three on a match

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Three on a Match: The Perils of Free and Easy. Three on a Match is an unusual set of contradictions. Disliked by most of its principles, it was loved by the censors.

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Denounced by critics and ignored
Three on a Match: The Perils of Free and Easy. Three on a Match is an unusual set of contradictions. Disliked by most of its principles, it was loved by the censors. Denounced by critics and ignored at the box office, it’s become a cornerstone for serious cinema students when exploring the movies of the early 1930s. It embodies the Warner Bros. style while showcasing strong women characters all with irrepressible momentum. It is the very epitome of a company whose credo was, as relayed by supervisor Robert Lord, “Anything goes as long as it’s entertaining and interesting.” Three on a Match is assuredly both those things. Along the way, there are also drugs, passionate extramarital sex, grifting, divorce, kidnapping, and attempted child murder. It’s a mix of topical issues and frustrated social standards morphed into a searing drama about addiction and maternal love, all told in a breakneck 61 minutes. The movie begins in a New York public elementary school. (Modern parents, be prepared for a bit of a culture shock.) Three girls are friends, despite radically different temperaments. Bookish Ruth is nerdy and quiet. Smiling Mary is popular with the boys because of her carefree attitude. And Vivian wants to be the center of attention by any means necessary. They graduate and head to different educational institutions. Bette Davis’ Ruth is trained as a typist in a rather mechanical fashion. Joan Blondell’s Mary ends up in a reformatory (with future co-star Glenda Farrell also hanging about to make wisecracks.). Meanwhile, Ann Dvorak’s Vivian goes to a finishing school, though she’s more concerned with reading her friends dirty stories than much else. As such, it’s a Teflon life for Vivian, completely hollow for her besides a few vicarious thrills. Ten years later and Vivian runs into her old school friends one afternoon. The three share lunch—and a match to light their cigarettes. The girls gossip, tease, and talk, all in a wonderfully natural moment. Mary is a partial success as a chorus girl, Ruth works an unpleasant job as a typist, and Vivian is married to powerful lawyer Robert Kirkwood (William). Vivian admits to being restless, while the others remain jealous. But Vivian, who has gotten the best in life without having to put in much effort, has turned cold. Later in the day, she even fakes sleep to avoid sex with her husband. And when her young son, Junior, calls out for her, she’s quick to pass the duties onto someone else. Vivian and Kirkwood have a talk. She needs to find a spark in her life. Vivian decides to take her son to Europe in hopes of rekindling that connection to the world, but, as fortune and bad luck would have it, she runs into Mary and a raucous party on the ship. That’s where she meets Michael Loftus, a charming man with a dark side. The two flirt, then dance, then gaze into each other’s eyes. Both tipsy, Michael realizes he has to pique her interest. He looks at her hoity-toity background and sniffs, &#8220,You don&#8217,t know what life is.&#8221, &#8220,Well, I suppose you could show me,” smiles Vivian. “I haven&#8217,t met a man yet who hasn&#8217,t tried.&#8221, His forceful grab and kiss snap her back to her schooldays and beyond—Michael is the proverbial bad boy she’d never knew she’d always wanted. Vivian and her son depart the boat before it leaves dock. A few days later and she’s still hiding out in a hotel with Michael, her son neglected and her desire to party, drink, and live a carefree life overriding most common sense. Mary can’t stand it, though, and calls up Kirkwood. He retrieves the child from his strung out wife, and seeing a cigar case on the bedside table with another men’s initials on them, calls the marriage off. Kirkwood, touched by Mary’s kindness, becomes friends with her and Ruth. As his divorce with Vivian goes through, Mary takes her place as his wife. And the switch is complete. There were no firm start times for films in the days of Three on a Match , so if you were just joining the audience at this point, 43 minutes into the movie, you’d be treated to a recap from two deliverymen on the street. A few years ago, three friends met for lunch. Now one is married to the other’s ex-husband. Those two women are across the street now, and the ex-wife is asking the current wife for money. Why? Michael’s gone in deep to the mob. Headed by Ace, and played by Edward Arnold with a nasty streak, they want the $2,000 Michael owes them or else. The gangsters include a young Humphrey Bogart, Allen Jenkins (in a surprisingly effective straight role) and even Jack La Rue, who would go on to make Miriam Hopkins’ life miserable in the nasty Story of Temple Drake . The reasons for Vivian and Michael’s financial woes aren’t left to the imagination. Michael decides to kidnap Junior to get the money, and we find Vivian in a panicky, denigrated state. When the gangsters show up to take over the kidnapping operation, Mary keeps rubbing her nose, which they mock with a smirk. Vivian’s a hophead and, as the kidnapping ordeal drags on, her withdrawal symptoms kick in. She screams and cries from the other room, the noise matched by the hungry wails of Junior. Meanwhile, the police are closing in, day by day, minute by minute, and the gangsters show the pressure as food becomes scarce and the only choice they have to escape comes closer to closer to quieting those wails from both Vivian and Junior once and for all. The story follows the three women, but, despite the charisma and chops of Blondell and Davis respectively, it’s Dvorak who gets to really let loose in her role. Vivian’s story is a warning about the dangers of an easy life. While Mary learns from her hard won lessons about respecting herself and others from her time in the reformatory and experience on the streets—but still remains fun, mind you—Vivian never connected with other people in the same way. Her story is a testament to how life can feel a little hollow to some people, like a grand façade. When it finally breaks, there’s no indication from Vivian of regret or anger—but a steady march towards a more enlightened life in oblivion, with plenty of narcotics to aid the journey. Dvorak has no problem with the spirited, seamier side of this personality. That mixture of carnal delight that washes over her as she meets Talbot’s character is electric. Her degradation as she slips easily into the decadent world of sin and alcohol is greeted with a boozy grin. When her temper flares, it’s immediate and strong. When she needs something, she’s as manipulative as any junkie. She can be meek—but a knowing smirk lurks just beneath. It’s because of this flair that the film feels so real. “Dvorak played it like an addict,” noted Mick LaSalle. “Every nerve raw.” There’s nothing over the top or silly about her performance, but it strikes that right note of both desperation and determination. Oddly enough, though Three on a Match remains along with Scarface as one of the defining films of her career, Dvorak herself didn’t think much of the movie, barely mentioning it in correspondence she kept with her mother.













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three on a match 1932