vampyrate
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Three Husbands
A topic for discussion the 1951 Hollywood film in which he plays Max Bard. According to the description on the DVD cover:
"When hard-partying English playboy Maxwell Bard dies and goes to Heaven, he is granted the standard wish offered to all newcomers. His request is highly irregular, but it is still honored. The heavenly hosts look on as three identical letters are miraculously delivered to a trio of his married pals back on earth. The husbands open their envelopes and read Max's confessions of sexual indiscretions committed with their respective wives. Each man reacts in his own way, stoked by memories of how Max had indeed been very "close" to their spouse. They're soon questioning their cherished assumptions about the state of their marriages. They're also re-evaluating the women they thought they knew.
"Three Husbands is a comedic reworking of the 1949 hit, A Letter to Three Wives. The clever script is delivered crisply by a fine ensemble cast, highlighted by Eve Arden's stand-out performance. ..."
It goes on to talk about the performers in the film (including Ruth Warrick, who played the scheming matriarch Phoebe on All My Children from 1971 until her death just two years ago, and Billie Burke, best-remembered for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz)--everyone, it seems, except Emlyn, who's really (IMO) the star of the show. In fact, his name isn't mentioned anywhere on the box (distributed by Alpha Home Entertainment at oldies.com)!
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"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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10/16/2007, 5:18 am
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vampyrate
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Re: Three Husbands
For anyone who's feeling deprived by the lack of screen time Emlyn often got (as compared to playing so many leading roles on stage!), or tired of him always playing the villain, or just plain wanting to see him really "let his hair down" (even more than he did as Wamba), this is your movie!
Update: I was thinking the following could be kind of spoilerish if you want to be totally surprised, but if you've seen it already, I'd love to here your thoughts. OK, here go the mild spoilers:
Once I got past the really bad sound and picture quality of this version (full of annoying film breaks/splices ... but I'm glad to have it at all) ... and the somewhat absurd premise ("hard-partying English playboy Maxwell Bard dies and goes to Heaven" ... hard to imagine a hard-partying playboy going straight to heaven and having a wish like that granted when he gets there, but I guess this isn't the same heaven we learnt about in Sunday school), this was actually pretty entertaining (even if the humor is a little outdated) ... primarily because I enjoyed Emlyn's performance so much. His hair is dyed an unnatural shade of jet-black, but he's convincing as the rich, sophisticated, unmarried mutual friend of the three couples. In fact, though he's referred to as a "playboy," you don't see much evidence of him living the playboy lifestyle, apart from being rich and handsome and charming and hosting lavish parties--he's actually a caring, sensitive person who has a good reason for his deception. They keep talking about his female conquests, but I don't see how he has time to date, what with all the time he spends befriending the three wives who are constantly slighted by their husbands (shown in lengthy flashbacks). In fact, he strikes me more as every woman's dream gay friend ... he's a proto-feminist, he takes them shopping for clothes and perfume and hugs them affectionately without expecting anything, he's always home when they call--with his handsome young butler ... OK, there's one woman whose, er, glove he's been trying to get into, but she spurns him.  (When his poker buddies speculate that maybe the perennial bachelor just doesn't like "dames," he has the perfect comeback ready: he likes women too much to make wives of them.)
Anyway, he has lots of screen time in this, he's handsome and charming and funny ... he plays the piano for the third movie I've seen him in ... but this time he even sings and dances--quite well--gets drunk, speaks lots of French, blows foam off his beer, eats hot dogs (must have been a lot of them because about three different times he looks like he's taking his first bite), and talks/quips with his mouth full! (I just have to get a sound clip of that for the site--it's a great line too. Stay tuned!)
Update: I just added the clip!
Last edited by vampyrate, 10/19/2007, 5:12 pm
---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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10/16/2007, 5:44 am
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htrm
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Re: Three Husbands
After three failed attempts to buy this movie I finally found a place that has it in stock. Beware of the drop-ship sales, they are out of stock.
I'm not sure which is worse, the DVD that doesn't mention Emlyn or the one that misspells his name. The Alpha Home Entertainment one has a few slightly clipped parts, which is only noticeable when in the middle of a word. I wish it were in color.
The movie is absolutely adorable. Every woman should have such a friend, even if he ends up being tall and blond, with a dark tan. Max is god's gift to women. Emlyn made it look natural to know how to act toward everyone and what to do/say to make everyone comfortable.
The jet-black hair was noticeable, but cute. The one scene that sticks out in my mind the day after watching it is the song and dance with Eve Arden (?). He looks very light on his feet. In his scenes with her I noticed that she looked like she was keeping him at arms length, not getting too close when they'd hug etc. There are many reasons for that--not liking the person, liking the person, deoderant worries.
It's probably worth noting that instead of getting killed off near the middle or end like in other movies, in this one he gets killed off before the movie even starts.
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12/11/2007, 5:57 pm
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vampyrate
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Re: Three Husbands
Oh, good, someone else who's seen it!!!
quote:
htrm wrote:
I'm not sure which is worse, the DVD that doesn't mention Emlyn or the one that misspells his name. The Alpha Home Entertainment one has a few slightly clipped parts, which is only noticeable when in the middle of a word. I wish it were in color.
