Letter To Three Wives

Starring: Jeanne Crain; Linda Darnell & Ann Sothern Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

DVD Features:

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

Major Awards:

Academy Awards - Best Director (1949)

Academy Awards - Best Original Screenplay (1949)

Description by OLDIES.com:

As three women head off on a boating trip with a group of children, they receive a letter written by a woman claiming to have stolen one of their husbands. Which one? The letter doesn't say. Faced with the prospect of a shattered life, each woman soul searches throughout the day: Deborah Bishop (Jeanne Crain) feels inadequate amidst her husband's (Jeffrey Lynn) country club set. Everyone sees Lora Mae Hollingsway (Linda Darnell) as a gold digger, including her husband (Paul Douglas). And Rita Phipps (Ann Sothern) has a career that makes her husband (Kirk Douglas) feel neglected to the point of infidelity. All three endure the anguish of uncertainty until the boat trip ends - and the truth is revealed.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed and wrote the screenplay (based on John Klempner's novel) for the 1949 feature A Letter To Three Wives and would receive Academy Awards for both efforts. The film was also nominated for Best Picture.

Product Description:

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.

Plot Synopsis:

Three wives in spats with their husbands receive a note from a former friend that she has run off with one of their spouses. Trapped on a boat for a day trip, the ladies recall the faults in their marriages and agonize over which one of them has been robbed of her husband in this Academy Award-winning film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
(ALL ABOUT EVE), starring Celeste Holm and Kirk Douglas.

Plot Keywords:

Drama | Friends | Infidelity | Mystery | Recommended | Suspense | Theatrical Release

Production Notes:

• Filmed on location in Westchester, on the Hudson River, and at the Bear Mountain resort in New York.
• The movie is based on a magazine novel written originally for Cosmopolitan by John Klempner.
• Remade in 1985 for television by director Larry Elikann, starring Loni Anderson, Michelle Lee, Stephanie Zimbalist, Charles Frank, Michael Gross, Ben Gazarra, Doris Roberts, and Ann Sothern.

Cast and Crew: