One of the best films of the 1930's and one of the greatest comedies ever made. This typically uncinematic George Cukor movie may possibly be the very pinnacle of his work on screen because he had the intelligence to film it straight knowing the material and the cast would speak for themselves. And the cast is to die for. You could never recreate it on stage, (even Norma Shearer is wonderful in this one). It may be very un-pc but there are few films that capture that uber-bitch mentality of upper-crust New York society dames and their gold-digging counterparts better than this. It is the zenith of the all the smart-assed, hard-boiled women's pictures of the thirties.
Adapted by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin from Clare Booth Luce's hit play it's about how 'Mrs Stephen Haines', (Shearer at her very best), loses her husband to Crystal Allen, (Joan Crawford before she went all serious on us), with more than a little help from her so-called 'friends', in particular catty Rosalind Russell, (terrific), before winning him back thanks to some new-found friends, (Paulette Goddard and Mary Boland among them). Men are conspicuous by their absence and it's to everyone's credit that you never miss them. A joy from start to finish.
Adapted by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin from Clare Booth Luce's hit play it's about how 'Mrs Stephen Haines', (Shearer at her very best), loses her husband to Crystal Allen, (Joan Crawford before she went all serious on us), with more than a little help from her so-called 'friends', in particular catty Rosalind Russell, (terrific), before winning him back thanks to some new-found friends, (Paulette Goddard and Mary Boland among them). Men are conspicuous by their absence and it's to everyone's credit that you never miss them. A joy from start to finish.