Gene Kelly plays Captain Jeff Eliot, who, while on leave, returns to Munich in 1947 while on leave to seek out the Lehrt family, who hid him in their cellar after he escaped from a prison camp with a few men, after having presumably been shot down during a bombing over Innsbruck and having to bail out. He wants to express his gratitude for saving his life, but finds the house was bombed out and that they don’t live there anymore. Lt. Parker (Richard Egan), his roommate for the duration of his stay, helps him find out that Lehrt and his wife were killed by the bombs in July 1944.
Eliot is one.
Eliot finds out that the Lehrt daughter, Wilhemina (Pier Angeli), is 18 years old and still alive. Parker suggests that they search the nightclubs that have women who work hard for their money. Variable Deutschmarks to dance with the women, or to be alone with them. He discovers that Wilhemina is one of those women at the Silhouette, which has a boisterous German singer/pianist named Hiesemann (Claus Clausen) and a revolving circular dance floor. Eliot pays the necessary Deutschmarks first to dance with her, as she demands, and then pays what’s necessary to be alone with her, to talk with her and understand what has happened. She suggests that they go to Salzburg in Austria to visit friends, a couple and their children. He agrees.
Wilhemina is two.
The devil indeed makes three, being the sinister underpinnings of this generally low-key, plodding drama, in which Wilhemina’s main reason for wanting to go to Salzburg is revealed, who the patriarch of that family truly is, and that while the Third Reich may have been devastated, ending World War II, pieces of it are still alive and trying to crawl together to be whole again.
Just like Kelly’s previous Black Hand, the drama takes too long to develop, only making its most sizable impact toward the end. There is a concerted push for the main attraction to be the interplay of Kelly and Angeli, with Captain Eliot relieved to find Wilhemina alive at least, soon smitten with her, and then discovering the truth about her actions, even though he doesn’t want to believe them at first after he hears about them from Colonel Terry (Richard Rober). Wilhemina has no illusions about what she does, and never lets on about them to Eliot until he forces her to. In the meantime, they spend a pleasant Christmas together with that family in Salzburg, and director Andrew Marton tries to push hard on the chemistry he wants between them but it’s not there. Angeli doesn’t have the skill to make that work, although, like many other less-famous actresses of the time who co-starred with famous actors, she’s at least interesting to look at. But that doesn’t help the story any.
The only attraction in The Devil Makes Three that works as promised are the views of Germany and Austria, Eliot and Wilhemina driving on the Autobahn, the quaint, ornate streets of Salzburg, the sobering look at bombed-out houses that remain from the war. The Devil Makes Three is only worthwhile for that history, because there’s a lot of mundane waiting otherwise.
This latest Warner Archive DVD release features only the trailer, which is sharp and very well-preserved. It’s also apparent that Warner Archive has been good to Warner Bros. because back in its early days, when I ordered The Adventures of Mark Twain and Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Warner Archive releases had a blue cover with “Archive Collection” at the top, the title of the movie below that, and an image from the movie in the middle. Releases were always uniform.
Now, “Archive Collection” is still at the top, but it’s a white cover with the apparent poster of each movie taking up the rest of the cover, and the DVD itself, which also used to be blue with just the title, is also white, with an image from the movie on it and the title blazing across it. However, that depends on the movie, since the DVD for Black Hand was in red with the title in yellow.
Custom DVDs for each movie, as decided by those behind the Warner Archive name. They’ve gotten better at this very quickly and it shows. It’s what helps make the Warner Archive thrive.
Purchase now from the Warner Archive Collection.
