Editing A Letter to Three Wives (section)

==Production==

=== Script ===
Seven months after it was first published in a magazine,<ref name="notes">{{cite web |title=Notes for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/81295/a-letter-to-three-wives#notes|access-date=2024-08-20 |work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]}}</ref> film rights to John Klempner's ''A Letter to Five Wives'' were acquired by [[20th Century-Fox]] in February 1946.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hutchens |first=John K. |date=1946-02-24 |title=People Who Read and Write |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0910F7385D107A93C6AB1789D85F428485F9 |access-date= |work=[[The New York Times Book Review]] |page=22}}</ref> [[Melville Baker]] and Dorothy Bennett wrote the first [[Film treatment|treatments]] of the script. Although he was not credited for the final film, Baker offered the idea for the character of Addie to be heard but not seen.<ref name="notes" /> In October 1946, [[F. Hugh Herbert]] was assigned to write the screen adaptation.<ref>{{cite news |date=1946-10-29 |title=Paramount Names Lake, Ladd to Film |url= |access-date= |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=33}}</ref> His final participation was not confirmed.<ref name="notes" />

The project was shelved until Mankiewicz returned to work on drafts of the script between March and late April 1948.<ref name="notes" /> Studio head [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] and Mankiewicz decided in mid-1948 to reduce the number of marriages to three, and [[Vera Caspary]] adapted the story to ''A Letter to Four Wives''.<ref name="notes" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lower |first1=Cheryl Bray |title=Joseph L. Mankiewicz: critical essays with an annotated bibliography and a filmography |last2=Palmer |first2=R. Barton |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2001}}</ref>{{rp|84}} By June 1948, the project was listed at the top of 20th Century-Fox's films to be produced over the following ten months.<ref>"Hollywood Highlights", ''[[Oakland Tribune]]'', June 14, 1948, p. 21</ref>

==== Casting ====
Even before a script was finished, [[Gene Tierney]], [[Linda Darnell]], [[Maureen O'Hara]], [[Dorothy McGuire]] and [[Alice Faye]] were cast in the proposed ''A Letter to Five Wives'' in November 1946.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Parsons |first=Louella O. |date=1946-10-26 |title=Engel Wants 5 Stars For His Coming Film |work=[[Deseret News]] |location=[[Salt Lake City, Utah]] |page=10}}</ref> To reduce expenses, the studio removed Tierney's role.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Clary |first=Patricia |date=1948-09-09 |title=Odd Methods Used to Cut Movie Costs |work=[[Hollywood Citizen-News]] |page=19}}</ref> By May 1948, [[Anne Baxter]], Crain, Darnell and Sothern were set to play the title roles, and [[Macdonald Carey]] campaigned for a secondary role.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Bob |date=1948-05-04 |title='Babe Ruth' Release Scheduled in August |work=[[Corpus Christi Caller-Times]] |page=8}}</ref><ref name="notes" /> Baxter's part was eliminated when Mankiewicz and studio head [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] reduced the number of wives to three.<ref name=":1" /> [[Joan Crawford]], [[Ida Lupino]] and [[Tallulah Bankhead]] all desired to play the unbilled voice role of Addie that was awarded to [[Celeste Holm]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1949-01-16 |title=An Invisible Star Writes 'A Letter to Three Wives' |work=[[Brooklyn Eagle]] |page=32}}</ref>

In October 1946, it was announced that [[Samuel G. Engel]] had assumed producer duties,<ref name="notes" /> but [[Sol C. Siegel]] replaced Engel in 1948.<ref name="notes" />

=== Filming ===
Production began in early June 1948.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Production Schedule |work=[[Hollywood Citizen-News]] |page=17}}</ref>

The scenes on the riverboat were filmed on the [[Hudson River]] in [[Cold Spring, New York]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Sheaffer |first=Lew |date=1948-06-02 |title=Screen |work=[[Brooklyn Eagle]] |page=10}}</ref> and the children were underprivileged students from the Paulist School in New York's [[Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan|Hell's Kitchen]] neighborhood who were each paid $15 per day.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Berg |first=Louis |date=1948-10-24 |title=3 Girls on a Boat |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=10, ''This Week'' section}}</ref> Other area filming locations included [[Mahopac, New York|Lake Mahopac]], [[Stamford, Connecticut]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=1948-05-30 |title=Coming Here For Shooting |work=[[New York Daily News]] |page=B8}}</ref> and [[Hook Mountain State Park]].<ref name=":0" />

Darnell and Sothern were reported to have feuded on set.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kilgallen |first=Dorothy |date=1948-06-26 |title=The Voice of Broadway |work=[[Washington Times-Herald]] |location= |page=29}}</ref>