Three on a Match
Encyclopedia
Three on a Match is a Warner Bros.
drama
film directed by Mervyn LeRoy
and starring Joan Blondell
, Ann Dvorak
and Bette Davis
. The film also features Warren William
, Lyle Talbot
, Humphrey Bogart
(in his first tough-guy role), Allen Jenkins
and Edward Arnold
.
), Ruth (Bette Davis
), and Vivian (Ann Dvorak
), meet again as young adults after some time apart. They each light a cigarette from the same match and discuss the superstition that such an act is unlucky
and that Vivian, the last to light her cigarette, will be the first to die.
Mary is an entertainer who has established stability in her life after spending some time in a reform school
, while Ruth works as a stenographer. Vivian is the best off of the three, married to successful lawyer Robert Kirkwood (Warren William
) and with a young son, but she has grown dissatisfied with her life. On an ocean cruise, gambler Michael Loftus (Lyle Talbot
) persuades Vivian to run away with him. She soon becomes addicted to cocaine
(this is not explicitly spelled out, but a young Humphrey Bogart
, playing a hood named Harve, mimes the dissolute woman's habit by brushing his hand under his nose in one scene, winkingly).
Concerned about Vivian's neglect of her son, Mary tells Robert where to find his boy. Robert retrieves his son and divorces Vivian. Mary and Robert become better acquainted and eventually marry.
Meanwhile, Vivian's money runs out and Michael owes $2000 to three sadistic gangsters, Harve, Dick (Allen Jenkins
) and Ace (Edward Arnold
), who tell him to pay up or else. Desperate, Michael tries to blackmail Robert by threatening to inform the press about Mary's criminal background. When that doesn't work, he kidnaps Robert's boy. However, in a selfless act of contrition and self-sacrifice, Vivian scrawls a message in lipstick on her nightgown and throws herself out the window of the fourth-floor apartment where she and her son are being held, alerting the authorities and saving her son's life at the cost of her own, making the superstitious comments at the beginning of the film about the last to light the cigarette being the first to die, accurate. (In real life, actress Ann Dvorak, the youngest of the three lead actresses, was also the first to die, in 1979, followed by Blondell later the same year, and, a decade later, Davis, in 1989.)
TIME
felt the film did not carry much weight, unlike previous Glasmon-Bright productions and that the suicide at the end was more implausable than tragic.
Film critic Kaspar Monahan lauded the performances in the film but called the "erratic" scenario "looses it's convincing flavor midway;" He also criticized Davis' role as "superfluous... except that her presence is needed to give some excuse for the title."
("loses" was misspelled by whoever contributed the above entry)
Mordaunt Hall
of the New York Times felt Three on a Match was tedious and distasteful as well as unintelligent.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
film directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
and starring Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
, Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
and Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
. The film also features Warren William
Warren William
Warren William was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, popular during the early 1930s, who was later nicknamed the "king of Pre-Code". He was born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota to parents Freeman E. and Frances Krech. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the...
, Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot , born Lisle Henderson, was an American actor on stage and screen, best known for his long career in movies from 1931 to 1960 and for his frequent appearances on TV in the 1950s and '60s, including his decade-long role as Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and...
, Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
(in his first tough-guy role), Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
and Edward Arnold
Edward Arnold (actor)
Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
.
Plot
Three friends from childhood, Mary (Joan BlondellJoan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
), Ruth (Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
), and Vivian (Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
), meet again as young adults after some time apart. They each light a cigarette from the same match and discuss the superstition that such an act is unlucky
Three on a Match (superstition)
Three on a match is a supposed superstition among soldiers during the Crimean War to World War I. The superstition goes that if three soldiers lit their cigarettes from the same match, one of the three would be killed or that the man who was third on the match would be shot...
and that Vivian, the last to light her cigarette, will be the first to die.
Mary is an entertainer who has established stability in her life after spending some time in a reform school
Reform school
A reform school in the United States was a term used to define, often somewhat euphemistically, what was often essentially a penal institution for boys, generally teenagers.-History:...
, while Ruth works as a stenographer. Vivian is the best off of the three, married to successful lawyer Robert Kirkwood (Warren William
Warren William
Warren William was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, popular during the early 1930s, who was later nicknamed the "king of Pre-Code". He was born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota to parents Freeman E. and Frances Krech. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the...
) and with a young son, but she has grown dissatisfied with her life. On an ocean cruise, gambler Michael Loftus (Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot , born Lisle Henderson, was an American actor on stage and screen, best known for his long career in movies from 1931 to 1960 and for his frequent appearances on TV in the 1950s and '60s, including his decade-long role as Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and...
