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20th Century Fox
Not part of a collection.
ALL OF THEM WONDERED WHILE ONE OF THEM WANDERED!
A letter is addressed to three wives from their 'best friend', announcing that she's running away with one of their husbands – but she doesn't specify which one.
CinemaSerf
Oct 10, 2026 · via TMDB
"Rita" (Ann Sothern) has been with childhood sweetheart "George" (Kirk Douglas) for ever; "Deborah" (Jeanne Crain) muddles along well enough with "Brad" (Jeffrey Lynn) and then there's "Lora Mae" (Linda Darnell) who is married to the wealthy "Porter" (Paul Douglas) - or at least to his wallet. The three women are firm friends and share a mutual dislike/mistrust of the story's narrator "Addie" (Celeste Holm) and are about to embark on a boat trip with some local urchins when they receive a telegram from their nemesis. She declares to them that by the end of the day she will have left their small town - with one of their husbands!! Oddly enough, that doesn't convince the girls to abandon their trip and race home. Instead, they sail off and for the next ninety minutes or so we learn a little of just how they met their men and we try to guess which of those might be the one to succumb to the temptations of "Addie". Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz also had an hand in the screenplay that quite fulsomely lengthened this short story and he gives full rein to the three women to develop their individual characteristics with plenty of variety, a little humour and plenty of unpredictability. Though the men are important to the story, it's really only Paul Douglas (whom I thought throughout was actually Broderick Crawford) who actually has a role to sink his teeth into and as the latter stages of this tautly but lightly crafted drama emerge from the ashes more like a pigeon than a phoenix, we are poised for a sort of reverse whodunnit reveal with plenty of scope for three confident actresses who gel well together, to present us with something a little more sophisticated than we might have expected. It's bitchy - 1940s style, and I enjoyed it.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Ann Sothern
Rita Phipps
Linda Darnell
Lora Mae Hollingsway
Jeanne Crain
Deborah Bishop
Kirk Douglas
George Phipps
Paul Douglas
Porter Hollingsway
Jeffrey Lynn
Bradford 'Brad' Bishop
Barbara Lawrence
Georgiana 'Babe' Finney
Connie Gilchrist
Mrs. Ruby Finney
Florence Bates
Mrs. Manleigh
Hobart Cavanaugh
Mr. Manleigh
Patti Brady
Kathleen (uncredited)
John Davidson
John, First Waiter (uncredited)
Sayre Dearing
Country Club Member (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum
Country Club Member (uncredited)
Celeste Holm
Addie Ross (voice) (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes
Old Man at Table (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack
Country Club Member (uncredited)
Mae Marsh
Miss Jenkins (uncredited)
George Offerman, Jr.
Nick Butler (uncredited)
Thelma Ritter
Sadie Dugan (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo
Headwaiter at Country Club (uncredited)
Carl Switzer
Leo, Second Messenger (uncredited)
Charles Tannen
Radio Announcer for 'Confessions of Brenda' (voice) (uncredited)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Director
Sol C. Siegel
Producer
Alfred Newman
Original Music Composer
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenplay
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Jan 20, 1949
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Versus
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Gold
1932
Black Devil Doll from Hell
1984
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
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