Three Little Words (film)

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Three Little Words
Three-little-words-movie-poster-1950.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Screenplay by George Wells
Produced by Jack Cummings
Starring
Cinematography Harry Jackson
Edited by Ben Lewis
Music by André Previn
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's Inc.
Release date
  • July 12, 1950 (1950-07-12)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,470,000 [1]
Box office$4,526,000 [1]

Three Little Words is a 1950 American biographical musical comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe from a screenplay by George Wells. It stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar and Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen and Arlene Dahl as their wives, with Debbie Reynolds in a small but notable role as singer Helen Kane and Gloria DeHaven as her own mother, Mrs. Carter DeHaven.

Contents

The film produced by Jack Cummings and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Ruby served as a consultant on the project and appears in a cameo role as a baseball catcher. The third in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers, it was preceded by Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Words and Music (1948) and followed by Deep in My Heart (1954).

Plot

Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) co-stars in a popular vaudeville dance act with his partner and sweetheart, Jessie Brown (Vera Ellen). Bert is also a part-time magician and playwright; though Jessie loves him, she is rather fed up with his other interests and wants to get married and settle down.

Things take a turn one evening when stagehand Harry Ruby (Red Skelton) unintentionally makes a wreck of Kalmar’s magic act. When Kalmar injures his knee and has to give up dancing for a while, he concentrates on songwriting and winds up partnered with composer Ruby. The duo overcome some initial quarrels and become friends as they work together and their songs gain popularity.

Along the way, Bert and Jessie use Harry’s fondness for baseball to involve him with one of his favorite teams while distracting him from unsuitable girlfriends. Harry eventually meets singer Eileen Percy (Arlene Dahl) and the two fall in love.

A side plot (invented for the film) involves a play by Kalmar that becomes the basis of a major falling-out between the songwriters, who eventually resolve their differences.

A number of vignettes featuring Kalmar, Ruby, Brown and others feature some of the pair’s best-known tunes including “Who's Sorry Now?”, “Nevertheless”, “Thinking of You”, and “I Love You So Much”. One memorable scene features a young Debbie Reynolds as Helen Kane singing “I Wanna Be Loved By You.”

A running gag features Ruby’s frustration as he seeks fitting lyrics for one of his melodies. Kalmar resolves this near the movie’s end when he and Ruby are being celebrated for their work, and (to Ruby’s surprise) performs their newest song, "Three Little Words".

Cast

Production

The film was one of Astaire's favorites. [2] Three Little Words takes fewer liberties with the facts than many Hollywood biopics, and Astaire and Skelton's portrayal of the songwriting partnership is considered psychologically accurate. [3] Adding to the film's appeal is the quality acting and mutual chemistry between Skelton and Astaire, as well as some fine comedy touches from Skelton. [2]

Unusually for songwriting biographies of this period, "Thinking of You" and "Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You)" became major hits on the U.S. music charts when the film was released, reaching numbers one and two, respectively.

Key songs/dance routines

This film provides an object lesson in how to integrate numerous songs and dances seamlessly and naturally into the script, a principle Astaire introduced as far back as 1934. Astaire's choreography takes the opportunity provided by Vera-Ellen's technical prowess [2] to showcase dance routines notable [3] for leg kicks, lifts and (Astaire's innovative combination of the two) the hurdling lift, invented for "The Yam" number in Carefree (1938). These routines are contrasted with some choreographically primitive numbers typical of vaudeville c.1920. The spirit of the partnered dances expands on the theme of marital contentment previously explored in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) and the prior year's The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). Vera-Ellen's singing voice was dubbed [3] by Anita Ellis.

Reception

Box office

According to MGM records, Three Little Words earned $3,019,000 in the United States and Canada and $1,507,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,252,000. [1]

Critical response

Accolades

At the 8th Golden Globe Awards, Fred Astaire was the first recipient of the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award, while Debbie Reynolds was nominated for New Star of the Year. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Astaire, Fred (1959). Steps in Time . New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 296. LCCN   59-8161.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mueller, John (1985). Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 300–311. ISBN   978-0-394-51654-7.
  4. 1 2 Billman, Larry (1997). Fred Astaire: A Bio-bibliography. Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 127–130. ISBN   0-313-29010-5.
  5. "Three Little Words". Golden Globe Awards . Retrieved September 16, 2025.