Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed and wrote the screenplay (based on John Klempner’s novel) for the 1949 feature "A Letter To Three Wives" and would receive Academy Awards for both efforts. The film was also nominated for Best Picture.

As three women head off on a boating trip with a group of children, they receive a letter written by a woman claiming to have stolen one of their husbands. Which one? The letter doesn’t say. Faced with the prospect of a shattered life, each woman soul searches throughout the day:

Deborah Bishop (Jeanne Crain) feels inadequate amidst her husband’s (Jeffrey Lynn) country club set. Everyone sees Lora Mae Hollingsway (Linda Darnell) as a gold digger, including her husband (Paul Douglas). And Rita Phipps (Ann Sothern) has a career that makes her husband (Kirk Douglas) feel neglected to the point of infidelity.

All three endure the anguish of uncertainty until the boat trip ends - and the truth is revealed.