Three Husbands (1950) User Reviews

Sleeping with Three Wives

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 3 October 2010]

After suffering a fatal heart attack, confirmed bachelor Emlyn Williams (as Maxwell "Max" Bard) gives heavenly greeters his last wish - he would like to observe events on Earth for the next twenty-four hours. And, with good reason. Mr. Williams has left not only a will, but also letters to "Three Husbands" admitting affairs with each of their three wives. The three men are poker playing pals Shepperd Strudwick (as Arthur Evans), Robert Karnes (as Kenneth Whittaker), and Howard Da Silva (as Dan McCabe). Their respective wives are Ruth Warrick (as Jane), Vanessa Brown (as Mary), and Eve Arden (as Lucille).

Mr. Strudwick, who is having an affair with attractive Louise Erickson (as Matilda Clegg) nevertheless takes the news hard.

Mr. Da Silva thinks the letter is a dead man's a joke, until Ms. Arden hints otherwise. And, happily married Mr. Karnes becomes frantically jealous. The admissions of infidelity threaten all three marriages, as everyone wonders if Williams was writing the truth… This lighter, low-budget take on the hit "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949) is surprisingly adroit, for what it cost; though, obviously, it would have had a greater impact if done ten years earlier, or updated decades later. Williams leads a fine ensemble cast, with bartender Jerry Hausner, butler Benson Fong, and elevator man Frank Cady given memorable "bit" parts.

****** Three Husbands (3/8/51) Irving Reis ~ Emlyn Williams, Eve Arden, Shepperd Strudwick, Robert Karnes

A Letter To Three Husbands

[boblipton · 5/10 · 1 March 2020]

The day before Emlyn Williams' will is read, his lawyer, Jonathan Hale, hands three confidential letters to Howard Da Silva, Sheppard Strudwick, and Robert Karnes. In them, Williams confesses to an affair with each one's wife, to wit Eve Arden, Ruth Warrick, and Vanessa Brown.

They were getting pretty tired of the Production Code in Hollywood, what with the downturn in business, and Vera Caspary wrote this hot and frank story....except the Code was still in effect, so the letters only go so far as naming the women. What could they have been doing? Attending committee meetings? Music recitals? French lessons? The unnamed sin is worse than anything they might have been doing, because it's up to the blue-nosed censor in the movie seat to name what he or she considers the worst sin. It's that sniggering, leering attitude that typifies the worst of the Code era; a little casual fornication would seem wholesome by comparison, and the erotic symbols of screwball comedy erudite.

Sigh. At least they've got some good performers in this one, including Billie Burke and Jane Darwell.

An imitation of wives.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 29 July 2014]

Vera Caspary's follow-up to "A Letter to Three Wives" starts out with good intentions, but as deceased antagonist Emlyn Williams should realize, good intentions are the pathway to hell. But here, he's presumably in heaven, his friends memorializing him at the same time he is revealing his last earthly dirty deed. You see, he has left behind a letter for three men indicating that he was having an affair with one of their wives. Who can it be? The stalwart Ruth Warrick, the somewhat crude Eve Arden, or the sweet and innocent Vanessa Brown are the three wives who ate in the same social circle but really have nothing in common.

There's an unnecessarily long sequence where characters attend a foreign movie and flashbacks to William's lecherous encounters with each of the women. Of course, Arden is amusing as she battles with her wealthy bit coarse husband (Howard da Silva) and Warrick provides nostalgia for those who only knew her from "All My Children" as the haughty Phoebe. She is married to Sheppherd Strudwick here, an actor ironically on "One Life to Live" at the same time as Victor Lord.

Vanessa Brown suffers from being the least interesting of the three wives and less than spicy dialog. Wasted in smaller roles are Billie Burke as Strudwick's mother and Jane Darwell in basically a cameo as attorney Jonathan Hale's wife. So ultimately, this is more interesting from a curiosity standpoint than the quality of the film itself. With the original having a screenplay that is still brilliant, the follow-up is bound to suffer in comparison. But oh that cast!

Has Its Moments, But That's all

[dougdoepke · 11 March 2018]

Plot-- From cloudy heaven, a departed playboy gleefully watches three married couples grapple with problems he's created with incriminating letters to the husbands. Could it be that he has a hidden purpose.

