Three Little Words

Released Jul 12, 1950

1 hr. 42 min.

Musical

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Reviews

78%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

This film chronicles the friendship of songwriting duo Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton). Bert is a vaudeville dancer who moonlights as a magician. His assistant, Harry, makes a disastrous mistake at a magic show, and their partnership ends. Later, when Bert hurts his leg and can no longer dance, he tries his hand at writing musical numbers. After hearing a friend play a catchy tune, Bert asks to meet the man who composed the song -- leading him right back to Harry.

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Premiered Jul 05

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steve d

Besides the dancing there isn't much to like.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

One of the many excellent movies that MGM made as a tribute to some of Americas greatest songwriters. Fred Astaire and Vera Ellen make the most skilled dance team out of all the MGM musicals I have seen.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

The best musical movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

Colorful MGM biopic loosely based on the lives of songwriters Kalmar and Ruby; highlights include Astaire & Vera-Ellen dancing to "Thinking of You," Debbie Reynolds singing "I Wanna Be Loved By You" (voice dubbed by Helen Kane), and Arlene Dahl, strikingly lovely in Technicolor and singing "I Love You So Much."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

Fred & Vera are a cute couple. Love her. Red Skelton is strange. The movie had some confusing parts but the ending was adorable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Audience Member

Great music and wonderful dance numbers from Astaire and Ellen make this light-hearted film playful and foot-tappingly good.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Richard Thorpe

Director

Fred Astaire

Bert Kalmar

Vera-Ellen

Jessie Brown

Red Skelton

Harry Ruby

Arlene Dahl

Eileen Percy Ruby

Keenan Wynn

Charlie Kope

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A pleasingly gentle and sanitized musical biopic.

Rated: B-

Jan 17, 2007

Full Review

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

As always, Astaire's dancing redeems the routine.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 21, 2006

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Synopsis

This film chronicles the friendship of songwriting duo Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton). Bert is a vaudeville dancer who moonlights as a magician. His assistant, Harry, makes a disastrous mistake at a magic show, and their partnership ends. Later, when Bert hurts his leg and can no longer dance, he tries his hand at writing musical numbers. After hearing a friend play a catchy tune, Bert asks to meet the man who composed the song -- leading him right back to Harry.

Director: Richard Thorpe
Screenwriter: George Wells
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 12, 1950, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009

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