A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

Here is a story about three wives, the three husbands that go with them and the one woman who got in the middle of them all. The main plot device is simply this: This woman named Addie Grace, who we never see but who is always being referred to, has left the town and she also left a letter addressed to three wives. The women get it as they board a boat for afternoon out at sea with some underprivileged children. When they read what it says their afternoon takes a major turn. The one and only Addie Ross has run off with one of their husbands and yet she does not say who.

The rest of their time is spent thinking back on their marriages and each recollection is framed as a long flashback. First comes Deborah Bishop (Jeanne Crain) a farm girl who met her husband during the war. Now with his friends back home she wishes to make a good impression but she feels like she can never measure up with such elite society. To make matters worse she learns that before the war it was thought that Brad would marry Addie Grace because they grew up together.

Next comes Rita Phipps (Ann Sothern) who puts on an extra special dinner for her bosses from the radio station she writes for. The night includes a forgotten birthday, sappy radio programs and all the while Rita constantly trying to please and appease her bosses. They enjoy the evening but her husband George is upset that she constantly caves to them. To make matters worse as a school teacher it is difficult for him as the man of the house to have her bring in a great deal of their income.

Last but not least is Lora Mae Hollingsway (Linda Darnell) who grew up in a poor household near the train tracks with her mother and younger sister. She focuses her attention on Porter Hollingsway (her future husband), an older divorced man who also happens to own a chain of department stores. After a great deal of back and forth they get married but underlying their marriage is this assumption that she only went after him for his money. Their relationship hardly seems to involve true love.

All three women return to their lives. Rita is grateful to find George sitting in the living room. Lora Mae who half expected Porter to be gone has him come into the house exhausted after a long day of work. Deborah is seemingly not so lucky. All of them get ready for the dance that evening with their spirits all at different levels. However, after Porter shares a revelation the evening gets a whole lot better.

This Joseph L. Mankiewicz precursor to All About Eve is a remarkable drama in its own right thanks to its primary narrative device and fine performances from the cast. Thelma Ritter was as entertaining as ever and Celeste Holme was tantalizing as the unseen voice of Addie. It is interesting how all the stories of the film interconnect characters making us come to understand each and everyone of them a little better. The ending was slightly abrupt but still clever. All in all A Letter to Three Wives was an interesting concept that paid off beautifully.

4/5 Stars

The Best Films of Kirk Douglas

1. Spartacus
2. Paths of Glory
3. Ace in the Hole
4. The Bad and The Beautiful
5. A Letter to Three Wives
6. Out of the Past
7. Seven Days in May
8. Lonely are the Brave
9. Champion
10. Detective Story
11. Lust for Life
12. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
13. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
14. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Paths of Glory (1957)

Starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick, this war film with a twist follows a French Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) and his men during World War I. He is ordered to take part in a suicide mission by a general and everything soon goes awry. After they unsuccessfully go through with the mission , three of Dax's men find themselves being court martialed as examples for supposed cowardliness. Despite a defense by Dax in court, the three men are found guilty and later executed by firing squad. This and other events cause Dax to openly question the decisions of his superiors. In a very touching final scene there seems to be a questioning of the inhumanity of war. In one of his earlier films Kubrick delivers a poignant piece.

4/5 Stars

Spartacus (1960)

In this epic film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick, a slave turned gladiator leads a revolt against the Roman empire. Spartacus leads his fellow plebeians in a sacking and burning of the countryside while slowly gaining followers. Along the way he is reunited with his love (Jean Simmons). However, soon all hope of triumph or escape is gone and Spartacus must face the Roman legions in one final battle. Utterly overwhelmed by the other forces, his followers are slaughtered and taken prisoner. With all hope gone he must kill his friend (Tony Curtis) and then face death himself by crucifixion. But all is not lost because his wife and child do get away allowing his legacy to remain. Overall this film is good but it does have flaws, one of them being the casting of Tony Curtis with his New York accent. Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov all have important roles in this film as well.

5/5 Stars

Out of the Past (1947) - Film-Noir

Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas, this classic has every element of a good film noir.   Jeff Bailey (Mitchum) makes his living in a small town working at a gas station. He has an honest living and a girl. However, soon his past catches up with him  when a man from his former life comes to see him and he must explain it all to his innocent girlfriend.

Once he was a private investigator who got mixed up with a powerful gambler named Whit Sterling (Douglas), who wanted some money found, but most importantly he wanted a deadly girl brought back to him. Pretty soon Jeff's searching leads him down to Mexico. He has a chance meeting with the beautiful woman (Greer) and he understands why Whit wanted her back.

