A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Synopsis: Of three suburban couples suffering marital difficulties, one finds itself unexpectedly splitting when Addie Ross (Celeste Holm) runs off with one of the husbands while the wives are away on a trip--but which husband? Addie's note to the wives doesn't say. Entangled in suspense as to who has... Of three suburban couples suffering marital difficulties, one finds itself unexpectedly splitting when Addie Ross (Celeste Holm) runs off with one of the husbands while the wives are away on a trip--but which husband? Addie's note to the wives doesn't say. Entangled in suspense as to who has flown the coop, the three wives reflect on their marriages and the stresses within them: one wife met her upper-crust hubby while in the service and fears that she doesn't belong in his social class; another is a radio soap opera writer whose career is interfering with her marriage to a university professor; and the last is a gold digger from the wrong side of the tracks, in a turbulent marriage to a coarse businessman. Sympathetic insights into the strains and insecurities inherent in every marriage bear the genuine touch of director and screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz, whose renditions of complex relationships also shine in his other movies, including ALL ABOUT EVE. Kirk Douglas, Thelma Ritter, Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, and Ann Sothern star in this film that won Best Screenplay and Best Director Oscars for Mankiewicz. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenwriter: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Story: Vera Caspary
Composer: Alfred Newman
DVD Info
Release:
Feb 22, 2005
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Pan & Scan
- Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
- Mono - English
- Stereo - English
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - Kenneth Geist - Biographer of Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Bonus Shorts - 1. MovieTone News about A LETTER TO THREE WIVES
- 2. Restoration Comparison
- Documentary - LINDA DARNELL: HOLLYWOOD'S FALLEN ANGEL
- Original Theatrical Trailer
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Reviews
Mankiewicz's plot device is brilliant and intriguing: On the way to an annual picnic, three housewives learn through a letter that the town's most desirable woman had run off with one of their husbands--flashbacks reveal the state of their marriages.
Much of what makes All About Eve such a brilliant film was used previously (and to good effect) in A Letter to Three Wives.
Mankiewicz's writing is bright and hard -- he's sharpening his teeth for All About Eve, made the next year -- but his acid wit is almost too much for his fragile characters to bear.


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