The Story of Three Loves ** (1953, Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Leslie Caron, Moira Shearer, Pier Angeli, Farley Granger) – Classic Movie Review 10,057

MGM’s 1953 anthology film The Story of Three Loves is a starry trio of romantic yarns linked by being told in flashback by a liner’s passengers.

Directors Gottfried Reinhardt and Vincente Minnelli’s starry 1953 MGM Technicolor movie anthology film The Story of Three Loves is just what it says – a trio of romantic yarns. They are loosely linked by being told in flashback by an ocean liner’s passengers.

Take your pick: James Mason and Moira Shearer (in The Jealous Lover), Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli (in Equilibrium), or Farley Granger and Leslie Caron (in Mademoiselle).

Reinhardt directs the first two parts – The Jealous Lover and Equilibrium – and Minnelli the final Mademoiselle episode.

It also stars Ethel Barrymore, Agnes Moorehead, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Richard Anderson and Ricky Nelson, so there are nice people and there is a lovely production, but it’s just a shame about the ordinary tales. Though these portmanteau movies/ anthology films were in vogue, this one was not popular enough. The film cost $2,498,000 and made $3,167,000, resulting in a loss of $805,000.

It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction.

Choreography for The Jealous Lover is by Frederick Ashton.

It is scored by Miklós Rózsa. The soundtrack features the 18th Variation from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, performed by pianist Jakob Gimpel, for The Jealous Lover.

The cast are Pier Angeli as Nina Burkhardt, Ethel Barrymore as Mrs Hazel Pennicott, Leslie Caron as Mademoiselle, Kirk Douglas as Pierre Narval, Farley Granger as Thomas Clayton Campbell Jr, James Mason as Charles Coudray, Moira Shearer as Paula Woodward, Agnes Moorehead as Aunt Lydia, Zsa Zsa Gabor as Flirt at Bar, Richard Anderson as Marcel, Ricky Nelson as Thomas age 11.

Also in the cast are Frank J Scannell, Peter Brocco, Paul Bryar, Ellen Corby, Victor Desny, Steven Geray, Sam Harris, Robert Horton, John Lupton, Paul Maxey, Torben Meyer, Ottola Nesmith, Peter Norman, Larry Olsen, Manuel Paris, Tom Quinn, Paula Raymond, Hayden Rorke, Reginald Sheffield, Alix Talton and Kaaren Verne, with Argentina Brunetti (scenes deleted), John Pickard (scenes deleted) and Frank Wilcox (scenes deleted).

The Story of Three Loves is directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and Vincente Minnelli, runs 122 minutes, is made by MGM, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (US) and (UK), is written by John Collier (segments “The Jealous Lover”, “Equilibrium”), Jan Lustig (segment “Mademoiselle”) and George Froeschel (segment “Mademoiselle”), shot in Technicolor by Charles Rosher and Harold Rosson, produced by Sidney Franklin, and scored by Miklos Rozsa, with Production Design by E Preston Ames, Edward C Carfagno, Cedric Gibbons and Gabriel Scognamillo.

It is made at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, 10202 W Washington Blvd, Culver City, California.

Kirk Douglas says in his autobiography The Ragman’s Son that he became engaged to Sardinian star Pier Angeli after they met while making this film. However, she dated James Dean while he was filming East of Eden and reportedly wanted to marry, but then married Vic Damone in 1954.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,057

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