Thursday, March 30, 2006
Into a Time Capsule...
Last night I unearthed an underappreciated classic, Joseph Mankiewicz's "Letter to Three Wives" from 1949, in which three close friends spend the day wondering which of their husbands has run off with local beauty Addie Ross, the author-ess of the aforementioned letter. 'Three of the wondered - while one of them wandered.' This sly screenplay says a lot about sex and class relations circa 1949, and the three wives are, interestingly, a career woman, a gold-digger, and a small-town waif who'd met her husband by joining the Navy. The waif, facing her first visit to the local country club in a dowdy, decade-old dress, notes sadly that the Navy uniform was a wonderful equalizer... like death : - ) Flashbacks examine the relationship of the three couples, punctuated by the narration of none other than the husband-stealing Ms. Addie Ross herself... There's drama and heartache, but ultimately plenty of humor and a twinkle in the eye. For example, the girl from the wrong side of the tracks lives literally next to the tracks, with the house constantly shaking. Finally, the movie has some gleefully apt observations of radio and advertising culture. Interestingly, the richest husband makes much fanfare of buying a TV set - when there's still no TV stations strong enough to reach their (presumably Connecticut) community...
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