) persuades Vivian to run away with him. She soon becomes addicted to cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
(this is not explicitly spelled out, but a young Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, playing a hood named Harve, mimes the dissolute woman's habit by brushing his hand under his nose in one scene, winkingly).
Concerned about Vivian's neglect of her son, Mary tells Robert where to find his boy. Robert retrieves his son and divorces Vivian. Mary and Robert become better acquainted and eventually marry.
Meanwhile, Vivian's money runs out and Michael owes $2000 to three sadistic gangsters, Harve, Dick (Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
) and Ace (Edward Arnold
Edward Arnold (actor)
Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
), who tell him to pay up or else. Desperate, Michael tries to blackmail Robert by threatening to inform the press about Mary's criminal background. When that doesn't work, he kidnaps Robert's boy. However, in a selfless act of contrition and self-sacrifice, Vivian scrawls a message in lipstick on her nightgown and throws herself out the window of the fourth-floor apartment where she and her son are being held, alerting the authorities and saving her son's life at the cost of her own, making the superstitious comments at the beginning of the film about the last to light the cigarette being the first to die, accurate. (In real life, actress Ann Dvorak, the youngest of the three lead actresses, was also the first to die, in 1979, followed by Blondell later the same year, and, a decade later, Davis, in 1989.)
Main characters
 |
Joan Blondell Joan Blondell Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career... as Mary Keaton, also known as Mary Bernard. A tomboy as a child, Mary spent time in a reform school, before becoming an entertainer. |
 |
Ann Dvorak Ann Dvorak Ann Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent... as Vivian Kirkwood, a beautiful woman from a background of wealth. She is married to Robert Kirkwood, and is the mother of their young son. |
 |
Bette Davis Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional... as Ruth Wescott. Serious and studious as a child, Ruth works as a stenographer. |
 |
Warren William Warren William Warren William was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, popular during the early 1930s, who was later nicknamed the "king of Pre-Code". He was born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota to parents Freeman E. and Frances Krech. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the... as Robert Kirkwood, Vivian's husband, a successful attorney. |
Cast (in credits order)
- Virginia DavisVirginia DavisVirginia Davis was an American movie child actor. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri.-Early career:Davis began working for Walt Disney's Kansas City company, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, in the summer of 1924. She was hired to act in a film called Alice's Wonderland, which combined live action with...
as Mary Keaton as a child - Joan BlondellJoan BlondellRose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
as Mary Keaton / Mary Bernard - Anne ShirleyAnne ShirleyAnne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Montgomery wrote in her journal that the idea for Anne's story came from relatives who, planning to adopt an orphaned boy, received a girl instead...
as Vivian Revere as a child - Ann DvorakAnn DvorakAnn Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
as Vivian Revere Kirkwood - Betty Carse as Ruth Wescott as a child
- Bette DavisBette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
as Ruth Wescott - Warren WilliamWarren WilliamWarren William was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, popular during the early 1930s, who was later nicknamed the "king of Pre-Code". He was born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota to parents Freeman E. and Frances Krech. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the...
as Robert Kirkwood - Lyle TalbotLyle TalbotLyle Talbot , born Lisle Henderson, was an American actor on stage and screen, best known for his long career in movies from 1931 to 1960 and for his frequent appearances on TV in the 1950s and '60s, including his decade-long role as Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and...
as Michael Loftus - Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
as Harve - Allen JenkinsAllen JenkinsAllen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
as Dick - Edward ArnoldEdward Arnold (actor)Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
as Ace - Jack WebbJack WebbJohn Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
(uncredited) boy in schoolyard
Reception
The film depicts the passage of time through several montage sequences, which drew positive criticism from the Spokane Spokesman-Review which described the film as utilizing "a brand new approach and treatment... The parade of time is cleverly portrayed through news headlines down the years, popular song sheets, reproduced on screen, and excerpts from the news weeklies from 1919 and 1932."TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
felt the film did not carry much weight, unlike previous Glasmon-Bright productions and that the suicide at the end was more implausable than tragic.
Film critic Kaspar Monahan lauded the performances in the film but called the "erratic" scenario "looses it's convincing flavor midway;" He also criticized Davis' role as "superfluous... except that her presence is needed to give some excuse for the title."
("loses" was misspelled by whoever contributed the above entry)
Mordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for The New York Times, from October 1924 to September 1934....
of the New York Times felt Three on a Match was tedious and distasteful as well as unintelligent.