The Story of Three Loves (1953)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Directors:

Vincente Minnelli
Gottfried Reinhardt

Writers:

John Collier (segment)
George Froeschel (adaptation) (segment "Equilibrium")

Release Date:

26 March 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

Dangerous Love. Jealous Love. Forbidden Love.

Plot:

Three loosely connected love stories. The first story: Paula is a talented dancer who cannot truly live unless she dances...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Trapeze | Trapeze Artist | Choreographer | Governess

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Pier Angeli	...	Nina Burkhardt (segment "Equilibrium")
Ethel Barrymore	...	Mrs. Hazel Pennicott (segment "Mademoiselle")
Leslie Caron	...	Mademoiselle (segment "Mademoiselle")
Kirk Douglas	...	Pierre Narval (segment "Equilibrium")
Farley Granger	...	Thomas Clayton Campbell Jr. (segment "Mademoiselle")
James Mason	...	Charles Coutray (segment "The Jealous Lover")
Moira Shearer	...	Paula Woodward (segment "The Jealous Lover")
Agnes Moorehead	...	Aunt Lydia (segment "The Jealous Lover")
Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Flirt at Bar (segment "Mademoiselle")
Richard Anderson	...	Marcel (segment "Equilibrium")
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Argentina Brunetti	...	Saleswoman (segment "Mademoiselle") (scenes deleted)
Ricky Nelson	...	Tommy: aged 11 (segment "Mademoiselle")
John Pickard	...	Ship's Officer (segment "Equilibrium") (scenes deleted)
Frank Wilcox	...	Ship's Officer (segment "Equilibrium") (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Equilibrium
Three Stories of Love

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #16088)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Soundtrack:

Rhapsody On a Theme of Paganini

Rachmoninoff music is a gorgeous love Rhapsody

Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" is the gorgeous music to which Moira Shearer danced her lovely ballet in the first story. It's a perfect choice for this movie (and this scene) because it's full of passion and promise. The awed & inspired look on James Mason's face as he watches her dance expresses what we, the audience, see: how dancing makes Moira's character feel. It's a moving scene and there are 3 beautiful, emotional performances: Moira Sheara, James Mason, and the music.

This Rachmaninoff piece has been featured in several movies. These include, among others: The Story of Three Loves (1953); Rhapsody (1954); Somewhere in Time (1980); Dead Again (1991); Sabrina (1995); Ronin (1998).

It's a beautiful, moving, "timeless" piece of music. It is sometimes used in period movies whose action takes place before the piece was actually written & first performed. That was in 1934.

I enjoyed this movie, in spite of the uneven script. There are some great actors giving good performances (at times melodramatic - but that's the nature of the script more than their acting abilities), plus (suprise!) a young Ricky Nelson in the only thing I remember seeing him in as a boy besides the Ozzie & Harriet TV series - and he wasn't stilted like he was on his family's show (probably good directing!!!). Some great face shots throughout, too, showing emotion that the script couldn't (using the classic face-lighting techniques that have fallen out of favor with most of today's contemporary film directors).

In spite of some beautiful and memorable scenes in this movie, I'll probably remember the way the music made me feel longer than I'll remember the rest of the movie - and it's worth watching for that alone!