Three Men & A Baby/Little Lady
THREE MEN & A BABY (PG)
D: Leonard Nimoy
Touchstone/Silver Screen Partners III (Ted Field &
Robert W. Cort)
US 1987
102 mins
Comedy
W: James Orr & Jim Cruickshank [based on the
screenplay "Trois Hommes et un Couffin" by Coline Serreau]
DP: Adam Greenberg
Mus: Marvin Hamlisch
Tom Selleck (Peter Mitchell), Steve Guttenberg
(Michael Kellam), Ted Danson (Jack Holden), Nancy Travis (Sylvia)
Three swinging bachelors living together in a
luxurious Manhattan penthouse have their lives thrown into turmoil when a baby is left on their doorstep.
This American remake of 1985 French farce "Trois
Hommes et un Couffin" (or "Three Men & A Cradle" for those who parle Anglais) was a enormously successful, becoming one of the biggest films of 1987.
The three leads acquit themselves well, but it's Tom
Selleck who comes off best, playing the relatively straight man to Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson's more kooky characters.
There was also a myth surrounding the film that a
ghost is seen in the background during one of the scenes. It is, of course, completely untrue, the "ghost" simply being a cardboard cutout of Ted Danson lazily left on set by a naughty
stagehand.
It's a comedy which worked best in the yuppie 1980's,
especially with the portrayal of three men who are absolutely clueless when it comes to bringing up an infant. Times have moved on, but the film still remains a modest classic of 80's
cinema.
6/10
THREE MEN & A LITTLE LADY (PG)
D: Emile Ardolino
Touchstone/Interscope (Ted Field & Robert W.
Cort)
US 1990
100 mins
Comedy
W: Charlie Peters, Sara Parriott & Josann McGibbon
[based on characters from "Three Men & A Baby"]
DP: Adam Greenberg
Mus: James Newton Howard
Tom Selleck (Peter Mitchell), Steve Guttenberg (Michael
Kellam), Ted Danson (Jack Holden), Nancy Travis (Sylvia), Christopher Cazenove (Edward Hargreave), Fiona Shaw (Elspeth Lomax)
Fans of the original film will see this as a guilty
pleasure even though the story is basically a pantomime. The three bachelors from the first film set off for England to prevent the mother of their "adopted" from marrying a man who doesn't
like children.
The film is rather slapdash in its treatment and isn't
quite sure what kind of comedy it's trying to be, veering from tawdry sex comedy to crude slapstick before ending in farce.
It has its heart in the right place and plays on the "cute
strings", but the story wouldn't have seen the light of day had the first film not made the production company an absolute fortune. The main trio of male stars are completely upstaged by
Fiona Shaw's uppity schoolteacher who takes a shine to Tom Selleck's character.
A good conclusion to a much-loved comedy double
bill.
6/10
