight months previously, Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is the reigning queen of Broadway, although age is catching up with her. Margo is starring in the latest hit play produced by Max Fabian (Gregory Ratoff), written by celebrated playwright Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe), and directed by Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill), who is romancing Margo. A dedicated fan, Eve attends the play every day to study Margo's performance.

Lloyd's wife Karen (Celeste Holm), who is also Margo's close friend, notices Eve outside the theatre and eventually brings her into the dressing room to meet Margo. Eve's story of humble Wisconsin origins, dedication to the theatre, and losing her husband to the war touches Margo, who takes Eve in as her dedicated assistant, although Margo's helper and confidant Birdie (Thelma Ritter) is skeptical.

Lloyd (about Eve): I like that girl, that quality of quiet graciousness.

Eve quickly proves herself extremely capable, organizes every detail of Margo's schedule, and becomes an indispensable and essential part of her life. But Eve's behaviour also borders on obsessive and controlling, and she does not hesitate to flirt with Bill, fanning the flames of jealousy within Margo. When Eve manipulates Karen to gain the part of Margo's understudy, the hostilities break out into the open, with Margo feeling deeply threatened while Bill, Lloyd and Karen are caught between loyalty to Margo and the sparkle of Eve's undoubted talent. The patiently observant Addison, meanwhile, tries to manage the situation to his advantage.

Addison: We all have abnormality in common. We're a breed apart from the rest of humanity, we theatre folk; we are the original displaced personalities.

Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve boasts a sharp wit, a spry pace, and a prickly attitude. The film drops in on a small group of characters and exposes the destruction caused when naked ambition collides with self-doubt. It's a breathtaking jaunt through the world of Broadway's elite, where the rarefied air only serves to heighten the tension between those seeking a way up and those clinging on with their fingernails to avoid sliding down.

Margo: Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.

Mankiewicz's dialogue is filled with legendary zingers. Whether fuelled by alcohol, spite, or in the case of Addison DeWitt, a self-applied sense of supremacy, the characters are children of the theatre, and they don't hold back. Whether the insults are veiled or explicit, they are delivered with zeal. Only Karen, being the semi-outsider, resents Margo's frequent descent into verbal prickliness. Lloyd and Bill are not only used to it, they depend on it. In the cocktail party scene to celebrate Bill's return from a Hollywood trip, Mankiewicz creates a legendary piece of cinema, a prolonged battlefield where words are bullets, attitudes are fortifications, and visible emotions are deployed as chemical weapons.

Margo: Funny business, a woman's career. The things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman.

While there are at least three important male characters in the cast, the heart of the movie is all about women, as suggested by the title. Mankiewicz creates a triangle consisting of Margo the queen, Eve the plotter, and Karen the unwitting enabler. (The three do parallel Caesar, Cassius and Brutus). The film rides on the energy of three ladies fighting intertwining battles, Margo for survival, Eve for power and Karen for friendship. It's a fascinating conflict, and through it Mankiewicz comments on what really constitutes success, the sacrifices to stay at the top, the insecurities that come with professional ambition, and the price that has to be paid in stressed and ruined relationships.

Margo: Nice speech, Eve. But I wouldn't worry too much about your heart. You can always put that award where your heart ought to be.

The performances in All About Eve are mythical in their greatness. In her storied career, it is doubtful whether Bette Davis ever had a role as good as Margo Channing, and she bites into it with absolute relish. This was also likely Anne Baxter's finest moment, and she is simply chilling as the innocent-looking schemer, always about 10 steps ahead in a brutal game of chess, while disarming all around her with an innocuous attitude.

Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Hugh Marlowe and Gary Merrill also find career peaks in the jungle of the theatre world. Thelma Ritter plays her typical self, before surprisingly disappearing from the second half of the film. Marilyn Monroe gets her first significant role as wannabe actress Miss Casswell, hovering around the edges of the elite crowd, looking for a break.

Eve: If nothing else, there's applause... like waves of love pouring over the footlights and wrapping you up.

Shining with the timeless bright lights of Broadway, All About Eve is an absolute gem of an achievement.

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The Movies Of Thelma Ritter

All movies starring Thelma Ritter and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

A Letter To Three Wives (1949, uncredited)

All About Eve (1950)

With A Song In My Heart (1952)

Pickup On South Street (1953)

Rear Window (1954)

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Pillow Talk (1959)

The Misfits (1961)

Birdman Of Alcatraz (1962)

How The West Was Won (1962)

Move Over, Darling (1963)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: The Misfits (1961)

A long-winded contemporary western drama, The Misfits sadly proved to be the last film for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. It is an almost insufferable exercise in navel gazing, a sorry story about lonely people looking for solace in all the wrong places.

In Reno, Nevada, Roslyn (Monroe) finalizes her divorce, with the emotional support of Isabelle (Thelma Ritter). They then meet truck driver Guido (Eli Wallach), and through him his friend Gay Langland (Gable), an old fashioned cowboy. Isabelle tries to get Guido's romantic attention, but he is immediately smitten by the beautiful Roslyn, who in turn is both fascinated and repulsed by Gay's blatant machismo.

Guido offers Roslyn his secluded desert home to de-stress from her divorce, after which Gay and Guido invite Roslyn to join them as they attempt to round up wild Mustang horses in the desert wilderness. On the way they meet Gay's old friend Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift), a penniless rodeo cowboy. As Roslyn finds herself attracting the attention of all three men, the group joins Perce as he competes at a local rodeo event, before heading to a dry lake to try and corral some horses.

