In 1935, William Wyler signed a contract with independent producer Samuel Goldwyn and was assigned his first film, an adaptation of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour (1934). This successful Broadway play, which focused on a rumor of lesbianism between two private school headmistresses, was considered unfilmable by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). In order to appease the MPAA, the resulting film, These Three (1936), jettisoned the queer accusation for one of a polyamorous relationship between the two women and one's fiancé. Otherwise, it preserved the story's structure, with an altered happy ending. In 1961, Wyler would remake the film, this time under its original title, with a screenplay much more faithful to Hellman's 1934 play. Drawing on archival research, including the original Hellman script, this chapter will explore not only the differences in Wyler's two treatments of Hellman's story but also his approach to queer representation in the more liberated censorship period of the early 1960s.

Dashiell Hammett had suggested to Hellman that she read the 1930 book Bad Companions by William Roughead. A chapter in this book focuses on an 1809 Scottish scandal, in which a “malicious child” accused the school's headmistresses of “an inordinate affection” for each other. Hellman took the basic dynamic, transferred it to a cozy American town, and added her trademark ability to strain the bonds between characters for dramatic effect. The play, Hellman's first, opened on Broadway on November 20, 1935. In the play, two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, operate a private girls boarding school, in which they share teaching duties with Martha's aunt, Lily Mortar. Mrs. Mortar, a former stage actress, who is both critical of her niece and taking advantage of her, notices Martha's cold reaction to Karen's new fiancé, Dr. Joseph Cardin. Cardin makes a sick call on a student, the school terror Mary Tilford, who is faking illness to spite Karen. Karen has taken away Mary's privileges due to her bad behavior. Naturally, Cardin declares the girl healthy. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mortar and Martha have an argument in the outer room, in which Mrs. Mortar accusingly suggests that Martha has romantic affections for Karen. Unfortunately, this is overheard by two girls who are waiting to hear Mary's diagnosis.