A Letter To Three Wives (1949)

Three wives (Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern) chaperoning a children's picnic receive a letter from their "friend" (Celeste Holm) notifying them that she has run off with one of their husbands. As the day slowly progresses, each wife reflects on their marriage and the possibility that her husband might be the one. Based on A LETTER TO FIVE WIVES by John Klempner and adapted for the screen and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. This sharp and witty slice of satire earned Mankiewicz two Oscars for his screenplay and direction, a hat trick he would repeat the following year for his other sharp and witty slice of satire, ALL ABOUT EVE. Like EVE, the dialogue is so tartly written that repeated viewings cannot diminish the enjoyment. Fortunately for Mankiewicz, none of his cast disappoints. From Crain who gives a career best performance to an immaculate performance from Paul Douglas as Darnell's sugar daddy spouse. Movies don't get any better than this. The film was originally titled A LETTER TO FOUR WIVES with Anne Baxter as the fourth wife but the film ran too long and the Baxter storyline was cut. With Kirk Douglas, Thelma Ritter, Jeffrey Lynn, Barbara Lawrence, Florence Bates and Connie Gilchrist.