Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

wes-connors Multi-millionaire soap industrialist Frank Morgan (as Rudolph Tobler) holds a slogan contest for his company, with the winner and runner-up prizes awarded a two week vacation at his ritzy Palace hotel in the Swiss Alps. Unbeknownst to all, Mr. Morgan has entered his own contest under the name "Edward Schultz" and come in second place. First place winner is Robert Young (as Fritz Hagedorn), an unemployed American in Vienna who is several months behind in his rent payments. Morgan decides to go on the vacation and see how poor people live. Concerned about her eccentric boss receiving less than spectacular service, his possessive housekeeper Edna May Oliver (as Mrs. Kunkel) calls to let the hotel staff know Morgan is arriving incognito...Due to a mix-up, the staff thinks Mr. Young is the soap tycoon. Both men attract attention from fortune-hunting divorcée Mary Astor (as Irene Mallebre). Long-time MGM editor-turned-producer Sam Zimbalist scores a real winner with this comedy. It started with the common "rich/poor" switcheroo, given a good treatment by successful story-teller Erich Kastner. Hollywood writers added some fine lines for the marvelous cast. The skiing segments reveal a less than spectacular budget, but these type of silly skiing scenes were common, at the time. Under the circumstances, not having Edna May Oliver mug and take a tumble on the Alps would have been filmmaking blasphemy. Everything is skillfully managed by director Edward Buzzell.******** Paradise for Three (2/15/38) Edward Buzzell ~ Frank Morgan, Robert Young, Mary Astor, Edna May Oliver

JohnLeeT A somewhat fascinating film when considered purely as an artifact of the times in which it was produced. While the story reflects the background of the Great Depression and it is clearly evident in the plight of the character portrayed by Robert Young, it is the black storm clouds of the coming war that cast their shadow across this motion picture. Based on a German novel that is harmless enough to have escaped the flames of a Hitlerian bonfire, the setting is Vienna, 1938. The fluff that is the plot plays out in a city facing its utter doom as Hitler is fated to soon shatter forever the loveliness of the cultural mecca. The delusional will hysterically welcome the evil seducer into their midst and crush the illusion this motion picture projected on thousand of screens. It is the beat of storm troopers' boots that echo in the background, overwhelming the soundtrack as the cast frolics in the Alpine snow soon to run red with the blood of Nazi victims. It is as if monstrous hordes of black helmeted ski troops line the peaks of the slopes, waiting to sweep savagely down upon hapless Hollywood stars. The characters seem oblivious to what is to come but their future is inescapably intertwined with the geo-political environment in which they are trapped. This film stands as a curious moment in time, a snapshot of people dancing on the precipice of the abyss. The Europe in which they exist will soon be no more and they will be engulfed in the wave of unrelenting violence and horror that will break upon them within months. The creative minds behind the production can not ignore the headlines and that shadow of fear fleets across the shallow smiles of the actors. The theatre audiences that watched this film were well aware of what was happening and perhaps had just seen a newsreel of goosestepping SS parading before the swastika draped maniac who would soon touch all their lives with his frigid fingers. It is this background that is the foundation of this production and our hindsight cuts deeply into the way we view this film. The audience of the era sat uneasily in their seats, conscious of the horror awaiting them but in determined denial regarding the future. The audience of today can see that future and watches powerlessly, looking at the images that are now tainted by the dark knowledge of historical perspective. The broad grins that illuminate the opening credits seem forced now and strange in the harsh light of reality. But what indeed is reality once time and history have had their way with it? The images in this movie are the present and what we see is what was as well as what will be. It is in this context that the true value of the film can be discovered and considered.

Neil Doyle 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.

cocoanut_grove "Paradise for Three" is a wonderful movie, full of laughs and winter sports. The delightful and handsome Robert Young is a contest winner who is mistaken for a millionaire by villainous Herman Bing, with Frank Morgan (at his befuddled best) as the real millionaire, mistaken for a hobo. It's also got Sig Rumann, and Mary Astor as a shameless gold-digging hussy. 10 out of 10.