These Three

Three innocent people have their lives shattered by malicious gossip.

THESE THREE is a vividly acted, excruciatingly dramatic look at how unrequited love & evil lies can undermine relationships and destroy reputations. Lillian Hellman authored the script (and altered the emotional bias) from her original play, The Children's Hour and director William Wyler created a film which never lets up in its emotional intensity. The viewer feels terribly for the three protagonists as they suffer unjustly and equally powerless to do anything about it.

Teachers Miriam Hopkins & Merle Oberon both love doctor Joel McCrea. One will win him, the other will hurt quietly. All three act at a perfect pitch, each performer complementing and supporting the other two, most especially when their characters experience the devastation created by a wicked student (played with chilling persuasion by Bonita Granville).

Two fine character actresses now in danger of being forgotten have important supporting roles. Catherine Doucet plays Hopkins' silly, vindictive aunt, a vain woman completely capable of doing the wrong thing every time. Alma Kruger plays Granville's wealthy grandmother, proud & patrician, she is seduced into doing much harm through her unwise love.

In a small role, Walter Brennan is a joy as a rustic taxi driver. Marcia Mae Jones is quite compelling as a child struggling against enormous iniquity. Marvelous Margaret Hamilton, as Kruger's no-nonsense hatchet-faced housekeeper, gets to deliver one of cinema's most satisfying face slaps.

Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Greta Meyer as a Viennese waitress.

"These Three" is an absorbing film that somehow manages to retain its integrity despite being different from the play, "The Children's Hour," on which it is based. Having seen the later film, "The Children's Hour," about two teachers accused of lesbianism, I wondered how the 1936 film would measure up. The answer: Brilliantly.

Part of the reason for this is, as Lilliam Hellman, the playwright herself stated - the play isn't really about lesbianism, it's about a children's lie. And the vicious, destructive lie of a child is still central here, though now it concerns the supposed affair of Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea, who is engaged to marry Merle Oberon, Hopkins' partner in a girls school. Another reason for the film's success is the flawless direction by William Wyler, and last but not least, a sympathetic trio. Hopkins is a standout with her strong, passionate performance.

Bonita Granville, the bad seed, is such an evil, blackmailing brat, that I'm sure when 1936 audiences saw Margaret Hamilton slap her, they broke into applause. I nearly did, and I was watching it alone! It's an unrelenting performance, though she's such a walking horror show, it's remarkable anyone believed her in her "earnest" moments, which were calculated, as only a monster's can be! Highly recommended.

"These Three" is an extremely effective look at the damage a lie can cause. Bonita Granville gives a tour-de-force performance as Mary Tilford, a vicious student who ruins the lives of her two schoolteachers (Merle Oberon and Miriam Hopkins) by telling a lie about their private lives. Based on a play by Lillian Hellman (whose original plot dealt with lesbianism, which was changed for the film version to get past the censors), "These Three" is still a very good film. Miriam Hopkins also stands out as one of the victimized teachers. All in all, one well-acted and well-directed drama.

Karen Wright (Merle Oberon) and Martha Dobie (Miriam Hopkins) are best friends since college. When they graduate, they decide to move to Lancet to the farm that Karen has inherited from her grandmother to build a boarding school for girls. On the arrival, they meet Dr. Joseph Cardin (Joel McCrea) and he helps them to restore the farmhouse working hard. One day Karen meets the influent Mrs. Amelia Tilford (Alma Kruger) that helps them to get students including her spoiled granddaughter Mary Tilford (Bonita Granville). Out of the blue, Martha's arrogant aunt Lily Mortar (Catharine Doucet) arrives at the school and offers to give classes. Meanwhile Joseph proposes Karen and they are engaged to each other.

When the spiteful and compulsive liar Mary, who is a bad influence to the other girls, is punished by Karen after telling a lie, Martha has an argument with her snoopy aunt Lily in another room. Lily accuses Martha of being in love with Joseph and having encountered him in her room. Mary's roommate Rosalie Wells (Marcia Mae Jones) overhears the argument and tells Mary what Mrs. Mortar had said about her niece. The malicious Mary accuses Martha of being the lover of Joseph to her grandmother and Amelia spreads the gossip to the parents of the students that withdraw them from the school. Karen and Martha lose a lawsuit against Amelia and have their lives disrupted with the scandal. Further, Karen calls off her engagement with Joe since she is not sure that he is telling the truth.

"These Three" is a cruel and heartbreaking story that shows how destructive the power of a lie may be. William Wyler is among my favorite directors and this film is a little gem with a magnificent screenplay. In 1961, he remade this movie changing the title to "The Children's Hour" and using the theme of lesbianism instead of a triangle of love, and a tragic ending. Both movies are worthwhile watching and it is hard to pointy out which version is the better. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Infâmia 1936" ("Infamy 1936")

This version of Lillian Hellman's play "The Children's Hour" is by far more satisfying than the Audrey Hepburn-Shirley MacLaine remake in the 1960s which retained the lesbianism theme while revolving around a child's lie.

Instead, this earlier William Wyler version changes the slanderous lie to a heterosexual one--and none of the power is lost in the telling of a tale about a manipulative young girl's lie that destroys the lives of three innocent people.

The acting is all on an extraordinarily high level here--everyone, from Merle Oberon to Miriam Hopkins to Joel McCrea and especially little Bonita Granville (as a liar who even stoops to blackmail to keep her lie afloat). As the terrorized girl, Marcia Mae Jones is every bit as adept as the others in making the entire story a convincing one.

The power of a lie to destroy others has never been more effectively played out than it is here. Under William Wyler's direction, the screenplay has been expanded with enough outdoor scenes to keep the film from seeming like a filmed stage play.

Joel McCrea has never been more effective in a sympathetic role. He and Merle Oberon are impressive and wholly believable as the young lovers. Miriam Hopkins has a difficult role and she handles it brilliantly. Bonita Granville fully deserved her Oscar nomination as the monstrous girl, sparing nothing to make her one of the most hateful brats in screen history.

Well worth watching for some brilliant performances and a compelling story.