Written by Arthur Miller (Monroe's soon to be ex-husband) and directed by John Huston (apparently hard on the bottle), The Misfits is a project that just did not work. Miller's script is talky, dreamy and exceedingly laborious. Roslyn, Guido, Gay and Perce are uninteresting and unintelligent, all the behaviour on display conveying boring people too quick to express shallow emotions and waves of anger. The attractions are inexplicable except as acts of desperation, never a good basis for attempted romance. And the love/hate attitude that Roslyn displays towards Gay is simply irrational. Either she enjoys his alpha male persona or she does not, and Miller can't decide what kind of man his leading lady craves.

Huston's directing is stale. Scenes go on for too long, the story never finds an arc to hold on to, and the climactic but endless Mustang chase in the desert is filled with cowboys-never-change hokum.

The film's many failures are quite the pity, because the acting talent is clearly abundant. Despite any end-of-life issues facing Gable and Monroe, they both effortlessly dominate the screen. Gable is his usual uncompromising presence, filling his scenes with larger than life male bravado and living proudly according to his code. Monroe is a wispy, breathy presence, displaying nothing but vulnerability in what is either a terrific acting performance or simply by placing herself on the screen. Wallach, Clift and Ritter lend plenty of talent in support, all three conveying lives bereft of purpose and drifting towards a great emptiness.

Gable died within two weeks of the end of filming after suffering a heart attack. Monroe died within 18 months, having never completed another film. The Misfits is unfortunately more of a final crooked memorial for two enduring legends, rather than a successful movie.

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Movie Review: Rear Window (1954)

An Alfred Hitchcock classic, Rear Window peeks into the lives of neighbours to find a potential murderer, but more importantly uncovers a changing society about to be transformed by unstoppable forces.

Photojournalist Jeff Jeffries (James Stewart) has badly broken his leg while on assignment, and he is stuck in his hot and humid apartment for another week before the cast comes off. With a crushing heatwave forcing all the neighbours to keep their windows open, Jeff whiles away the time observing from his rear window the goings on in various apartments. Jeff's nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) and his girlfriend society girl Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) visit him daily. The crusty Stella does not approve of Jeff's voyeuristic habit, while Jeff is having trouble finding a way to imagine the fashionable Lisa fitting into his rugged international photojournalist lifestyle.

One of the many apartments that Jeff keeps an eye on is occupied by Mr. Thorwald (Raymond Burr), a salesman, and his bed-ridden wife. One dark night Jeff observes Mr. Thorwald repeatedly leaving and returning to his apartment with a large briefcase. The next day Mrs. Thorwald has disappeared from her bed, and Jeff observes Mr. Thorwald cleaning a large knife and a sharp saw. Jeff is convinced that Mr. Thorwald killed his wife and dismembered her body. He calls upon his friend, Detective Tom Doyle (Wendell Corey), who is sceptical but starts a low level investigation. As the ongoing lives of the neighbours unfold and sometimes intertwine, Jeff, Lisa and Tom are drawn ever deeper into the mystery surrounding the Thorwalds.

Rear Window offers up an increasing dose of tension, but the thriller elements are only the outside packaging. The film's rich texture resides in its mature portrayal of a society in quiet upheaval, and the prescient look ahead to a world filled with plenty of image consumption and dangerous levels of pleasure derived from voyeurism.

The John Michael Hayes screenplay is rich with social observation, starting with the evolving role of women. The nurse Stella is the model for the first post-war generation of working women, independent, opinionated and confident, and she may be the midpoint of the spectrum. Jeff's neighbours cover the range of rapidly evolving women's roles in society: At the extremely traditional end is Miss Lonelyhearts, a depressed widow close to the end of her rope. Mrs. Thorwald, the victim, is utterly dependent on her husband and unable to defend herself against his violence.

Towards the mid-range are the couple sleeping on the balcony, representing the average married man and wife of the era, content and resourceful. Tilting to where society is headed, the newly-wed wife is sex-obsessed but turns against her husband as soon as he loses his job: perhaps the prototype of the newly independent woman, not shy about her sexual and financial needs. Miss Newlywed is unlikely to ever suffer at the hand of her husband. And at completely the other end of the scale from Miss Lonelyhearts is Miss Torso, young, exhibitionist, enjoying the company of a multitude of men, and hiding her own secret. She controls and manipulates the life of the men around her, at the edge of a new movement about to explode out of post-war repression and into a revolution of liberation.

Jeff's own relationship with Lisa has to navigate the turbulence of women's changing role in society. Clearly in love with each other, but coming from different worlds and both financially secure, neither is immediately willing to sacrifice a valued lifestyle for the sake of the relationship. While Jeff seems to recognize that asking Lisa to fundamentally change her life is a wrong foundation for a marriage, Lisa is more brash about pushing Jeff to change his life to suit her. Lisa goes ahead and proves her willingness to be adventurous, but Rear Window ends with persistent question marks about the viability of their couplehood: the sense is that Jeff's version of adventure is too crass for Lisa's high flying, high fashion, high society taste.


Rear Window's other objective is to transform all viewers into voyeurs, as guilty as Jeff in enjoying the sordid lives of others. Oh dear, we've become a race of Peeping Toms, Stella says in her first scene. Hitchcock leaves his audience no choice: watching the movie is a Peeping Tom experience, with most of the camera angles representing Jeff's point view, and the camera movements mimicking the motion of his eyes. Jeff's behaviour can only be castigated by those who did not actively participate in it, and the film's construction makes this impossible: we are all as culpable as he is, and deserving of his fate. Hitchcock anticipates an era when watching will become a lot more popular than doing, and few complain about it.

Rear Window is a participatory masterpiece, a multi-layered film that elegantly represents its society with sharp commentary woven into an arresting mystery.

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