A Letter to Three Wives

I was doing extra work in these days. We were shooting a dance scene, all the fellows were in our tuxes and the ladies in their gowns. It was somewhere in North Vancouver and we were shooting all night long.

During a break to reset the cameras, about 3:00 A.M. Mr. Gazzara and I were sitting next to each other. He pulled out a cigar and lit it up. Those were the days we could smoke in public places.

I asked him if he had an extra one. He gladly gave it to me and we puffed along together. We chatted and I told him how much I loved the T.V. series, "Run For Your Life" that he made in the 1960's.

He was a classy man and I am glad to have met him and worked with him.

Reg Boaler

Making a cheap TV remake of the 1949 classic was like wiping your behind with the Mona Lisa.

Instead of the fine cast of the original, we gave Loni Anderson, Michele Lee and Stephanie Zimbalist.

Loni Anderson is so talentless and artificial and overgroomed to the point of looking like a cartoon. Just the mere sight of her makes any project camp. In this she is worse than she was in the remake of Sorry Wrong Number.

Michelle Lee isn't as bad but is still terrible. There isn't a single thing about her that isn't bland to the point of making you gag.

Last is Stephanie Zimbalist, who is the least nauseating but barely adequate.

Watch the original. Both are on YouTube.

As much as I love the actresses who appeared in this movie, this was one remake that could have stood never to be remade.

I liked Michele Lee as Rita Phipps, I have to say. It had to have been hard to try and update that whole storyline from "Radio Is Going to Kill Culture" to "TV IS Killing Culture," not to mention trying to give snappy, witty dialogue to Rita and George. I mean, how can you outdo Kirk Douglas and Ann Sothern? Can't be done--just can't!!! I also liked Doris Roberts as the wise-cracking maid, and Stephanie Zimbalist was in top form here as Deborah.

But the whole effect taken together looked like a very clumsy attempt at trying to recapture an era that cannot be recaptured, because times have changed. Women do not attempt to be wily and sexy in order to win the boss as a husband these days and still come off as respectable. Only back in the 40s, when it was considered a woman's HIGHEST aspiration to marry a rich husband, would that be acceptable. Now it just looks trashy, and is an insult to women.

I can't forget the crumb they threw to Ann Sothern, the only surviving female cast member from the original 1948 flick. She walked away with the original as Rita. Here, she was sadly underused.

My advice for producers who (for whatever reason) want to remake these old classics: make it a period piece! Don't try to give a '40s movie a '40s feel in the '80s (or beyond).

I WON'T hold my breath for a remake of "The Women." I don't want to see Gwyneth Paltrow (or whoever the "Waif of the Week" is) spraying perfume in a department store and trying to be clever. Can't be done--just can't!!

It's very easy to feel nostalgia for old films and golden era stars, but I found that this version was a strong modernization while leaving the story line intact and plenty of the dialog too.

While Kirk Douglas was one of our greatest actors, Michael Gross handled the part well and might have been more convincing as an underpaid professor. Michele Lee was great as Rita, his wife, and the age difference wasn't as glaring as in the original.

Stephanie Zimbalist wa very like Jeanne Crain in the same role, but infused it with more emotion, and Charles Frank was perfectly well cast as well.

A lot of reviews did not like Lori Anderson as Lora Mae and believed that the character of a woman looking to marry and not be used and tossed aside by a rich man as passe by 1985. I remember 1985 very well and disagree. Even in 2021 there are women who feel that way and even now women are looking for a successful man. This hasn't changed. Loni plays the part of the working class beauty with grace and elegance, and the poor language skills that marred the original were blessedly scrapped. My highest praise is for Ben Gazzara as the wealthy retailer. The 1948 version made the character a bit buffoonish and the couple unnecessarily comical. Ben Gazzara made the character more realistic and physically appealing, and the director gave the lines a more emotional, intelligent quality. The last scene between Anderson and Gazzara was very well done and made the relationship and the ending understandable. The same scene in the original movie seemed rushed and empty.

I loved the music as well.

The only actor I missed from the original was Thelma Ritter.

It has been noted that Kate Mulgrew was the voice of Addie Ross. She was not! It was Jessica Walter, thank you very much. If you watch the first few minutes of it you'll see that I'm right. Right on the money that is. I saw th9is TV movie when it first aired. I was looking up Kate Mulgrew's credits for some reason on IMDb and saw that it mentioned she voiced Addie Ross. I'm surpised, also noting that the two actresses really don't sould much like each other. Also, IMDB rarely makes mistakes such as this!