Three Guys Named Mike (1951)
Enthusiastic and slightly accident-prone, Marcy Lewis takes a job as an airline stewardess and finds herself courted by three men who happen to share a first name: a company pilot, a distracted university scientist, and a smooth advertising man. She has to work out which Mike she actually wants.
A light MGM romantic comedy directed by Charles Walters from an early Sidney Sheldon screenplay, Three Guys Named Mike drew on the real adventures of American Airlines stewardess Ethel “Pug” Wells and doubled as a feature-length advertisement for air travel, with the airline’s name all over the picture. It entered the public domain after the copyright went unrenewed.
Background
Three Guys Named Mike is a 1951 MGM romantic comedy directed by Charles Walters, from a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon. Jane Wyman plays Marcy Lewis, an enthusiastic and slightly accident-prone airline stewardess courted by three men who share a first name, played by Van Johnson, Howard Keel and Barry Sullivan. The story drew on the real adventures of an American Airlines stewardess, and the film carries heavy airline promotion throughout, with the airline’s name visible in many scenes. It was a light, popular comedy of its day, and it runs about ninety minutes. It later entered the public domain.
What to watch for
Look for the film’s use of the airline setting, with uniformed stewardesses, travel scenes and cabin interiors that show the era’s glamorized view of commercial flight. The comedy depends on Wyman’s brisk, flustered energy as she works out which Mike she wants. Each of the three men represents a different type: a company pilot, a distracted university scientist and a smooth advertising man. The film’s cheerfulness is typical of MGM’s postwar romances, and its open advertisement for air travel is part of its period character. Notice how the three romantic options are set up to contrast with one another, giving the story its comic structure.
