Three Bad Sisters

Bel-Air/United-Artists released several low budget-no name films in the 50's and this is one of them. The great title is misleading, though, because actually there are two bad sisters and one confused one. One of the bad sisters is downright sociopathic and proves to be the most dangerous.. My favorite is Marla English as Vicki. A nympho with a Bettie Page hairstyle, she sports some very provocative outfits and tosses off some very suggestive lines---one of which almost floored me. The plot is convoluted and confusing , the acting is OK to bad, the script is trashy and overwrought but there are cool clothes and cool cars. And there's a harpy of an aunt constantly stirring up trouble for the hunky hero the girls toss around when they're not fighting and sniping at each other. It's all played seriously except for English who seems to be having fun with her trampy role. I like this sort of stuff. Call it kitsch, call it dumb but it is what is---a low budget yet kind've stylish relic of the 50's. It's unique in it's own way and I appreciate something different now and then. The print is good and I liked the music score throughout. Check it out and enjoy so long as you know we're talking low budget b&w melodrama with some greedy, mixed up and even crazy rich girls played by no name starlets who are (at times gaudily) dressed to the hilt.

Couldn't wait to get my hands on this gem..True fifties over the top melodrama...Loved the walk down memory lane with the up and coming stars of the time.....Totally B-Grade....Totally entertaining...and wait for it!!!! Produced by "Bel Air Productions"..Big cars...Nasty dames, matinee idol leading man (John Bromfield), who looks a bit like Richard Egan. Loved Marla English, Kathleen Hughes and Sara Shane as the sisters. Don't expect an academy award picture...Sit back and enjoy a great and entertaining black and white B-Grade high camp 73 minutes of indulgence.

I won't even pretend that this is a good movie. THREE BAD SISTERS was released in 1956, when I was still a young boy. I couldn't go to see it because it had been condemned by the Legion of Decency. I had to wait more than 50 years to see it. I went to the TCM website and requested it. Much to my surprise, there it was in the listings within a few weeks. Thanks, TCM.After having seen this movie, I have no idea why the Legion condemned it in the first place.THREE BAD SISTERS starred Marla English, Kathleen Hughes and Sarah Shane as the sisters with John Bromfield as, dare I say it, the bone of contention. The supporting cast included Lex Barker (one of the Tarzans) and Madge Kennedy as a boozy old harpy of an aunt.Brunette Marla English (The She Creature) was my favorite pin-up of the era. She plays a sluttish man-trap named Vickie and gets to deliver all the suggestive dialogue. (There's no sex in the movie). Marla is my main reason for purchasing this movie. She had a short career and this movie displays her talents to her best advantage.Blonde Kathleen Hughes plays Valerie and is made up to look like Marilyn Monroe. She's the sociopath of the family.Sarah Shane plays Lorna, an insecure woman suffering from chronic fits of depression.The girls' father dies in a plane crash before the movie begins and both Valerie and Vickie spend the rest of the movie making trouble for each other and the hapless Lorna. The best scene in the movie presents us with a cat-fight between two of the sisters, hinted at in the tacky poster art on the cover.This melodrama is just plain silly and stupid.I'm giving this movie three stars only because it's never been out on DVD or VHS until now and it has a certain nostalgic charm. The girls are hot stuff, especially Marla English and there are some cool old cars in it; a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker convertible, a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere convertible, a 1955 Desoto station wagon and a Jaguar XK-120 Roadster.This movie is for fans of 1950s Kitsch only.

Vintage movie

I usually like a good BEL AIR release,and this one isn't bad, tho perhaps not among the best. The Limited MGM DVD R release is excellent quality. 4.3 ratio with good sound. No extras as per normal. Sadly I found the film suffers from poor performences from all 3 ladies which I thought odd. None of them are "stars" or known for their thespian talents, but all 3 have given better performences. Perhaps script and director failed them?? The plot is a fairly typical melo/potboiler, with the 3 titular sisters plotting various nasty things to do to each other and anyone who gets in their way. I would have preferred a bit more tawdryness/sleaze, but it's OK and the 73 minutes pass, but not without a few dull patches. Did I enjoy it? Yes, but there are better Bel Air movies out there (I have a few of their westerns and they are good). I recomend this but with reservations, and do read the other 5 and 4 star reviews for a different opinion.

The title's a lie, for a start - there's one evil sister (Hughes), a wayward trampy one (English), and a good girl (Shane). I suppose Hughes's downright rottenness means she's bad enough for three! She smokes a lot too. This 1955 Bel-Air production (released in '56) is an unremarkable but competent example of the teenage bad girl sub-genre of the period, with the gimmick that the girls are rich. If it had been made by AIP they would have had far humbler backgrounds. Picture/sound very good on this MGM/UA product, but please be aware that it's a MOD DVD-R, albeit high-quality.