However, Kathie is not eager to go back and they are attracted to each other. She and Jeff agree to runoff together to San Francisco and away from the searching of Whit. They are nearly found out, but they get away. San Francisco is not a nice place, but they make do, until the day where Jeff is spotted by his old partner. He must split up with Kathie and they set a rendezvous. Only there is a hitch in the plan that Jeff did not foresee. He tries to deal with it in his own way, but Kathie takes more drastic measures.

She left him there and fell out of his life, or so Jeff thought. He had tried to forget his past dealings and yet they creep back into his life. With a murder pinned on him, Bailey can do nothing but go along with Whit and Kathie. Soon he becomes embroiled in more treachery and backstabbing which all has to do with the manipulative femme fatale. With one last entreaty she urges him to flee with her since they both have dark pasts. In the end Kathie's fanciful plan to escape is foiled by Bailey and it soon turns fatal. One last time she tried to control the situation, but this final time Jeff or at least fate got the best of her. After his violent death, Jeff's girl wishes to know once and for all if he was running off with Kathie. The mute boy who knew Jeff well lies so that the girl can continue her life. Because in Jeff's case the past came back to haunt him. The kid goes back to the station, not before looking up at Bailey's name on the sign, because he did what Jeff would have wanted.

With its dialogue, extended flashback, voice over, and femme fatales played by Jane Greer and Rhonda Fleming, this is a classic in the film noir genre. Obviously the chiaroscuro cinematography is a major aspect of this film. Except for the shots in Bridgeport, it seems like every scene is veiled in shadow whether it takes place in Acapulco or San Fran, at day, night, inside, or out. Shadows are perpetual and they seem to reflect not only these characters, but also the story. They are not easy to figure and none of them can ever be fully trusted.

Mitchum is perfect in the role of Jeff Bailey, thanks to his demeanor, fitting voice, and constant attire of a trench coat and fedora, with a cigarette clenched in his teeth. He is a man who looks like a saint compared to his acquaintances, and yet he is a man who can show a complex set of traits ranging from avarice, cruelty, love, and some heroism. I find it interesting that Bogart, John Garfield, and Dick Powell all turned down this role before Mitchum got his hands on it. I'm not saying I am not a fan of the other three, but in many ways Mitchum's portrayal is perhaps the most relatable leads for me. He's a smart guy who knows when to keep his mouth shut and when he talk. He doesn't go blindly into trouble and when he's walking into a trap he sees it coming. That doesn't mean he's immortal, but he has an aloofness that I can respect. He doesn't let Kathie get to him, the fact is she just built his gallows high already. There's no way to shake her loose.

Kirk Douglas is great in his role as the crooked Whit, who acts the nice guy only to be cruel at heart. Every character from the henchman Joe, to the mute boy, the accomplice Meta  Carson, and even the loyal taxi driver are all memorable in the scenes they show up in. Jane Greer stands out however, because she is one of the most notorious femme fatales in any noir. I think she toys with the audience as much as she does with Whit and Jeff. We find ourselves starting to believe her, then we have our doubts, and then we go on believing her again. It is a fine performance and Greer like Mitchum has a face that seems to express so much without expressing much at all. It's a strange paradox that nevertheless makes them both intriguing to the end.

As far as endings go Out of the Past is as dismal as ever and yet the choice of the mute boy always strikes me as a kind one. Ann (Virginia Huston) deserved a good life and since I cannot be with Jeff she might as well get a fresh start. So in a sense the boy lies about his friend's final intentions, but he saves Ann's whole life. He gives that one last knowing look heavenward towards Jeff's sign and gets back to work. In this way we leave the film where it began, learning the hard way that its impossible to escape the past. The ghosts always come to haunt you and it can have deadly repercussions. Do yourself a favor and watch this one. Forget film-noir, Out of the Past is a classic in any sense of the word.

5/5 Stars

"She can't be all bad. No one is."
"She comes the closest"            
 ~ Ann and Jeff talking about Kathie

Ace in the Hole (1951) - Film-Noir

Starring Kirk Douglas with director Billy Wilder, the film follows a hard-nosed and manipulative reporter who finds himself stuck in New Mexico without any money. He takes a small job and soon happens upon a cave where a man has gotten trapped. Soon he spins it as a great human interest story and people flock from far and wide to witness the event. The buried man's unhappy wife capitalizes on the foot traffic and the local sheriff tries to get some free publicity for the upcoming election. Meanwhile Tatum tires to draw out the events so he can get a better story and his old job back. All the while the man gets weaker and weaker until he eventually dies. Just like that everything clears out and the big carnival is over. Tatum brought the demise of another man just to get a story and he ultimately fell himself losing the story and the job he had fought so fiercely to acquire. Although not Wilder's most well-known film, this is certainly a biting critique of journalism and humanity in general.

                                                          4/5 Stars