Three On A Match

Three on a Match (1932)

Runtime: 63 minutes

Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy

Starring: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Bette Davis, Ann Dvorak, Humphrey Bogart

From: First National Pictures (this was a subsidiary of Warner Brothers)

I'll be short and sweet, like this movie. I had actually seen this before, but that was a long while ago and I found it on a site I typically find movies, which is (redacted), and as it was short and fit my schedule, I figured I should give it a revisit... and yes the title of the movie is explained in the movie; it's an old expression said to relate to World War I. After the IMDb synopsis, the Letterboxd review.

“Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.” True, and some melodramatic situations happen.

I've actually seen this movie before but that was a long while ago. As I found it again recently I figured I should give it another watch. This is an entertaining B picture made in the Pre Code days (meaning various levels of debauchery are seen, including implied cocaine use) where three girls are followed from a short look at childhood then you see their adult lives and it turns out that the girl predicted to be the most likely to succeed actually took a few wrong turns in her life and ends up in some melodramatic situations.

The cast is great: Ann Dvorak, Joan Blondell, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart in a small role, etc. The plot is not complicated and yet it's still interesting. If only they had more time than 63 minutes and some of that runtime was used better... alas.

Still, it is a quick watch and it's not a bad tale; just one that I wish had more time to make a bigger impression. At least the talented cast makes it a 3 star film and they'll all go on to make plenty of good or better movies after this.

I'll return tomorrow night.