Three on a Match (1932)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

John Bright (story)
Kubec Glasmon (story)

Release Date:

29 October 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

After being apart for years three women, friends at school, meet and bring each other up to date on their lives...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Lawyer | Secretary | Self Sacrifice | Debt

Cast

Virginia Davis	...	Mary Keaton as a Child
Joan Blondell	...	Mary Keaton, aka Mary Bernard
Anne Shirley	...	Vivian Revere as a Child (as Dawn O'Day)
Ann Dvorak	...	Vivian Revere Kirkwood
Betty Carse	...	Ruth Wescott as a child (misspelled Westcott in opening credits)
Bette Davis	...	Ruth Wescott (misspelled Westcott in opening credits)
Warren William	...	Robert Kirkwood
Lyle Talbot	...	Michael Loftus
Humphrey Bogart	...	Harve
Allen Jenkins	...	Dick
Edward Arnold	...	Ace

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Vitaphone

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1933) (uncut version) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

The title refers to the superstition that if three people light their cigarettes with the same match, the third person will soon die. While some attribute the superstition to World War I, where it was sometimes thought that lighting a match long enough to light three cigarettes would attract enemy gunfire, it is now known that a match company "created" the superstition to cut down on sharing of matches and thus increase sales.

Quotes:

Mary Keaton, aka Mary Bernard: [At the State Reform School for girls, an inmate is at the piano singing the song "Diane", which includes the lyric "I'm in heaven when I see you smile".] Will ya stop remindin' me of heaven... when I'm so close to the other place?
Prisoner at Checkers Table: What's the matter Mary? Don't you like our little hotel?
Mary Keaton, aka Mary Bernard: Oh, I think it's swell. The ventilation is great, my room has a southern exposure, the rates are cheap, but somehow or other the atmosphere is too confining.
Fat Prisoner: Don't let it getcha down, kid. At least we don't have to wait in line for a bowl of soup like they do outside.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Smiles

Will Hayes Would Have Loved This

Warner Bros had a reputation for pumping them out in the early 30's like chocolate covered Goobers at a Saturday Matinee. The story was typical Warner Bros from that time period.

Anne Dvorak, married to a successful lawyer and mother of a cute little 6 year old boy, becomes restless and looking for excitement, takes the boy and runs off with a small time hood. She eventually turns into a drunk (and worse). Her best friends (played by Joan Blondell and Bette Davis) give up on her and turn the boy over to his father. She continues to sink deeper and deeper into the filth as her husband divorces her and marries her best friend Joan. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, in a desperate attempt to pay off a gambling debt, kidnaps and holds the boy for ransom. The end is melodramatic and no real surprise, but it is exciting.

This film is interesting for a couple of reasons. It represents the kind of film that Warners did best in those years. Action, pathos, and the underworld. It is also interesting because of the casting. Although Humphrey Bogart plays a thug, he wasn't Mr Big in this one. He was just a run of the mill thug. Ann Dvorak seems to have switched characters with Bette Davis or Joan Blondell. She becomes more and more corrupt as the picture wears on until you are convinced she is beyond redemption. Bette and Joan, on the other hand, become more and more saintly until they are practically beatified by pictures end. I should mention the stock support players as well. Add Lyle Talbot (as the dispicable boyfriend), Edward Arnold (as Mr Big), Jack La Rue and Allen Jenkins (as the reliable hoods), and you have a Warner Bros winner.

Finally, there is the pre-code shenanigans. For a change, Joan Blondell doesn't sit on the edge of the bed, in her slip, rolling on a pair of stockings. Bette Davis does. By the way, this is the only picture I have ever seen where Bette Davis shamelessly displays her legs. And a fine set of legs at that. Look for the scene I just described as well as a scene at the beach. In another scene that would never have made it past the Hayes Office, Ann Dvorak comes out of the bedroom rubbing her nose when she realizes her son was kidnapped. Humphrey Bogart glances knowingly at the boys, rubs his nose, and sarcastically winks. A DOPE FIEND! There is a scene where she is passed out on the double bed. There is booze, cigarettes and ashtray on the bed, and a couple of cigars on the nightstand. In another scene she is splayed out on the couch with a drink in her hand, booze bottles all over the apartment when her little boy walks into the room. His face and clothes are filthy and he says he is hungry. She glances over at him, points to a tray of half eaten o'rdoevres, and says "eat that".

These little tidbits don't necessarily make it a great movie, but the cast and the story do.