I have the Alpha version--that's the one that doesn't even mention his name on the box! So there's another version that isn't so clipped? Where can one find that? (And how did they misspell his name on the box?)
quote:
The movie is absolutely adorable. Every woman should have such a friend, even if he ends up being tall and blond, with a dark tan.
Yes, far less tempting than if he looks like Emlyn! 
quote:
Max is god's gift to women.
Amen! And Emlyn plays it so perfectly. 
quote:
He looks very light on his feet.
Mmm, yes, I noticed! (I love a man who can dance ... which we also saw him do all-too-briefly with Deborah Kerr in Hatter's Castle. But then he really gets to go a bit wild in Three Husbands. I almost thought he was going to dance with her husband there too. Makes me think he could be a real "party animal" in real life.) I just love that whole scene, from the moment he walks in with his jacket hanging down his arms spouting silly expressions in French!
quote:
In his scenes with her I noticed that she looked like she was keeping him at arms length, not getting too close when they'd hug etc. There are many reasons for that--not liking the person, liking the person, deoderant worries.
Hmm ... I didn't notice that--I guess I was too busy fantasizing of being in her place, so I was glad she left a little room for me! It'd be interesting to know what that was about. It's kind of surprising because, acting-wise, they seemed to have a lot of chemistry. But that was part of the story, wasn't it? (I don't suppose there are any Eve Arden biographies out there that might clear that up? Reminds me of Robert Newton and Celia Johnson in This Happy Breed--as husband and wife, they seem to have a lot of chemistry onscreen, but in real life, Celia couldn't stand him! One of a very small minority who felt that way, apparently.)
quote:
It's probably worth noting that instead of getting killed off near the middle or end like in other movies, in this one he gets killed off before the movie even starts.
I know! It's almost like he's not killed off at all. Well, of course, he is still alive in the afterlife ...
Very little was made of this movie in James Harding's bio of Emlyn (the only one that covers his whole life)--it's barely mentioned as an aside (dismissed as a fluffy Hollywood movie), but it's an enjoyable little confection, mainly due to Emlyn's performance, the perfect thing to lighten your spirits when you're feeling down--or suffering a bout with insomnia. So to leave his name off the box is just unforgivable!
---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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12/14/2007, 5:39 pm
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htrm
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Re: Three Husbands
quote:
I have the Alpha version--that's the one that doesn't even mention his name on the box! So there's another version that isn't so clipped? Where can one find that? (And how did they misspell his name on the box?)
I don't know if it's the same copy or a better one. It's on Amazon, and uses the name Emalyn. The cover art is much better than the version we have.
It really bugs me how movies often don't give leading actor credit to the correct actor. Emlyn definately played the main character in this one.
Emlyn was possbily the most natural acting, and he seemed a natural at comedy. They had the wives and husbands way over doing it (in a good way) at some parts, my guess is to make the movie fun. It would be hard to make it fun if starting and ending with everyone looking like they had just lost a close friend.
The driving scene must have been strange for him, with the wheel on the wrong side and his not liking to drive anyway. I can picture Eve Arden and Howard da Silva running for cover.
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12/15/2007, 7:21 pm
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vampyrate
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Re: Three Husbands
quote:
htrm wrote:
I don't know if it's the same copy or a better one. It's on Amazon, and uses the name Emalyn.
Egad ... he would just "love" that! Remember the part in Emlyn where he complains about that actress (Beryl Freeman) who kept pronouncing his name "Emma-line"? ("She was the first, and not the last, to find difficulty with a name which seemed to me straightforward, being a perfect rhyme for 'Kremlin' and whoever heard of the Kremma-line?")
quote:
It really bugs me how movies often don't give leading actor credit to the correct actor. Emlyn definately played the main character in this one.
I know. *sigh* The company that distributes the DVD probably didn't even watch the movie and just looked for the most recognizable names ... or did them "in order of appearance," and technically, Emlyn doesn't "appear" till several scenes in.
quote:
Emlyn was possbily the most natural acting, and he seemed a natural at comedy.
True. Although when you've seen him play so many villains and cads, it's refreshing and almost surprising to see how well he does comedy. Even seeing that interview in The Epic That Never Was gave me an impression of him as being a bit on the serious side. I mean, he obviously has a great sense of humor, but it's so dry, it's hard to picture him goofing around like that--till you actually see it. (I'm still amazed every time I see that Caligula scene where he's laughing so hard--diabolically, of course--that he's doubled over, until the director says "cut," and in an instant he's so completely straight-faced walking off-camera that you'd never suspect he could have even cracked a smile just a split second before.)
quote:
The driving scene must have been strange for him, with the wheel on the wrong side and his not liking to drive anyway. I can picture Eve Arden and Howard da Silva running for cover.
I'll have to watch that again and pay attention to his driving. (I don't need much excuse to watch that movie--or at least just skip to the Emlyn scenes!) At least he didn't have to drive very far. (I hate driving too--one more thing to like about him.  )
---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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12/16/2007, 3:54 am
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