The greatest movie ever made..!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This movie was awesome!!! A spoiled brat named Mary is nothing but badness. She torments her friends and spreads an ugly rumor about her teachers. Now the school has shut down and the teachers face some hefty fines all because of this nasty little rich girl. The ending is what took my breath away most of all. Margaret Hamilton(The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz)plays the little girl's grandmother's maid. When the grandmother realizes Mary has been lying all along she tells the maid(Hamilton) to send her up to her room. The little brat gets feisty with the maid, or at least TRYS to, and regrets it. Hamilton delivers one of the worlds most painful face slaps in the history of film. When she slapped Mary I couldn't help but cringe. There was NO sound effect and there was NOTHING fake about that face slap. It was genuine and REAL!! Another reason no one should ever mess with that woman. Even Dorothy knew she couldn't mess with her. But this movie was great. The young girl who plays Mary does an excellent job and I must say deserved an award. She was really convincing in her role and so was everyone else.

This movie was directed by William Wyler and he also directed a remake in 1961 that was actually better than this one. This version stars Merle Oberon and Miriam Hopkins as friends who open a school for young girls. Joel McCrea is a local doctor who loves Oberon and they get engaged but Hopkins loves him too and they don't know. Bonita Granville is a spoiled brat at the school who hates to be punished so she decides to get back at Oberon and Hopkins. Granville finds out Hopkins loves McCrea and she starts a rumor that Hopkins slept with McCrea and everyone finds out and takes their kids out of the school. In this version they leave out the part about them being lesbians like they had in the remake and this version has a much more upbeat ending then the remake.

For a film that opened in 1936, "These Three" manages to hold the attention seventy years later. True, Lillian Helmann's heterosexual adaptation may seem a bit over-baked now; still, there are some compelling scenes which are touching.Working with a top-notch cast and crew, Director William Wyler managed to coax some pretty heartfelt performances from his ensemble. The whole thing looks like it may have been an extremely difficult shoot, especially for its principals. Word has it that Miriam Hopkins was very difficult to work with, and that Merle Oberon's normally meager talent was stretched beyond its capacity by the demanding director. Yet, through probably endless retakes, the final result from the editing room is impressive. The child actors are quite good, without which the drama's effectiveness would have been considerably lessened. All the adult performers are strong, rendering commendable work.Judging from the viewer's and critic's evaluation on IMDb, "These Three" is still very much appreciated.

The power of a girl's lie is at the heart of the story involving two school teachers and one man.Lillian Hellman's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR was a play about lesbianism, reportedly based on an occurrence in a Scotland school in the 1800s in which two teachers were the focus of a rumor in which they were involved in a too-close-for-comfort affair, a scandal for the times. The fact that William Wyler in 1936 decided -- because of the Code's policies of the time -- to drop the lesbianism and instead opt for emphasizing the issue of gossip (regardless of what kind of gossip) as per one of the more malicious girls only emphasizes the themes of the movie version. And the fact that Oscar nominated Bonita Granville plays her sheer nastiness with so much relish only makes it the more disturbing when she resorts to blackmail to force Marcia Mae Jones (equally brilliant) to keep up with her lie, because even in the face of truth she will not let up, until of course she is humiliated by Agatha (played by the future Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton) and will have to face the consequences of her actions.A great story that only vaguely hints at lesbian overtones, THESE THREE is very moving and for once Miriam Hopkins plays a truly likable character, as she was mainly known for having a rather icy presence. Her character thankfully does not kill herself as the play would have it, and her final scene as she walks out in triumph makes for a strong exit in the face of slander. Merle Oberon and Joel McCrea both acquit themselves in their roles though would be more known for future films, and overall, an intense movie-viewing experience.