Have you ever noticed the amount of movies from the 1950s that were shot on location, showing grand landscape shots in aerial views, and sometimes out of airplane windows? Airplane travel wasn't what it is now; back in the day, it was an event, not an everyday occurrence. People dressed up in "travel clothes", looked forward to the meal served on the plane, and forged a connection with the stewardess for a few hours. If you're at all curious about the training and occupation of a 1950s stewardess, Three Guys Named Mike gives you a great education. Jane Wyman stars as a young passionate woman starting her career as a stewardess in American Airlines. She balances over-confidence with total fear in order to cope on her first few trips, and while I normally can't stand her as an actress, Jane does give every emotion as her character's supposed to. Still, I absolutely hate her classic haircut, and I find her posture and mannerisms off-putting. Had the movie starred Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young, or Doris Day, it would have been understandable that three men would fight over here-but Jane Wyman? I don't get it.The three men are Howard Keel, Van Johnson, and Barry Sullivan. Howard is an incredibly handsome airline pilot, Van is a poor science researcher, and Barry is an advertising executive. If you're wondering how Jane will ever choose between such fantastic prospects, you obviously have never laid eyes on Howard Keel in his captain's uniform. He should have just grinned into the camera for ninety minutes straight; the movie would have been fantastic. As it is, I couldn't understand why Jane would ever look at another man after meeting Howard! I didn't end up liking the movie because Jane's character was an idiot and always made mistakes. But if you like movies that follow the same vein as Tom, Dick, and Harry, you can give this one a shot. At least you'll have eye candy to drool over.

Three Guys Named Mike is an unapologetic romantic comedy with a strong twist of chick-flick, but turns out to be way more than that in the final act.After fulfilling her childhood dream and becoming a stewardess the sprightly Marcy encounters three men, the Mikes, as she takes to the skies. Each comes to represent different possible futures not so much for what they are but for what Marcy herself is at her core. When all three come together at once her decision-making will doubtless determine her future. A false step here and she will be trapped in the "wrong life." But how to decide? Well, fortunately with a good bit of humor! While Marcy's adventures start out pretty slow they pick up pace in the second reel, and when the girls get an apartment in Hollywood the dialog starts to explode with humor and wonderful comedic situations. We start to see not only the original sprightly nature but the wits and building character of this young woman, coming to the rare case of a film that leverages our love for the characters, our concern for what they do, and our sheer entertainment with great lines all sweeping into an ending that we may have--or may not have--guessed.

Noticeable cast—Mrs. Wyman is the stewardess, Howard Keel is the 1st Mike, Van Johnson is the 2nd Mike, a certain Barry Sullivan, who resembles a fellow who played vampires in the '70s, Langella, is the 3rd Mike ;a bright stewardess meets three guys—one's an airline pilot who takes a rather noble view of his job, 'the whole world to fly around', dazzlingly tourism—bent (that's the future husband of Miss Ellie from DALLAS—Keel—perhaps even less likable as a dynamic youngster, without that contemplative bonhomie given by age); one's a scientist who studies Bioluminescence and looks like a poster—boy (Johnson, you've already guessed); one's a businessman who works in the advertising and might be the creepiest of the trio.This Jane Wyman comedy is not so much unfunny (because there are occasionally things which could make one laugh if in a movie theater), as it is uninspired and unlikable, a bit stale, if you take my meaning; and another thing—the settings bizarrely leave the impression of a rarefied world, as if the action takes place in a depopulated society, as if they barely gathered a few people for the stage. Other than that now, Mrs. Wyman plays a self—confident stewardess taking the first steps in the job, the movie would of required that conventional '50s hedonism of the sex comedies. Maybe more Mikes would of fueled the script up? The male stars, Van Johnson and Keel, are perhaps a bit better as comedians than Mrs. Wyman; but then again, the script is so lifeless ….It occurred to me that our Spader resembles Johnson—well, if added a bit of perfidiousness and malice to that missionary blandness ….It takes long to establish the basic comical situation, that a girl meets three men named Mike—Van Johnson enters after a ½ an hour; the too short scene, of a quiet and mild poetry, where he shows the stars (Ursa Major, Casiopeea) to the girl and the stewardess is touching—as are generally the people taking an interest in the stars.

Perky, freshly-scrubbed, impertinent Jane Wyman trains to be a airline stewardess with American Airlines; once in the air, she clashes lightly with pilot Howard Keel and passenger Van Johnson, while on the ground she has a slight run-in with Barry Sullivan. All three men--all named Mike--quickly come around with romantic notions (this is the kind of '50's comedy where men can't wait to get hitched), but Wyman is so busy hatching ideas and shooting from the hip that she barely notices all the male attention. What begins as a smartly-written and executed glimpse at a stewardess's life in the sky is soon hustled right into romantic comedy territory. The question is obvious (whom will she choose?), yet I didn't find any of these potential suitors capable of handling Wyman, who is continually mouthing off in a wide-eyed, nonchalantly feminine way. This puff-piece, directed with snap but no flair by Charles Walters, is nearly impossible to critique seriously; if pressed, I would have to say the fist-fight in the photographer's apartment wouldn't really be worthy of the front page of the newspaper (did the fight last long enough for reporters and shutterbugs to show up?). Walters captures first-day-on-the-job jitters exceptionally well, but Sidney Sheldon's screenplay goes soft too fast. The final line between the men is amusing, but what we don't get see at the fade-out is a career girl who feels alive up in the air quickly tied down in suburbia with kids tugging at her apron. **1/2 from ****