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A Letter to Three Wives Movie Review

A Letter to Three Wives is a 1949 romantic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell and Ann Sothern. It’s one of the best movies of the year.

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“Anybody wants me can come in and get me,

this ain’t a drive-in“

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A letter is addressed to three wives from their friend Addie Ross, announcing that she is running away with one of their husbands, but she does not say which one. You’d think from such a premise that this is a salacious, edgy movie, but it is anything but that. In fact, it’s one of the most wholesome and enjoyable films from this period and all for the better.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz won his first Oscar for directing this movie and it’s easy to see why – the picture flows well, it has a fantastic structure and it’s elegantly constructed throughout. It was a brilliant decision to never portray the fourth woman on the screen. We just hear her soothing, charming voice and her narration opened and closed the movie with so much warmth.

The remainder of the picture consists of the three wives reliving their marriages through flashbacks and this is where we see the state of their relationships. These sequences did not uniformly work unfortunately. As is the case with most films structured like this – some segments worked better than others. But for the most part the film was well edited and paced while benefitting from particularly stellar and witty dialogue. This is a romantic drama first and foremost, but there are significant stretches of comedy interspersed within numerous scenes, making for a light and endearing watch.

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Deborah and Brad’s storyline appealed to me the least. Their arguments weren’t as explosive as the other couples’ were. But Jeanne Crain was quite charismatic and memorable in the role, so at least she elevated her character quite a bit. Ann Sothern was lovely as Rita and very likable. Kirk Douglas’ character was underdeveloped as most of the men in this picture were, but overall this storyline worked.

The highlight of the three was clearly Lora and Porter’s troubled relationship. This was by far the best-written dynamic of the bunch. Paul Douglas made Porter very believable while Linda Darnell was phenomenal in the finest and most interesting role in the film. I loved her character and how complex she was.

A Letter to Three Wives benefits from an incredible ending. It’s the type of conclusion that is so perfect that it elevated everything that came before it to greater heights. It would have been easy to finish the story in a more cynical and negative manner, but thankfully they chose a more hopeful end that made the movie a timeless classic. This scene is meant to inspire all of us to trust our partners more, so it still serves its purpose to this day.

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The beginning is also very elegant and instantly a great hook with such a tremendous premise. It’s a shame that the middle of the feature never quite captured the same heights, but the dialogue remained sophisticated, witty and grounded in reality throughout. The movie was also gorgeously shot and tonally unique. It also won an Oscar for its writing and deservedly so as its script is simply superb.