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A Letter to Three Wives

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100% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Deborah Bishop, Lora Mae Hollingsway and Rita Phipps are three friends who all receive letters from another friend, Addie Ross, telling them that she is about to leave town with one of their husbands. Deborah, Lora Mae and Rita have to find out which of their spouses, Brad, Porter and George respectively, have been unfaithful.
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A Letter to Three Wives

Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 10/06/2014
Despite its emotional intensity, the film is comic, effervescently so, and its magical ending lends wit a metaphysical dimension. Go to Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 01/01/2000
Mankiewicz's writing is bright and hard -- he's sharpening his teeth for All About Eve, made the next year -- but his acid wit is almost too much for his fragile characters to bear. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Nov 16
3.5/4
Writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's riveting melodrama is set up like a whodunit, only instead of a murderer, the guilty party is a philandering husband. Go to Full Review Nell Dodson Russell Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder 01/14/2022
This film takes a poke at radio soap operas in a slyly pointed fashion. Go to Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins 08/13/2020
10/10
Movies this mature, this powerful, this moving, are incredibly rare. Go to Full Review Lewis Porteous The Skinny 07/06/2015
4/5
A brilliantly handled exercise in building understanding of three highly strung characters and the men in their lives. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Terry H Jan 20 Writing, direction, photography, editing, this movie is not to be missed by any fany of the art of cinema itself. See more rr f 10/09/2024 The acting was good. The cast was excellent. However, the script was pretty bad. Joseph Mankiewicz has a bad habit of writing characters that sound like they're written by a playwright who are giving monologues on the stage. They sound fake and unrealistic. Everyone is constantly giving a speech. It's horrible. The dialogue is very unnatural. The worst parts are you just hear the voice of Addie. You never see her! Stupid scam! Also, you never find out the ending of if she took away the husband, or if it was just a joke. Stupid Mankiewicz! The lady playing the maid Sadie is extremely annoying. She's supposed to be wry and relatable, but she's just annoying (just like she is in Pickup on South Street). See more Mark B 09/20/2024 Terrific writing. Each of these characters has depth far beyond most films of this era. Even some of the supporting cast is fleshed out. So when I looked it up and saw that it was a Joseph L. Mankiewicz screenplay, I wasn't surprised. Didn't know who the "killer" was in this "whodunit," and when I guessed, I was wrong. Really good film. #451 in my "Watch all BP nominees" Bucket List See more Aldo G 03/01/2024 This is one of those Hollywood movies stitched together with didacticism and melodrama. It's too much for me, although there is a clever construction that keeps you interested for its 100 minute running-time. See more Ashley H @ashleyhobgood87 02/27/2024 A Letter to Three Wives is a decent film. It is about Addie Ross who runs with the husband of one of her three friends. Jeanne Crane and Linda Darnell give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Joseph L. Mankiewicz did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the humor and romance. See more Alec B 02/20/2024 Compelling melodrama, no doubt due to the unconventional voice-over narration and those odd little transitions to the flashbacks. See more Read all reviews
A Letter to Three Wives

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Cast & Crew

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Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Director

Jeanne Crain

Deborah Bishop

Linda Darnell

Lora Mae Hollingsway

Ann Sothern

Rita Phipps

Kirk Douglas

George Phipps

Paul Douglas

Porter Hollingsway

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A Letter to Three Wives

A Letter to Three Wives (1949) A Letter to Three Wives (1949) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Deborah Bishop, Lora Mae Hollingsway and Rita Phipps are three friends who all receive letters from another friend, Addie Ross, telling them that she is about to leave town with one of their husbands. Deborah, Lora Mae and Rita have to find out which of their spouses, Brad, Porter and George respectively, have been unfaithful.
Director
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Producer
Sol C. Siegel
Screenwriter
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Vera Caspary
Production Co
20th Century Fox
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 43m
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