After his spectacular Ben Hur, director William Wyler wanted to go back to his roots and re-make the first film he ever did for Sam Goldwyn, These Three, based on Lillian Hellman's hit Broadway play, The Children's Hour. Hellman had originally been inspired by a story about a lesbian scandal in a girls' school published in an anthology of true crime stories called "Bad Companions".

Before These Three was even made, it was already banned by the Production Code and Goldwyn was the only producer who would touch it. When it was pointed out to him that the play was about lesbians, Goldwyn merely shrugged. "So," he said, "we'll make them Americans."

Actually that's exactly what they did - and believe it or not, it worked for its time. But by the 1960s Wyler felt that the changing social climate would allow him to tell the real story without compromise. What he didn't count on was that 30 years later he was now too conservative for his audience. Shirley MacLaine, who starred as the lesbian alongside Audrey Hepburn, said: "He chickened out. He gutted scenes we had in the middle of the picture which showed that Martha was in love with Karen. He said he couldn't do it." Nowadays the film is remembered for its star performances, and as co-star James Garner remembers: "I wasn't really looking for the part so much as the association. I wanted to be in good company." Andrew Horn