Three Little Words

Three Little Words, the "story" of songwriters Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar, probably is only accurate where their names, songs, and a rough frame of truth is concerned, but who cares? The cast is great. Fred Astaire has some really good dances. Red Skelton's comic potential isn't really used in this, and he seems almost like Fred's sidekick, but he does all right. It's certainly not his best. I usually don't like Vera-Ellen, but even I like her in this. And once you see past the black wig, that is most definitely Debbie Reynolds as Helen Kane, the girl singing I Wanna Be Loved By You. The songs are absolutely sensational. Oh yeah, the song Lucky Star (not written by Ruby-Kalmar), which Debbie would later sing with Gene Kelly at the end of Singin' in the Rain, is briefly featured.

This is what MGM did best. Musicals. Ah, they were all so wonderful, and THREE LITTLE WORDS in one of them. A nice, quiet muscial with great songs and dance numbers. Don't know how much of this is real biographical, but it's well done and interesting. Nice work from Astaire and Skelton as Kilmer and Ruby. The leading ladies are quite wonderful with Arlene Dahl at her dreamiest, though she doesn't have much to work with here. Because of story implications, Astaire doesn't dance after the first half, but until then he's sensational as always with Vera Ellen doing some fine hoofing as well. This was Debbie Reynolds 3rd film, having a bit in JUNE BRIDE and a small roll in DAUGHTER OF ROSIE O'GRADY. No Decalogue here and her voice is dubbed, but she makes an impression. For a nice, cozy evening, cuddle up with this DVD version of THREE LITTLE WORDS.

The first time I saw "Three Little Words" was when I was a teenager on vacation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My Dad was not a fan of Red Skelton, but he endured the pain of it jut as he was subjected to watching Betty Hutton screaming with red-face in "Annie Get Your Gun", but as far as the movie "Three Little Words" goes, I loved it. Being a tap dancer myself, I could tune in quite well to a singing and dancing movie. This has to be considered one of Fred Astaires best movies he ever made. His dance numbers were created by Hermes Pan, thank God, because any film in which Astaire created his own dance sequences showed a very good reason why Astaire should let the others attempt this job. As a result, all the numbers are excellent, especially the dancing of he and Vera-Ellen in the "Thinking of You" number, and what about Gloria DeHaven? Here she is playing her own mother Mrs. Carter DeHaven. That must have been a thrill for her, and did she sing "Who's Sorry Now?" to perfection!

As far as this being Debbie Reynolds screen debut. Not so! Her film debut was in "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" filmed by Warner Brothers starring Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, and the best dancer Hollywood has ever had to offer - June Haver, but Haver's talent was always underestimated and not given the credit for being the fine performer that she was!

But, what can you say about "Three Little Words" except - sit back, get out the pop-corn and the soda's, relax and watch an excellent cast have a field day doing some of the finest singing, acting, dancing, that you will ever witness on the silver screen. It's just too bad that these old movies can't be seen on the large silver screen so that our younger generation can see what entertainment was, is, and always will be all about!

Don

This film didn't try to do much more than bring us the songs. And that was good. It was wildly anachronistic -- the early number with Astaire and Vera Ella was danced to jazz that had to be some 15 or 20 years later than the date of the film, which at that point would be early 1920s, the age of the Turkey Trot, when bands were still coming out from their military origins. But the later sequence in the capacious ballroom of the ocean liner to "Thinking of You" was lovely. And the shot of the liner was the Normandie, wasn't it? Queen Mary was a four stacker. Vera Ella was a wonderfully acrobatic dancer. Al Schacht WAS a pitcher -- for 3 years (1919-21) for the Senators. The poster who said he was a catcher may have been thinking of Ray Schalk, a hall of fame catcher for the White Sox (including the 1919 nine, though not implicated in the throwing of the Series). And Barris, Rinker, and Bing sang with Paul Whiteman, not Duke Ellington. The MGM color in the 40s and 50s was magnificent -- and this film shows it off superbly. This one is a very enjoyable musical, one of the best of a period that produced some great ones.

This movie is an excellent representation of the talents of all four stars,Fred Astaire,Vera Ellen,Red Skelton, and Arlene Dahl. Astaire and Vera Ellen open the show with as good a dance routine that I have seen. "Where did you get that girl" is wonderful,bright,and energetic. Red Skelton always one of my favorite funny men is very good and Arlene Dahl is as pretty as any of them. It's a shame that these types of movies aren't made anymore, because they brought joy and happiness to both my wife and I and we watch the dance scenes over and over,especially Where did you get that girl. Vera Ellen was certainly as good as any of Astaires partners and in my opinion the best of all of them.