Yet another musical biopic

Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby are songwriters who aren't as well remembered by name today as some other writers, in part because they didn't write any well-known Broadway musicals, or as much in the way of songs that have stood the test of time. A few have, such as Connie Francis' recording of "Who's Sorry Now", or "I Want to Be Loved By You". But they still had enough of a legacy when MGM started doing a series of biopics of songwriters that they too were the subject of one: Three Little Words.

The movie opens up in 1918. Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) is part of a vaudeville double act with his long-suffering girlfriend, Jessie Brown (Vera-Ellen). Bert wants to marry Jessie, and she'd be willing to, but she wants him to settle down, or at least stick to just vaudeville. Bert wants to try all sorts of other things in entertainment, such as music, screenplays, and even magic acts. Jack of all trades, master of none is an idea that makes Jessie nervous.

So Bert has to try his other work in secret. When he goes to a place out by Coney Island to do his magic show as "Kendall the Great", playing the piano is Harry Ruby (Red Skelton). Harry isn't just a piano player; he'd like to write his own songs and seems to have some talent for it. But the producer doesn't need new songs. He needs a magician's assistant for Kendall, or at least one who can be the man behind that curtain you're not supposed to pay attention to. It's not an auspicious beginning, however, as Harry screws up the act.

Some time later, Bert is back on stage with Jessie in a successful show, at least until he injures his knee in a backstage accident. Jessie thinks this is a perfect time for Bert to take up songwriting, as that's something that could help make ends meet once the two of them are married. But Bert thought of that as a bit of a hobby compared to "serious" playwriting. So they go their separate ways for a while, although they do eventually get married.

Bert writes one moderately successful tune, but only the one. When he's with a music publisher, the two of them hear one of the pluggers in the front office playing a tune over and over. That someone is Harry Ruby, and the two agree it's a catchy enough tune. So the publisher brings Harry in for the two of thm to try to match words and music. Eventually, Bert realizes who Harry Ruby is from his past, and they have a breakup of their own.

Except that the one song they worked on together becomes a big hit. And Harry takes out an ad calling Kalmar and Ruby a hot new songwriting team. So they have to start working together, and obviously the pairing pays off since we wouldn't have a movie if the pairing didn't. Eventually, however, old differences come back up and derail not only the professional partnership, but also their friendship. It's going to take some doing to bring the two men back together.

Three Little Words is a competent and pleasant enough movie, but I think it's going to appeal more to people who are fans of that era of music than a more general public. That's because a lot of the songs don't hold up all that well apart from "Who's Sorry Now" (sung by Gloria De Haven) and "I Want to Be Loved By You" (sung by a young Debbie Reynolds with Carleton Carpenter). Red Skelton is quite good in a role that provides a bit of comedy, but is nowhere near as zany as in most of his movies. Fred Astaire, unsurprisingly does a good job in both the acting and the dancing parts of the movie.

There are a lot of other music-related biopics I'd recommend first, but Three Little Words is certainly worth catching the next time it shows up on TCM.