Third Finger, Left Hand

1940
Approved
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas in Third Finger, Left Hand (1940)

A single magazine editor pretends to be married in order to avoid advances from male colleagues, but complications ensue when she meets a potential suitor.A single magazine editor pretends to be married in order to avoid advances from male colleagues, but complications ensue when she meets a potential suitor.A single magazine editor pretends to be married in order to avoid advances from male colleagues, but complications ensue when she meets a potential suitor.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

1.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The director of the Production Code Administation (PCA) had MGM delete several gags that suggested Margot was pregnant, since, he said, illegitimacy could not be the basis for a comedy.

Goofs
The neon sign over the gaming establishment is Play Palace, but the sign painted on the glass over the front door is Play Place, both identifications appearing in the same shot at the same time. It also was used the previous year in another Myrna Loy film, Lucky Night (1939).

Quotes
Philip Booth: Very romantic
Margot Sherwood Merrick: Madly romantic. It was raining. Spring rain turning the pavement blue. I adore rain.
Philip Booth: I detest it. It gives me head colds. Furthermore, if it was so romantic, why did you leave him?
Margot Sherwood Merrick: It stopped raining.

Connections
References Frankenstein (1931)

Soundtracks
The Riddle
(1940) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Earl K. Brent
Music by David Snell
Played during the opening credits and at the end
Often sung a cappella by Melvyn Douglas
Sung a cappella by Ernest Whitman
Sung a cappella by Myrna Loy
Played by the band at the Wapakoneta, Ohio railroad station

User reviews23

Review

Featured review

6/10

Predictable but with a good cast

Myrna Loy wears a wedding ring on her "Third Finger, Left Hand" in this 1940 comedy, but she's not married. As Margot, the editor of a popular womens magazine, she tells everyone she's married to a guy named Tony. Why? Because every other woman who's had the job has lost it because of the publisher's wife. He's got a roving eye. Meanwhile, Philip Booth (Lee Bowman) wants to marry her, but she just can't seem to find Tony to get a divorce.

Then Margot meets Jeff Thompson (Melvyn Douglas), an artist who figures out that there's no Tony. So he shows up at her house and announces that he is Tony. Now she's in a pickle, and she can't divorce him without marrying him first.

This is a cute comedy, nothing special, with good acting by the always reliable Loy and Douglas. As he sailed through all these supporting roles, Douglas was hiding a serious, incredible dramatic talent. Fortunately, once he was older and there was no studio to cast him as the other man, he was able to show it.

One interesting thing about this film is the role of the train porter Sam, played by Ernest Whitman, who is pulled into service by Jeff to delay the settlement negotiations en route to Reno. Sam is your typical train porter of those days until he tells Jeff that he's taken law correspondence courses. He then recites law to Philip and Margot and delays the divorce. Very unusual for those days, as is the wonderful character of Oliver Cromwell Jones in "Crash Dive" who is one of the soldiers on the submarine. These good roles for African Americans were few and far between back then.