Three Husbands

1950
5.5| 1h18m| NR| en
Details

When a recently deceased playboy gets to heaven and is granted one wish--granted to all newcomers--he requests that he be able to see the reactions of three husbands, with whom he regularly played poker, to a letter he left each of them claiming to have had an affair with each's wife.

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Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
bettycjung 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.
SimonJack 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.
MartinHafer 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.
mermaid_studios 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.