Three Little Words (1950)

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writer:

George Wells (writer)

Release Date:

12 July 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Musical | Romance

Plot:

The story of the successful Tin Pan Alley songwriting team of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby is told loosely and lightheartedly.

Plot Keywords:

Composer | Team | Songwriting | Dancer | Song Writer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Bert Kalmar
Red Skelton	...	Harry Ruby
Vera-Ellen	...	Jessie Brown / Jessie Kalmar
Arlene Dahl	...	Eileen Percy Ruby
Keenan Wynn	...	Charlie Kope
Gale Robbins	...	Terry Lordel
Gloria DeHaven	...	Mrs. Carter De Haven
Phil Regan	...	Himself
Harry Shannon	...	Clanahan, owner of Clanahan's Paradise
Debbie Reynolds	...	Helen Kane
Paul Harvey	...	Al Masters
Carleton Carpenter	...	Dan Healy
George Metkovich	...	Al Schacht
Harry B. Mendoza	...	The Great Mendoza
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Barris	...	Pianist at Party (uncredited)
Douglas Carter	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Harry Cody	...	Prop Man (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Extra (uncredited)
Bert Davidson	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Elzie Emanuel	...	Kid who tells Harry the Ball score (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	Coach (uncredited)
Sig Frohlich	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Alex Gerry	...	Marty (uncredited)
Billy Gray	...	Boy (uncredited)
Sherry Hall	...	Pianist in Clanahan's (uncredited)
Helen Kane	...	Helen Kane (singing voice) (uncredited)
Frank Kelleher	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Audience Extra (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Stage Manager in Buffalo (uncredited)
George Magrill	...	Piano Mover (uncredited)
Dwight Martin	...	Piano Mover (uncredited)
Mickey Martin	...	Callboy (uncredited)
John McKee	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Beverly Michaels	...	Shipboard Woman (uncredited)
Fred Millican	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Edward F. Nulty	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Jack Paepke	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Jerry Priddy	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway	...	Nightclub Table Extra (uncredited)
Harry Ruby	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Fred Santley	...	Juice Vendor (uncredited)
Syd Saylor	...	Barker at Clanahan's (uncredited)
George Sherwood	...	Director (uncredited)
Ted Stanhope	...	Waiter / Theatre Usher (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Nightclub Dance Extra (uncredited)
Lou Stringer	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan	...	Policeman on Street (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Charles Wagenheim	...	Johnny the waiter (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Philip Goodman (uncredited)
John B. Williams	...	Waiter in Clanahan's (uncredited)
Pat Williams	...	Magician's Assistant (uncredited)
George Woods	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Thorpe

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
George Wells		writer

Produced by
Jack Cummings	....	producer

Original Music by
André Previn		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Harry Jackson

Film Editing by
Ben Lewis

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Urie McCleary

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	hair stylist

Art Department
Arthur Krams	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Editorial Department
Peter Ballbusch	....	montage

Music Department
Leo Arnaud	....	orchestrator
André Previn	....	musical director
Robert Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Wally Heglin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Fred Astaire	....	choreographer
James Gooch	....	technicolor color consultant
Henri Jaffa	....	technicolor color consultant
Hermes Pan	....	choreographer
Harry Ruby	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1952) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | France:U | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The real Harry Ruby appears in a bit part as one of the baseball players. He is the one who catches the ball thrown by Red Skelton (as Harry Ruby) and tells "Ruby" to take it easy.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The picture of The Marx Brothers supposedly from Animal Crackers (1930) is actually from The Big Store (1941).

Quotes:

Bert Kalmar: I wouldn't write that song with you if you begged me.
Harry Ruby: Begged ya? I didn't even ask ya.
Bert Kalmar: I guess you just can't help it, Harry. I feel sorry for you.
Harry Ruby: Feel sorry for me? You must think I'm just a...
Bert Kalmar: I could tell you what I think of you in just three little words. You're a dope!

Movie Connections:

References Animal Crackers (1930)

Soundtrack:

I Love You So Much

Looks Good, Feels Good

This was a wonderful, feel-good movie with tons of songs, many of them appealing. There also were some great dancing scenes, no surprise there since Fred Astaire is one of the stars. Astaire and Vera-Ellen paired up well for those numbers.

This is one of the few films, even in the musicals, in which all the characters were nice people. In other words, there were no villains, no nasty people, which is refreshing to see now and then. It is supposedly the true-life account of songwriters Bert Kalmar (Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton). Ruby is good at writing tunes, but not with lyrics. Kalmar supplies the lyrics and dance. Skelton also shows he had a decent singing voice.

The only unhappy moments in the movie are the squabbles between the two leading men, but that's not overdone and sometimes it's humorous. Skelton's character is the nicer of the two.

The leading ladies are wholesome-looking beautiful women. Vera-Ellen is a Shirley Jones-type pretty blonde with a great dancer's body. She's enjoyable to watch. Arlene Dahl, who was stunning, is the other leading female but her role was minor, unfortunately.

The movie is a good mixture of song, dance, comedy and drama and is an underrated film in that it that doesn't get a lot of publicity. Astaire was quoted as saying this was his favorite film. I agree. It's my favorite of his, too.