Three (1969/I)

Director:

James Salter

Writer:

Irwin Shaw (story)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

...but at the same time?

Plot:

Two college friends, traveling in Europe, find themselves rivals for the attentions of a mysterious woman. |

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Number As Title | Based On Novel | Number In Title

Cast

Charlotte Rampling	...	Marty
Robie Porter	...	Bert
Sam Waterston	...	Taylor
Pascale Roberts	...	Claude
Edina Ronay	...	Liz
Gillian Hills	...	Ann
Alfredo Rizzo	...	Waiter
Paul Cooper
Patrizia Giammei	...	Gloria
Mario Cotone	...	Silvano
Franca Tasso	...	Hélène
Roberto Scheiber	...	Piero

Runtime:

USA:104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:M | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Obelisk

THREE (James Salter, 1969) **1/2

I became aware of this one fairly recently via a thread on the “Criterion Forum”, where several people were asking about it; I happened to recollect that the film was turning up regularly on Cable TV and, so, made it a point to check it out the next time it was on!

Well, it emerges as nothing really special: a ménage-a'-trois romance on the lines of JULES AND JIM (1962), filmed in a fragmentary but not unattractive style. The script makes the occasional perceptive comment about its central theme (especially through the contribution of Sam Waterston as the shy prospective lawyer) but, given that the three friends/lovers agree on the fickle nature of the relationship beforehand, the romantic element isn’t particularly stressed – so that there’s little character growth and, consequently, none of the potential jealousy and heartache inherent in such a situation!

Frankly, the film is more valuable as a travelogue: the narrative (based on a story by Irwin Shaw!) denotes the adventures of a couple of vacationing American students in Europe – with Florence (Italy’s art mecca), provincial France and Spain for backdrops – falling under the spell of a sophisticated but free-spirited girl of British and French descent (played by Charlotte Rampling). Along the way, however, the two boys meet and hitch up with a number of other girls – one of these is Gillian Hills, whom I recently watched perform the notorious-but-now-very-mild nude scenes in Michelangelo Antonioni’s BLOWUP (1966); the film also boasts a pleasant score by Laurence Rosenthal.

Apparently, James Salter (whose only directorial effort this proved to be) is a highly respected author but I’d never heard of him personally; looking at his filmography on the IMDb, I notice that I’d already watched a film he scripted – Sidney Lumet’s THE APPOINTMENT (1969) – and I’ve got another one in my “To Watch” pile (recorded off Italian TV) that was based on a novel he wrote – the aviation drama THE HUNTERS (1958), starring Robert Mitchum!