Three Into Two Won't Go

Many accuse Rod Steiger of overacting, and anyone who has seen the Amityville Horror and the 'fly' section would struggle to say otherwise. That said, he's brilliant in this.

It's never on TV, you can't buy it on DVD (legitimately). In 1988, when Channel 4 still had a prescription for innovation, they showed this amongst a small amalgam of 60s films, Privilege etc - and I remember an essentially theatrical experience, transposed well to film. The great thing about theatre is it's enclosed - how do you make it available and interesting on screen? PH just about pulls it off. Because this sort of film is never even on cable or Sky TV anywhere it's hard to get a debate going, but for anyone out there who has seen it or can remember, my memories are of a forthright, almost strident performance by Sally Geeson 'thats all taken care of' (which eschews the almost diffident general performances of her and her sibling in many early 70s offerings) she says ref conception. There are several of these - key lines you remember years, decades on. That's the power of a film like this.

PS I just saw it again and its just as good. One day, TV too will be enlightened.

Perhaps because "Three Into Two Won't Go" was written by a woman (Edna O'Brien), based upon Andrea Newman's novel, it has a distinctly (and cuttingly) female point of view on the after-effects of an extra-marital affair. 43-year-old advertising executive in England is unhappily married to a former teacher; she's anxious over the pricey new home they've bought, and unhappy that she and her husband can't have children (and that he isn't enthusiastic about adoption). He picks up a comely hitchhiker one morning and unassumingly checks into a hotel room with her, but after a second tryst the young woman shows up on his doorstep and befriends the Mrs. Complex character-study begins with some frisky interplay, yet in the second-half becomes a sobering drama of tangled lives. Rod Steiger is so engaging when he's playing a randy sort that it's a bit of a let-down to see the scenario turn into an elongated marital complication (with the scheming hitchhiker pregnant/not pregnant). Still, Rod is wonderful trying to sort out the prickly emotions and feelings of both his wife and his mistress, and both women are intriguing, three-dimensional characters. For those expecting a sexy comedy, the pointed shift toward melodrama won't be a satisfying turn. However, this change in tone does allow for several truths about marriage (and in-laws) to come to the fore, and the final confrontation is downbeat but extremely well-considered. A smart, adult movie about decent people making questionable choices, and how those decisions touch everyone else. **1/2 from ****

I saw this film back in the early 70's and I was mesmerised by Judy Geeson. For me it captured the clandestine nature of Rod Steigers irrepressible obsession with the young and extremely sexy hitch hiker, played by Geeson.

You couldn't help feel a little sorry for the wife, played brilliantly by Claire Bloom. I was really disappointed to see that the original cut may have been lost and there is little chance of it being released on DVD.

I defy anyone who saw the film, and it's strong message not to be equally absorbed by the three main character performances, and I would have loved to have seen it again, if nothing else for a purely nostalgic reason.

Going back in time, some 35 years.

A real classic.

It's so seventies. I can even smell it like before the rain. A silent cold war that brought back all my life before my eyes again. And in the end everything goes up in flames like a volcano. It's real, because I watched it before and it was no movie. Brilliant, exceptional performance. And Claire Bloom. There I must stop. I am too small for such a great show. She does not need to talk even. Her eyes are saying a thousand words. Absolutely wonderful. This is the fifteenth film where I had the privilege of watching her performance. This is the fifteenth time where she is a completely different person. Even her voice is changed. Terry, Lady Anne, Barsine, Theodora ... and down on earth again with such pain, kindness and anger. Claire Bloom ...

The previous reviewer said it was depressing, which is pretty much accurate. Somewhere else on the Internet this film is described as a "Superb British Film". It probably attracted the wrong audience as it had a brief glimpse of a topless girl. In 1969 that was rare in the UK!!