Paradise for Three (1938)

Truly Dreadful Film

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely Fantastic

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Set in the absolute seat of anti-Semitism and after Austria was annexed by Germany comes this little light comedy, "Paradise for Three" starring Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Mary Astor, Edna May Oliver, Henry Hull, Reginald Owen, and Florence Rice.Many, many classic films are set in European locations, even though for years, they were done on Hollywood sets for the most part. Was it because of the European market? To give the films an exotic feel? Even if the film were adapted from a foreign book, a studio could still set it in the U.S. But no, it was always Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, etc.Why would anyone set a film in Vienna in 1938? No idea, except that Hollywood (and I guess the U.S.) ignored what was going on in Europe for several years. Even when it was acknowledged, studios were careful in their films not to state that people were Jewish (in the Mortal Storm they were non-Aryans) or talk about the Nazis (in the Mortal Storm they showed swastikas but never used the word Nazi), at least at first.Robert Young is Fritz Hagedorn, a constant contest winner (26 in all) who wins the Tobler Soap motto competition. In second place, unknown to anyone, is the big guy himself, Rudolph Tobler (Frank Morgan). The prize for both is a ski vacation in the Alps, which Tobler takes under an assumed name and brings his butler (Owen) along as an associate.The hotel is ready to lay out the red carpet for Tobler because his housekeeper (Oliver) has called to say the contest winner is a wealthy gentleman is arriving and has to have the best of everything. She has to hang up before she can give his fake name, so when Fritz arrives, he gets a suite and all the perks. When Tobler arrives, they take him for a bum and throw him up in a freezing cold attic room.Believing Fritz to be the rich one, Mary Astor sets her eyes on him and makes a play. While in the hotel room with Fritz and Tobler, Fritz opens some brandy. When Tobler tastes it and identifies it by name, as a very expensive brandy, she realizes she's got the wrong guy. So she changes lanes.Fritz meanwhile is falling for Tobler's daughter (Rice). She tells him that she's poor, knowing he doesn't want to marry out of his class.Very funny film with some wonderful character acting from the hotel people (Hull, Herman Bing, Sig Ruman), a great dishwashing scene, Tobler being introduced to the features of his hotel room (broken window in the middle of window, ice in the sink, rock hard mattress), and Edna May Oliver skiing. By the way, she was 55 at the time of this filming and died at 59.The acting from the rest of the cast is delightful. I guess Hollywood least of anywhere cared what was going on in the rest of the world. Just put in a few yodelers, show some mountains, and that's it.

A somewhat fascinating film when considered purely as an artifact of the times in which it was produced. While the story reflects the background of the Great Depression and it is clearly evident in the plight of the character portrayed by Robert Young, it is the black storm clouds of the coming war that cast their shadow across this motion picture. Based on a German novel that is harmless enough to have escaped the flames of a Hitlerian bonfire, the setting is Vienna, 1938. The fluff that is the plot plays out in a city facing its utter doom as Hitler is fated to soon shatter forever the loveliness of the cultural mecca. The delusional will hysterically welcome the evil seducer into their midst and crush the illusion this motion picture projected on thousand of screens. It is the beat of storm troopers' boots that echo in the background, overwhelming the soundtrack as the cast frolics in the Alpine snow soon to run red with the blood of Nazi victims. It is as if monstrous hordes of black helmeted ski troops line the peaks of the slopes, waiting to sweep savagely down upon hapless Hollywood stars. The characters seem oblivious to what is to come but their future is inescapably intertwined with the geo-political environment in which they are trapped. This film stands as a curious moment in time, a snapshot of people dancing on the precipice of the abyss. The Europe in which they exist will soon be no more and they will be engulfed in the wave of unrelenting violence and horror that will break upon them within months. The creative minds behind the production can not ignore the headlines and that shadow of fear fleets across the shallow smiles of the actors. The theatre audiences that watched this film were well aware of what was happening and perhaps had just seen a newsreel of goosestepping SS parading before the swastika draped maniac who would soon touch all their lives with his frigid fingers. It is this background that is the foundation of this production and our hindsight cuts deeply into the way we view this film. The audience of the era sat uneasily in their seats, conscious of the horror awaiting them but in determined denial regarding the future. The audience of today can see that future and watches powerlessly, looking at the images that are now tainted by the dark knowledge of historical perspective. The broad grins that illuminate the opening credits seem forced now and strange in the harsh light of reality. But what indeed is reality once time and history have had their way with it? The images in this movie are the present and what we see is what was as well as what will be. It is in this context that the true value of the film can be discovered and considered.

MGM certainly used a low budget to make PARADISE FOR THREE, and it shows when it comes to the outdoor winter scenes supposedly taking place on ski slopes at an Alpine resort. The use of process photography for all those mountain tops covered with snow is obvious.Nor did they use a top cast but the results are splendid nevertheless.An up and coming Robert Young has the star role of a contest winner who is mistakenly thought to be a millionaire by Herman Bing and Sig Rumann when he arrives at his destination at a swank hotel. He immediately attracts the attention of Mary Astor, hard on her luck as far as money is concerned and looking for an easy catch.But the fun begins when Frank Morgan decides to check on how the hotel treats the lower class and finds himself mistaken for a mere contest winner without money. The pretty blond Florence Rice plays his daughter who naturally falls in love with penniless Robert Young, who doesn't know she's a rich girl until the final reel.It's predictable and silly, with great support from Edna May Oliver as Morgan's housekeeper of thirty years who joins the group at the hotel to look out for Morgan's health and keeps an eye on his "woman trouble" with Astor. She makes the most of an amusing role in true Edna May Oliver fashion.This is one that's little known today. To put it in context, it probably played the lower half of bills in the "double feature" days which is why I call it a programmer. I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of those B-films that surprised audiences by being more entertaining than the main feature, which happened occasionally.

This is sort of the reverse of the sublime, and rarely shown "Easy Living." In that, working girl Jean Arthur is treated to life as a rich person. Here, tycoon Frank Morgan masquerades as an average Joe.The cast could (with the exception of Robert Young, though he is OK here) scarcely be improved on. Mary Astor graces anything in which she appears. She was one of the true greats. Edna May Oliver, Frank Morgan, Herman Bing … They're all fine and here work well as an ensemble.The title is a bit misleading. It sounds racy and, though there are some faux naughty scenes involving devious divorcée Astor, it is good clean fun. I wonder who actually are the three?Nevertheless, it's a charmer: not a great movie but a highly appealing one.