Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Of all the innumerable B movies churned out by MGM to fill the lower half of a double bill it was inevitable that every once in a while one would jell into an mini classic. Paradise for Three is one of those happy accidents.The story of hidden identities and crossed signals played for laughs certainly wasn't new even in 1938 but director Buzzell moves things along at breakneck speed and is fortunate to have the cast filled out with some of the best character actors working at that time.The nominal leads are Robert Young and Florence Rice and while Young is his usual polished, amusing self and Rice is pretty and game they aren't really the engine that makes the movie run. That falls to the main trio of supporting players, Mary Astor, Edna May Oliver and especially the delightfully wacky Frank Morgan. Astor is all sly cunning as a gold digger with an amazing wardrobe and Edna May grumbles and fusses as only she can enduring hilarious indignities along the way. But it is Morgan and his dithery befuddlement and kindly manner who steals the picture. The blending together of all their terrific work manages to take the ordinary material and add an extra punch to it that makes it laugh out loud funny in several spots and an undiscovered gem.

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.

This is one of those films that you see and then can't understand why it isn't more famous. This delightful film is clearly one of the best comedies of the 1930s--you today practically no one has heard of it! The film begins in Austria. The owner .of a soap company (Frank Morgan) has sponsored a contest where the two people who write the best company jingle each will receive a two-week trip to a resort in the Alps. The first prize is won by Robert Young--a very poor man who desperately needs a job. The second prize is claimed by Morgan himself! Whether this is clearly nepotism or not is uncertain....but you assume his owning the company MUST have had something to do with this win! As for Young, he needs money more than a trip but decides to go anyway--perhaps if he hobnobs with the rich at this resort it will open up some doors to a job. As for Morgan, on a lark, he decides to go there as well--but incognito. He's tired of the high society life and decides to just go as a regular guy--in regular guy clothes. However, before they both arrive, Morgan's nosy housekeeper (Edna May Oliver) calls ahead to the hotel to be sure they treat her boss well--after all, he's a millionaire and should be pampered. But, in a case of mistaken identity, the hotel manager thinks that Young is the rich millionaire--and he and his assistant dote on him and give him a deluxe room. At the same time, they are both snobs and when they see Morgan in his ordinary clothes, they assume he's just some poor jerk who won the contest and treat him like dirt!The hotel workers are not the only ones who make this same mistake. A gold-digger (Mary Astor) thinks Young is her meal ticket and begins throwing herself at him incessantly. Only later, when she reads through a copy of "Who's Who" does she realize that Morgan is rich and single--then she chases him like a hungry lion chasing a Porterhouse steak! In addition to these characters, the vacation begins to really hum when Oliver shows up--along with Morgan's daughter (Florence Rice). In addition, Morgan's butler (Reginald Owen) comes along--posing as a rich industrialist. Oliver and Owen are fantastic in these comedic roles and provide lots of rich color to the film. Rice, though not in a comedic role, was also quite good and it's odd she never really gained fame as a star.Once Oliver and Rice show up, in addition to the plot involving Astor trying to vamp Young and Morgan, Rice and Young hit it off as well. The only problem is that Young doesn't know that Rice is rich--and she's afraid to tell him because he says he can't stand rich folks! So how will all these stories work out and will the snobs at the resort ever get their comeuppance? See for yourself--though I can pretty much guarantee you'll see everyone get what they deserve. The way the film takes all these elements and ties them all together AND makes you laugh out loud (I know I did several times) is wonderful and just goes to show you what wonderful writing and acting can do. Despite not having a lot of 'big name' stars, this is a great little film and one of the reasons I didn't give it a 10 was the sloppily made skiing sequences--these will NOT come off as well as the James Bond skiing scenes, that's for sure! Overall, a lot of fun and not a bad date movie provided you have someone who also appreciates movies made in "the good old days", too! And, by the way, if she or he doesn't...find someone else!By the way, my theories for as to why this film is a hidden gem, I have two ideas. First, while these were all fine actors, they were not top names and some times this is a strike against a film. Second, this was made just before WWII and feelings towards Austria were NOT at an all-time high now that the country was absorbed into the Nazi empire. Plus, once WWII started, it wasn't like the studio was going to re-release a comedy that takes place in Vienna and the Alps.

This is sort of the reverse of the sublime, and rarely shown "Easy Living." In that, working girl Jean Arthur is treated to life as a rich person. Here, tycoon Frank Morgan masquerades as an average Joe.The cast could (with the exception of Robert Young, though he is OK here) scarcely be improved on. Mary Astor graces anything in which she appears. She was one of the true greats. Edna May Oliver, Frank Morgan, Herman Bing … They're all fine and here work well as an ensemble.The title is a bit misleading. It sounds racy and, though there are some faux naughty scenes involving devious divorcée Astor, it is good clean fun. I wonder who actually are the three?Nevertheless, it's a charmer: not a great movie but a highly appealing one.