These Three (1936) on Netflix
Karen Wright and Martha Dobie open a boarding school on Karen's Massachusetts farm with help from local doctor Joe Cardin. A pupil's lie threatens the three of them.
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- Netflix4.4/5
- IMDb7.4/103,636 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
After college, Martha Dobie and Karen Wright start a boarding school in Karen's Massachusetts farmhouse. New to the area, they rely on the wealthy Amelia Tilford, who enrolls her granddaughter Mary and persuades other families to send their daughters. Martha's aunt, Lily Mortar, arrives and takes a teaching post. Karen starts seeing Joe Cardin, the local doctor. Mary skips her classes and lies, and when Karen punishes her she fakes a fainting fit, so Joe is called in to examine her. While he and Karen deal with Mary, Martha tells Lily she is no longer needed as a teacher, and the two women argue, with Mary's roommates listening at the door.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about These Three (1936)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Hays Code banned any hint of lesbianism, so Lillian Hellman rewrote her own stage hit for the screen: the lie about the two teachers became that one had slept with the other's fiancé. The Hays Office also barred the play's title, so her script was called The Lie until the finished film was renamed These Three.
- Lillian Hellman's 1934 play The Children's Hour was based on the true story of two Scottish school teachers whose lives were destroyed in 1810 after a pupil falsely accused them of a lesbian relationship. Mentioning homosexuality on stage was illegal in New York State, but authorities overlooked it once the Broadway production won acclaim.
- William Wyler tried to get Samuel Goldwyn to replace Joel McCrea with Leslie Howard in the lead, but Goldwyn refused and told McCrea about Wyler's preference, which caused difficulties between the actor and director during filming.
