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Three for the Show
Three for the Show
	Poster
Directed by	H. C. Potter
Written by	Edward Hope; Leonard B. Stern
Based on	Home and Beauty; by W. Somerset Maugham
Produced by	Jonie Taps
Starring	Betty Grable; Jack Lemmon; Gower Champion; Marge Champion
Cinematography	Arthur E. Arling
Edited by	Viola Lawrence
Music by	George Duning
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	February 24, 1955 (New York City);
Running time	93 minutes; 89 minutes; (Sony print)
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.25 million (US)

Three for the Show is a 1955 Technicolor and in CinemaScope musical comedy remake of Too Many Husbands. It stars actress Betty Grable, in her last musical, opposite Jack Lemmon, Gower Champion and Marge Champion. It is based on the 1919 play Home and Beauty by W. Somerset Maugham, which was retitled to Too Many Husbands when it came to New York.^[2]

Plot

Singing-and-dancing stage star Julie (Betty Grable) is told that husband Marty (Jack Lemmon) is reported missing in action during the Korean War. After a long waiting period, she makes plans to marry Vernon (Gower Champion), who is Marty's best friend. After the marriage, Marty (who crashed but survived on an island) turns up at one of Julie's shows. Upon discovering Julie's new marriage, Marty demands his rights as her first husband.

Julie finds that she is legally married to both Marty and Vernon. She soon realises that she must choose who she wants to be with, if only to avoid being branded a bigamist. But Julie loves the idea of having two husbands and so she decides to try to live with them both, to the annoyance and disapproval of Marty and Vernon who both know that her idea will not work out.

Meanwhile, Julie's close friend Gwen (Marge Champion) has a secret crush on Marty and hopes to be with him, if only Julie could make her up mind as to who she wants. After a long serious decision and a talk with them both, Julie decides that she is more in love with Marty and she leaves Vernon, who has now fallen for Gwen.

Cast

Betty Grable as Julie Lowndes
Jack Lemmon as Martin 'Marty' Stewart
Gower Champion as Vernon Lowndes
Marge Champion as Gwen Howard
Myron McCormick as Mike Hudson
Paul Harvey as Col. Harold J. Wharton
Robert Bice as Sgt. Charlie O'Hallihan
Charlotte Lawrence as Miss Williams

Reception

The New York Times called the film a "slight but cheerful item" and said "Three for the Show does serve to bring Betty Grable back to the screen. Luminously blonde and shapely enough to give the megrims to most of the readers of fan magazines, Miss Grable proves she can fill a musical, assignment as neatly as she does her pleasantly revealing wardrobe.^[3]

Songs

How Come You Do Me Like You Do?

Words and Music by Gene Austin and Ray Bergere

Performed by Betty Grable

Down Boy

Words and Music by Hoagy Carmichael and Harold Adamson

Performed by Betty Grable, Gower Champion, and Jack Lemmon

The song had been written by Carmichael for Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; a film that had originally been offered to Betty Grable, however Darryl F. Zanuck ordered the song removed from the film.^[4]

I've Got a Crush on You

Words and Music by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin

Performed by Betty Grable and Jack Lemmon

Also performed in the finale by Betty Grable, Jack Lemmon, Marge Champion and Gower Champion

Someone to Watch Over Me

Words and Music by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin

Performed by Marge Champion and Gower Champion during the opening titles and danced to by the couple later in the picture.

Later sung by Marge Champion

Swan Lake

Danced to by Marge Champion and Gower Champion in French royal court costuming during a dream sequence

Just One of Those Things

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter (uncredited)

Performed by Betty Grable, Marge Champion and Gower Champion

Which One

Words and Music by Lester Lee and Ned Washington

Performed by Marge Champion

Polovetsian Dances

Music by Aleksandr Borodin (uncredited)

Used as introductory music for "Which One"

I've Been Kissed Before

Words and Music by Bob Russell and Lester Lee

Performed by Betty Grable.

Finale from "William Tell Overture"

From the opera William Tell' by Gioacchino Rossini.

Danced to by Gower Champion in the Two Husbands fantasy

References

^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
^ Mordden, Ethan (2007). All That Glittered: The Golden Age of Drama on Broadway, 1919-1959. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-312-33898-5.
^ "Screen: Betty Grable Is Back; Three for the Show Opens at the Roxy". The New York Times. February 25, 1955. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
^ pp.283-284 Sudhalter, Richard M. Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael Oxford University Press, 2003