This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Set in the absolute seat of anti-Semitism and after Austria was annexed by Germany comes this little light comedy, "Paradise for Three" starring Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Mary Astor, Edna May Oliver, Henry Hull, Reginald Owen, and Florence Rice.Many, many classic films are set in European locations, even though for years, they were done on Hollywood sets for the most part. Was it because of the European market? To give the films an exotic feel? Even if the film were adapted from a foreign book, a studio could still set it in the U.S. But no, it was always Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, etc.Why would anyone set a film in Vienna in 1938? No idea, except that Hollywood (and I guess the U.S.) ignored what was going on in Europe for several years. Even when it was acknowledged, studios were careful in their films not to state that people were Jewish (in the Mortal Storm they were non-Aryans) or talk about the Nazis (in the Mortal Storm they showed swastikas but never used the word Nazi), at least at first.Robert Young is Fritz Hagedorn, a constant contest winner (26 in all) who wins the Tobler Soap motto competition. In second place, unknown to anyone, is the big guy himself, Rudolph Tobler (Frank Morgan). The prize for both is a ski vacation in the Alps, which Tobler takes under an assumed name and brings his butler (Owen) along as an associate.The hotel is ready to lay out the red carpet for Tobler because his housekeeper (Oliver) has called to say the contest winner is a wealthy gentleman is arriving and has to have the best of everything. She has to hang up before she can give his fake name, so when Fritz arrives, he gets a suite and all the perks. When Tobler arrives, they take him for a bum and throw him up in a freezing cold attic room.Believing Fritz to be the rich one, Mary Astor sets her eyes on him and makes a play. While in the hotel room with Fritz and Tobler, Fritz opens some brandy. When Tobler tastes it and identifies it by name, as a very expensive brandy, she realizes she's got the wrong guy. So she changes lanes.Fritz meanwhile is falling for Tobler's daughter (Rice). She tells him that she's poor, knowing he doesn't want to marry out of his class.Very funny film with some wonderful character acting from the hotel people (Hull, Herman Bing, Sig Ruman), a great dishwashing scene, Tobler being introduced to the features of his hotel room (broken window in the middle of window, ice in the sink, rock hard mattress), and Edna May Oliver skiing. By the way, she was 55 at the time of this filming and died at 59.The acting from the rest of the cast is delightful. I guess Hollywood least of anywhere cared what was going on in the rest of the world. Just put in a few yodelers, show some mountains, and that's it.

MGM certainly used a low budget to make PARADISE FOR THREE, and it shows when it comes to the outdoor winter scenes supposedly taking place on ski slopes at an Alpine resort. The use of process photography for all those mountain tops covered with snow is obvious.Nor did they use a top cast but the results are splendid nevertheless.An up and coming Robert Young has the star role of a contest winner who is mistakenly thought to be a millionaire by Herman Bing and Sig Rumann when he arrives at his destination at a swank hotel. He immediately attracts the attention of Mary Astor, hard on her luck as far as money is concerned and looking for an easy catch.But the fun begins when Frank Morgan decides to check on how the hotel treats the lower class and finds himself mistaken for a mere contest winner without money. The pretty blond Florence Rice plays his daughter who naturally falls in love with penniless Robert Young, who doesn't know she's a rich girl until the final reel.It's predictable and silly, with great support from Edna May Oliver as Morgan's housekeeper of thirty years who joins the group at the hotel to look out for Morgan's health and keeps an eye on his "woman trouble" with Astor. She makes the most of an amusing role in true Edna May Oliver fashion.This is one that's little known today. To put it in context, it probably played the lower half of bills in the "double feature" days which is why I call it a programmer. I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of those B-films that surprised audiences by being more entertaining than the main feature, which happened occasionally.

This is one of those films that you see and then can't understand why it isn't more famous. This delightful film is clearly one of the best comedies of the 1930s--you today practically no one has heard of it! The film begins in Austria. The owner .of a soap company (Frank Morgan) has sponsored a contest where the two people who write the best company jingle each will receive a two-week trip to a resort in the Alps. The first prize is won by Robert Young--a very poor man who desperately needs a job. The second prize is claimed by Morgan himself! Whether this is clearly nepotism or not is uncertain....but you assume his owning the company MUST have had something to do with this win! As for Young, he needs money more than a trip but decides to go anyway--perhaps if he hobnobs with the rich at this resort it will open up some doors to a job. As for Morgan, on a lark, he decides to go there as well--but incognito. He's tired of the high society life and decides to just go as a regular guy--in regular guy clothes. However, before they both arrive, Morgan's nosy housekeeper (Edna May Oliver) calls ahead to the hotel to be sure they treat her boss well--after all, he's a millionaire and should be pampered. But, in a case of mistaken identity, the hotel manager thinks that Young is the rich millionaire--and he and his assistant dote on him and give him a deluxe room. At the same time, they are both snobs and when they see Morgan in his ordinary clothes, they assume he's just some poor jerk who won the contest and treat him like dirt!The hotel workers are not the only ones who make this same mistake. A gold-digger (Mary Astor) thinks Young is her meal ticket and begins throwing herself at him incessantly. Only later, when she reads through a copy of "Who's Who" does she realize that Morgan is rich and single--then she chases him like a hungry lion chasing a Porterhouse steak! In addition to these characters, the vacation begins to really hum when Oliver shows up--along with Morgan's daughter (Florence Rice). In addition, Morgan's butler (Reginald Owen) comes along--posing as a rich industrialist. Oliver and Owen are fantastic in these comedic roles and provide lots of rich color to the film. Rice, though not in a comedic role, was also quite good and it's odd she never really gained fame as a star.Once Oliver and Rice show up, in addition to the plot involving Astor trying to vamp Young and Morgan, Rice and Young hit it off as well. The only problem is that Young doesn't know that Rice is rich--and she's afraid to tell him because he says he can't stand rich folks! So how will all these stories work out and will the snobs at the resort ever get their comeuppance? See for yourself--though I can pretty much guarantee you'll see everyone get what they deserve. The way the film takes all these elements and ties them all together AND makes you laugh out loud (I know I did several times) is wonderful and just goes to show you what wonderful writing and acting can do. Despite not having a lot of 'big name' stars, this is a great little film and one of the reasons I didn't give it a 10 was the sloppily made skiing sequences--these will NOT come off as well as the James Bond skiing scenes, that's for sure! Overall, a lot of fun and not a bad date movie provided you have someone who also appreciates movies made in "the good old days", too! And, by the way, if she or he doesn't...find someone else!By the way, my theories for as to why this film is a hidden gem, I have two ideas. First, while these were all fine actors, they were not top names and some times this is a strike against a film. Second, this was made just before WWII and feelings towards Austria were NOT at an all-time high now that the country was absorbed into the Nazi empire. Plus, once WWII started, it wasn't like the studio was going to re-release a comedy that takes place in Vienna and the Alps.

This is sort of the reverse of the sublime, and rarely shown "Easy Living." In that, working girl Jean Arthur is treated to life as a rich person. Here, tycoon Frank Morgan masquerades as an average Joe.The cast could (with the exception of Robert Young, though he is OK here) scarcely be improved on. Mary Astor graces anything in which she appears. She was one of the true greats. Edna May Oliver, Frank Morgan, Herman Bing … They're all fine and here work well as an ensemble.The title is a bit misleading. It sounds racy and, though there are some faux naughty scenes involving devious divorcée Astor, it is good clean fun. I wonder who actually are the three?Nevertheless, it's a charmer: not a great movie but a highly appealing one.