Trio

The second of three movies showcasing the short stories of W. Somerset Maugham, "Trio" gives us three more stories, the first two of which are light and frothy things that fairly dance off the screen. The second, "Mr. Know-All," is remarkable for its wonderful humanness. It seems all the characters who must deal with this Passenger from Hell are quite content to suffer the fool gladly; their comments to each other about Mr. Kelada are neither mean nor cruel, only witty and downright philosophical. I enjoyed this story (and its ending, celebrating people at their finest) immensely. The third, and longest, story, "The Sanitorium" failed to reach beyond the grinding melodrama of, say, "The High and the Mighty" -- a bunch of people thrown together show what they're made of. The rather sappy ending didn't help. But your mileage may vary, of course. Luckily, good solid film-making raises this problematic movie higher than it might otherwise have landed.