Pairing the sardonic Eve Arden with the gruff Howard DaSilva has all kinds of comedic potential. Too bad they don't get more barbed screen time. Then the sometimes comedy, sometimes drama, would get more needed spark. There's clever banter among the three couples, but much of the acting, particularly Strudwick and Karnes, fails to lift beyond the blandly conventional. Nor does Reis's direction heighten the effects. Nonetheless, actor Williams manages to make his potentially dislikable character, Max, oddly likable. Also, scenes in celluloid heaven could raise a touchy 'who-rules' religious problem. However, the script finesses this by making the gate-keeper sound like a corporate auditor without indicating who's ultimately in charge.

Overall, it's an indie production that shows its limitations; at the same time, the occasional snappy dialogue amounts to the best part.

Three husbands is two too many!

[JohnHowardReid · 3/10 · 18 December 2017]

As with many major studio successes, Poverty Row jumped on the Fox boxoffice bandwagon with a copycat of Letter to Three Wives entitled Letter to Three Husbands (1951), a title quickly changed to just Three Husbands when Fox threatened to sue.

Although promisingly based on a Vera Caspary story and script, "Three Husbands" is a rather dull and supremely tedious low-budget affair. I will admit that the Eve Arden and Howard Da Silva episode is reasonably entertaining and certainly comes off best, but it means that you will be obliged to sit through not only the tedious Shepperd Strudwick and Ruth Warwick's plodding plot, but the even more totally boring Robert Karnes.

In fact, I've never heard of Mr. Karnes, and no wonder! His credits are mostly in television roles and I never watch TV! And as for Vanessa Brown (Jane in 1950's Tarzan and the Slave Girl), she has little to offer as well. (The Mill Creek DVD is of excellent quality, but who wants to waste time watching it when you could be entertained by at least fifty thousand better programs).

Oh Vera you needed Mankiewitz

[mls4182 · 2/10 · 20 March 2023]

Vera Caspary teamed up the year earlier with Joseph Mankiewitz and together they came up with a masterpiece.

This was awful. I thought perhaps Eve Arden would save the film. She has saved quite a few for me in the past. No such luck. There just isn't enough of her.

This film is so unstructured and so boring I can't even follow whose husband is whose. Furthermore, I don't even care. I'm letting this turkey play out hoping Eve Arden might pop up again. I'm basically just letting it play out so I can say I've seen it.

Oh lord this film was a mess. It wasn't just bad it was painful. It downright obnoxious.

Many Witty Moments In A Good Film.

[rsoonsa · 8/10 · 7 February 2005]

Released the year following the very successful drama LETTER TO THREE WIVES from 20th Century Fox, this United Artists film alters its predecessor's formula by reversing the gender configuration while constructing the storyline as a comedy, producing a favourable impression upon viewers appreciative of clever plotting, witty dialogue and strong playing. It opens with a voice-over conversation between recently deceased playboy Maxwell Bard (Emlyn Williams) and a representative of Heaven deciding upon his single allotted request granted to the newly passed on - Max wishes to be permitted to view reactions over a 24 hour period of three poker playing pals when they open letters, addressed to them from him, that reveal details of ostensible dalliances that their wives enjoyed with the rakish Bard. The three husbands, performed by Shepperd Strudwick, Howard Da Silva, and Robert Karnes, display varying reactions during flashbacks revealing that, in each case, the men recall events that, in retrospect, do indeed indicate possible acts of infidelity by their wives, played respectively by Ruth Warrick, Eve Arden, and Vanessa Brown, as all the while the sardonic shade of Max hovers about the resultant comedic marital straits. Crisply paced and directed well by Irving Reis, this work is generally well played by the seven principals, although acting bays go to Louise Erickson as Matilda, or "The Menace", as she is tagged in the credits due to an adulterous liaison with one of the husbands, and there are valuable contributions from cinematographer Franz Planer and designers Rudolph Sternad and Edward Boyle.

Basically, a bad rip-off of a great film!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 29 September 2015]

In 1949, Joseph Mankiewicz wrote and directed a perfect or nearly perfect film, "A Letter to Three Wives". I loved everything about the movie--the acting, the writing the direction. However, only a year later, someone came out with "Three Husbands" and I can only see it as a bald attempt to steal the plot from the original film-- it couldn't have been made without A LOT of inspiration from the first picture!

When the story begin, it is just stupid. There's a nonsensical scene in Heaven that is just badly constructed in every way. It made no sense AND instead of showing anything, they just show a bunch of clouds and you hear a voice-over--talk about cheap!

