These Three

One of Wyler's finest films, and the occasion for one of the finest Goldwynisms. When warned that the play he'd just bought, Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour, was about lesbians, Goldwyn supposedly replied, "That's okay: we'll turn them into Americans." Although Hellman's screenplay jettisons explicit lesbianism in conformance with the Hays Code, the resulting movie abounds with repressed eroticism and is far superior to Wyler's post-Code remake THE CHILDREN'S HOUR.

Bonita Granville, in an Oscar-nominated role, plays Mary Tilford, a mean, vicious girl who is censured by her teachers at a posh private school run by college friends Martha and Karen (Mi...