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Three For the Show
Columbia Pictures goes the MGM route providing middling results in an oddball 1955 musical called Three For the Show which suffers from a dumb story, some strange musical numbers, and an attempt to turn the leading lady into something she wasn't.
The film stars Betty Grable as Julie, a Broadway star who married a songwriter named Marty (Jack Lemmon) who she thought died in the Korean War and eventually married Marty's songwriting partner, Vernon (Gower Champion). Two years later, Marty turns up very much alive and, instead of deciding which husband she wants to keep, keeps both guys jumping through hoops competing for her affection since she has decided that she is not acquainted with the term bigamy and that she is legally married to both men. Throw in the mix a Broadway producer (Myron McCormick) who wants the guys to reunite and a chorus girl named Gwen (Marge Champion) waiting for Julie to dump one of the guys so she can have the other and doesn't care which one.
This musical is actually a remake of a 1940 film called Too Many Husbands and reminded me of another movie called Tom Dick and Harry featuring a story about a manufactured romantic triangle that the apex of the triangle doesn't want to resolve. The way Julie treats Marty and Vernon is just like in Tom, Dick, and Harry when three guys propose to Ginger Rogers and she accepts all three proposals. It's not so much the fact that Julie is leading these two guys around by the nose, but that they actually put up with it for about two thirds of the running time.
The other problem is that director HC Potter and choreographer Jack Cole (and yes they both share the blame) are trying turn Grable into something she isn't. The role of Julie was clearly styled for Marilyn Monroe or they were trying to turn Grable into Monroe, a task that Grable wasn't up to as she was almost 40 years old when this film was made and her discomfort with this role is clear throughout and it's easy to see why Grable would only make one more film before retiring.
The musical numbers are bizarre and just seem to pad running time. Grable's harem styled production number and Marge Champion's bizarre Phantom of the Opera style numbers just defy logic. Marge Champion is given a song early on that was only about 16 bars long...what was the point? Did enjoy Grable's take on "I've Got a Crush on You" and Marge and Gower's final pas de deux.
Columbia Pictures spared no expense in putting this film together that features breathtaking settings and costumes, but this money could have spent more money on a more realistic script. Jack Lemmon works very hard pretending to be Gene Kelly and another attempt to prove that the Champions could act turns out to be futile. Marge's role is a particular embarrassment. A silly and lumbering musical that was a very long 90 minutes.
Columbia Pictures goes the MGM route providing middling results in an oddball 1955 musical called Three For the Show which suffers from a dumb story, some strange musical numbers, and an attempt to turn the leading lady into something she wasn't.
The film stars Betty Grable as Julie, a Broadway star who married a songwriter named Marty (Jack Lemmon) who she thought died in the Korean War and eventually married Marty's songwriting partner, Vernon (Gower Champion). Two years later, Marty turns up very much alive and, instead of deciding which husband she wants to keep, keeps both guys jumping through hoops competing for her affection since she has decided that she is not acquainted with the term bigamy and that she is legally married to both men. Throw in the mix a Broadway producer (Myron McCormick) who wants the guys to reunite and a chorus girl named Gwen (Marge Champion) waiting for Julie to dump one of the guys so she can have the other and doesn't care which one.
This musical is actually a remake of a 1940 film called Too Many Husbands and reminded me of another movie called Tom Dick and Harry featuring a story about a manufactured romantic triangle that the apex of the triangle doesn't want to resolve. The way Julie treats Marty and Vernon is just like in Tom, Dick, and Harry when three guys propose to Ginger Rogers and she accepts all three proposals. It's not so much the fact that Julie is leading these two guys around by the nose, but that they actually put up with it for about two thirds of the running time.
The other problem is that director HC Potter and choreographer Jack Cole (and yes they both share the blame) are trying turn Grable into something she isn't. The role of Julie was clearly styled for Marilyn Monroe or they were trying to turn Grable into Monroe, a task that Grable wasn't up to as she was almost 40 years old when this film was made and her discomfort with this role is clear throughout and it's easy to see why Grable would only make one more film before retiring.
The musical numbers are bizarre and just seem to pad running time. Grable's harem styled production number and Marge Champion's bizarre Phantom of the Opera style numbers just defy logic. Marge Champion is given a song early on that was only about 16 bars long...what was the point? Did enjoy Grable's take on "I've Got a Crush on You" and Marge and Gower's final pas de deux.
Columbia Pictures spared no expense in putting this film together that features breathtaking settings and costumes, but this money could have spent more money on a more realistic script. Jack Lemmon works very hard pretending to be Gene Kelly and another attempt to prove that the Champions could act turns out to be futile. Marge's role is a particular embarrassment. A silly and lumbering musical that was a very long 90 minutes.