The story itself is about the death of the guy talking in the beginning of the film. His last wish when he gets to Heaven is that he be able to watch the hilarity (?) that would occur when his three male 'friends' all got letters he'd written and left for them with his executor. The letters inform the guys that the dead guy is saying he's sorry, but he's slept with their wives! What follows is the story about the marriages and how the husbands apparently have been taking their wives for granted and it serves them right. Then in a bizarro ending, there are so many misdirections it's confusing as to whether they happened or not (I have my impression...but will keep it to myself).

The film has adequate acting--and some is good. But NONE of the acting reaches the quality of the top-notch actors in the original, all the changes to the script were bad and the film just wasn't entertaining and was as funny as cancer. I could see how this one slipped into the public domain!

By the way, the only GOOD reason to see this is to watch and listen to Billie Burke in a small role. She, for once, drops her put-on silly warbly voice and sounds like a normal person here....and I assume this is the REAL Burke talking.

Oh well.

[bettycjung · 21 April 2018]

4/20/18. I have forgotten why I originally wanted to watch this. Well, it wasn't that much of a romantic comedy and it didn't hold up too well over time. Enjoyed seeing Eve Arden though.

"Conscience impels me to write this." - Maxwell "Max" Bard

[Bernie4444 · 5/10 · 23 September 2023]

Screen Play and Story by Vera Caspary, a writer, known for "Laura" (1944), "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949), and my favorite Bachelor in Paradise (1961.)

Basic story is Englishman that moved to California, Max (Emlyn Williams) dies of a hart attack. In the process of heavenly internment, he is given a wish. He has ben a naughty boy with three men's wife's and leaves them each a letter inferring this. Now he (and we) wants to see their reaction.

The story is so, so, and we must put up with Hollywood Production Code.

On the plus side you will see many familiar faces (actors) and try to remember where you have seen them before.

Three Husbands

[mermaid_studios · 9/10 · 25 May 2014]

I just watched this romantic comedy for the first time this afternoon on YouTube. It is delightful. This black and white film has "colorful" scenes with all the actors.

Who do you trust? This question is definitely posed to the 3 husbands regarding their wives. Flashbacks for all the husbands give us insights into all these relationships.

The film has a happy and humorous ending.

And, if you enjoy this movie, take a look at, the Ginger Rogers film, "Tom, Dick and Harry!" It is very innovative in its use of humor and special effects.

Humor in heaven and on earth

[SimonJack · 8/10 · 25 March 2017]

The production quality of "Three Husbands" is poor for Hollywood standards in 1950, but this independent film has an interesting plot. The script is a little weak, but the direction and acting more than make up for the negatives. The entire cast is very good, especially those in the seven leading roles.

I especially like this film for the performance of Emlyn Williams as Maxwell Bard. Although six other leads are listed ahead of him, his is the pivotal role around which the plot revolves, with its smaller plots. Williams was a very talented man of stage and screen. He was a first-rate actor, as seen here. But he preferred writing. He wrote 20 original plays of his own, and wrote nearly three dozen more screenplays. Some of his plays have been made into excellent films. Among them are "The Corn is Green," "Night Must Fall," "Someone Waiting," "The Light of Heart," "The Wind of Heaven," and "Women of Dolwyn." He also acted in and directed "Dolwyn."

Max is a friend to three particular men, and their wives. He is single and a ladies man, but he's an avowed bachelor. One suspects that he won't let himself get serious about a woman because of his bad heart. Indeed, he dies of a heart attack very young – about 40 in the film. So, he cherishes his friends and friendships with them, collectively and individually.

This is a first rate comedy of morals with a lesson cleverly tucked into a story of multiple friendships. No one will miss the jealousy, but sometimes the deeper message isn't obvious at first. Max wraps it up nicely in the end though, calling to the attention of the three husbands the need to trust. As a true friend (which one could see in the flashbacks), he meant trust of one's friends as well as wives.

One of the characters, Arthur Evans (played by Shepperd Strudwick) also dallies with infidelity. So, naturally, he is the most put out by the thought that his wife may have been unfaithful to him. The way the movie opens and closes is funny and clever. Many of us who believe in God think he must have a sense of humor, for the foibles, missteps and mistakes most of us make in our lives.

The film has some witty dialog – see the quotes section of the IMDb listing here. But most of the comedy is in the situations and acting. The three actors playing the husbands are superb in their indignation.