3 Is a Family
Cast & Crew
Edward Ludwig
Marjorie Reynolds
Charles Ruggles
Fay Bainter
Helen Broderick
Arthur Lake
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When her husband, naval officer Gene Mitchell, is transferred to a base in Norfolk, Virginia, Kitty Mitchell takes her nine-month-old twin daughters home to her parent's tiny apartment in New York City. Kitty's parents, Sam and Frances Whitaker, live with her aunt Irma Dalrymple, and when Kitty asks to leave the twins so that she can visit Gene in Norfolk, Irma moves into the living room to make room for the babies. The Whitakers' son Archie, who has just enlisted in the service, and his pregnant wife Hazel also live in the same apartment building. The family's housing problems escalate when their landlord, Mr. Steele, discovers that Hazel is pregnant and refuses to renew their lease on the grounds that children are not allowed in the building. Upon arriving in Norfolk, Kitty phones New York to inquire about her children. As Irma answers the phone, the new maid accidentally blows up the gas stove. When Kitty hears Irma shriek and drop the phone, she leaves immediately for New York. Things have quieted down by the time that Kitty arrives, and when Frances comes home from work that night, she announces that she has solved their problems by making a down payment of $2,500 on a new house. Sam is agitated when he hears the news, because he has just withdrawn their entire savings to invest in a defense plant. Soon after, Kitty receives a telegram from Gene, notifying her that he is coming home for a twenty-four hour leave. While Sam, Kitty and Irma meet Gene at the airport, Frances has a talk with Mr. Steele. Left alone with the twins, the maid consumes a bottle of scotch. When Gene arrives home early, he finds the apartment deserted. Soon after, Sam, Kitty and Irma return and are horrified to find the twins missing. When Gene finds the empty scotch bottle, he surmises that the maid is drunk, and he and Kitty go to look for the babies. Just then, Hazel and Archie walk in the door, and Hazel goes into premature labor. When Archie phones the hospital, he is told that there are no empty beds and that Hazel must deliver her baby at home. To add to the confusion, the real estate agent phones Frances to inform her that her check has bounced, prompting Sam to finally admit that he withdrew the money to buy stock in the defense plant. Meanwhile, Gene and Kitty find their babies and the drunken maid, who had decided to take them for a walk in their stroller. As Dr. Bartell arrives to deliver Hazel's baby, Gene's friends, Lt. Joe Franklin and his pregnant wife Marian, come to visit. Upon learning of the family's housing problems, Joe tells Sam that Steele cannot evict Hazel because her husband is leaving for the Army, and as the dependent of a serviceman, she cannot be evicted. All ends happily as Hazel delivers her baby, the family realizes that Kitty and the twins can live with Hazel with impunity, and Sam discovers that his defense plant is merging with a large company, thus boosting the value of his stock.
Director
Edward Ludwig
Cast
Marjorie Reynolds
Charles Ruggles
Fay Bainter
Helen Broderick
Arthur Lake
Hattie Mcdaniel
Jeff Donnell
John Philliber
Walter Catlett
Clarence Kolb
Else Janssen
Renie Riano
Warren Hymer
Clyde Fillmore
Christian Rub
Donna Lambertson
Elissa Lambertson
William Terry
Cheryl Walker
Fred Brady
Margaret Early
Billy Howe
Mary Ann Bricker
Sam Finn
Tom Dugan
Edward Earle
Christine Forsyth
Roberta Smith
Ralph Peters
Dutch Hendrian
Billy Engle
Ethel Desmond
Alice Fleming
Bill O'leary
Nolan Leary
Sarah Padden
Gwen Kenyon
Madeline Grey
Nan Holliday
Betty Melville
Sandy Harper
Ann Adams
Henri Da Sota
Eddie Kane
Howard Mitchell
Shirley O'hara
Kelly Flint
Mary Moore
Trude Lavoice
Johnny Miles
Gene Garrick
Joey Ray
Herbert Evers
Darby Jones
Dudley Dickerson
Buck Woods
Charlie Sullivan
Emmett Vogan
Sherry Cameron
Sam Bernard
Marjorie Beckett
Babe London
Ezelle Poule
Charles Mcdonald
Roy Butler
Frank Austin
Crew
James E. Altwies
John Burch
Harry Chandlee
Glenn Cook
Robert Crandall
W. M. Dalgleish
Werner R. Heymann
Charles Lawton Jr.
Sol Lesser
Norbert Miles
Talmadge Morrison
Phil Paradise
J. Patrick
Marjorie L. Pfaelzer
Charles Previn
Fleet Southcott
Percy J. Townsend
W. V. Wolfe
Alfred Ybarra
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Sound
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film had its world premiere in Norfolk and Richmond, VA on November 23, 1944. According to a news item in AEx, producer Sol Lesser bought the rights to Henry and Phoebe Ehprons' play for $50,000 as a vehicle for Cheryl Walker, Lon McCallister, Marjorie Riordan and William Terry, the young stars of his 1943 film Stage Door Canteen. Other news items add that William Wadsworth, who played the role of the doctor in the Broadway production of Three's a Family, and Charlotte Greenwood, who played the maiden aunt, were to reprise their stage roles for the film, but neither appeared in the released film. Although another Hollywood Reporter news item adds Edward Hyans to the cast, his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. The picture received an Academy Award nomination in the Sound Recording category.
