As has been said before 1939 was a great year for Hollywood classics, "Gone with the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Wuthering Heights", "Stagecoach", et.al but I must admit I'd never heard of this film, or its place in the pantheon before now. It merits its spot. Once the novelty of an all-female cast wears off (there' nary a male extra in the backgrounds either), the movie crackles along as a small group of society women present a kaleidoscopic view of relations with men so that while men are absent physically they're ever-present in the dialogue and thoughts of this contrasting set of women-folk. Introduced wittily over the titles alongside their attributional equivalents in the animal world, the actresses play out of their skins and make a two hour plus set-bound movie simply fly by. Central to the whole is Norma Shearer, whose perfect marriage is shattered by her husband's casual infidelity with on-the-make shop girl Joan Crawford in a terrific, venomous turn. Shearer effectively plays queen bee to the drones around her both in her society set and in the motley assemblage at the divorce farm in Reno. She makes the journey from marriage to divorce and back with dignity and intelligence and even if I personally disagree with her choice and the sickly schmaltzy close-up with which she ends the film, about to fall back into her errant (ex-) husband's arms, this doesn't invalidate the fun and wit that has gone before. As good as Crawford and Shearer are, in their contrasting roles, it's Rosalind Russell as the treacherous, waspish Mrs Fowler, who steals the show and gets many of the best situations (her cat fight with Goddard is priceless!) and lines. Goddard too is radiant and knowing in her part, while a young Joan Fontaine simpers pleasantly as the naive "little child" of the group. A special nod also to the child actress playing Shearer's daughter without artifice and yet with appreciable warmth and naturalness. There are one or two anachronistic moments which jar, reflecting contemporary attitudes towards race and censorship, but on the whole, "woman's director" George Cukor keeps all the ingredients close to or at boiling point throughout. Perhaps too many of the speeches are head and shoulder shots fore square to the camera and having got good play out of two servant staff extemporising the doings of their masters, Cukor makes the mistake of repeating the trick immediately afterwards, thus diminishing the comedic impact. Nevertheless, appreciating that some of these criticisms are merely due to a retrospective eye (obviously cinematic times and styles change) on a film which in some respects is dated, there are still some neat turns in the language and phrases used, which still resonate today.
243 Reviews
Divinely Funny
Caledonia Twin #17 September 2000
I just saw this film for the first time a few months ago. I laughed harder than I remember laughing at anything made in the last twenty years. The Women is brilliantly written, brilliantly acted, and a whole lot of fun! Norma Shearer is such a sympathetic Mrs. Haines, and the "Jungle red" scene had me in laughing fits. I just could not stop the video for anything. Rosalind Russell was so funny! I thought the scene in the exercise room was absolutely hysterical. I've always been a fan of the demeure Joan Fontaine of Rebecca, and I was surprised to see her here, though not surprised that she played the lamb! This film is such a delight. I think anyone of any age would enjoy it.
The claws are out, and they're jungle red!
Incalculacable12 March 2006
This movie has one of the best casts ever - Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Joan Fontaine, Hedda Hopper and Virginia Weilder just to make a few. These women carry the movie perfectly and acting is perfection. Some people disagree and say that Norma Shearer acts in a 'silent screen' type of way - but I cannot agree with that. I think she did an excellent job especially when she had the crying scene on the sofa (I don't think I have ever seen anybody cry that well before).
Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) discovers that her husband is having an affair with money-hungry perfume sales girl Chrystal Allen (Joan Crawford). Aided and abetted by her cousin Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) and her army of girlfriends, Mary sets out to win back her man...and teach Chrystal a lesson or two in the process! The movie runs at a rapid pace, and never leaves you bored. The dialog is incredibly witty, it very much surprised me. There was also physical comedy - the hilariously done (and no stunt doubles too!) cat fight between Rosalind Russell and Paulette Goddard. I found the fashion show a bit dragging and too long, but it was still fun looking at all the wonderful classy fashions of that era.
This hilarious comedy about women and their men can appeal to people who are not necessarily fans of old movies. 'The Women' is a wonderful catty, witty, hilarious movie that can be enjoyed by many.
Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) discovers that her husband is having an affair with money-hungry perfume sales girl Chrystal Allen (Joan Crawford). Aided and abetted by her cousin Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) and her army of girlfriends, Mary sets out to win back her man...and teach Chrystal a lesson or two in the process! The movie runs at a rapid pace, and never leaves you bored. The dialog is incredibly witty, it very much surprised me. There was also physical comedy - the hilariously done (and no stunt doubles too!) cat fight between Rosalind Russell and Paulette Goddard. I found the fashion show a bit dragging and too long, but it was still fun looking at all the wonderful classy fashions of that era.
This hilarious comedy about women and their men can appeal to people who are not necessarily fans of old movies. 'The Women' is a wonderful catty, witty, hilarious movie that can be enjoyed by many.
One of my all time favorites
Andrew_Eskridge6 February 1999
The fact that Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford would consent to appear in a movie together is amazing. Shearer in 1939 was the queen of MGM, being the widow of studio production chief Irving Thalberg, and had her choice of material and co-stars. Crawford, although a power in her own right, didn't have Shearer's pull and complained bitterly about it. Crawford fought to take the somewhat supporting, albeit juicy, role because she needed an A picture after a string of flops. So she had to suck it up to work with Shearer.
The two stars had only one scene alone together, and there were no reported problems while filming, except one. Director George Cukor sent Crawford home early when she caused a distraction by loudly clicking her knitting needles off camera as Shearer tried to do her close-ups.
Crawford was proved right in taking the movie, it's one of her most memorable and, finally for once, villainous roles. As Crystal Allen, the scheming homewrecker who is out to sleep her way to a Park Avenue penthouse, she was ideally cast. It was her life.
Rosalind Russell, previously not known as a comedienne, surprised everyone with her rapid-fire sarcastic delivery. She would continue to perfect the biting style for 20 years until she reached the pinnacle with Auntie Mame. Roz gives the strongest performance of the film as the spitefully catty Sylvia Fowler, and I don't think Shearer and Crawford knew what hit them.
As for the long-suffering, hair-clutching, heavy-sighing Norma Shearer, even she was able to make the thankless role of noble Mary Haines memorable. One of her best moments is when she raises her nails and growls "I've had two years to grow claws, Mother, and they're Jungle Red!," and then goes to take her husband back from Crawford. Shearer has a few Silent Screen moments that look out of place, such as collapsing and weeping at her mother's knee. But she makes the character warm and likable and we root for her to win.
There are many gems in the all-female supporting cast. Most spectacular is Mary Boland as the heavy-drinking, high-living Countess De Lave. "L'amour L'amour" she wails as she's about to divorce her fourth studly husband -- for trying to kill her.
Paulette Goddard, the most beautiful member of the cast, is the best I've seen her, as the streetwise Miriam Aarons. Like Crawford, she plays a role she understands, the chorus girl who snags a millionaire. But unlike Crystal, Miriam has a heart -- and Goddard is great at doling out straight-shooting advice and rolling out put-downs under her breath.
Marjorie Main gives a preview of the persona she would later use as Ma Kettle. It was the first time she was able to step out and create the character, and she used it the rest of her career. I never tired of her raucous horse laugh.
I hope Hollywood has the good sense not to update this classic with another misguided remake. It is a priceless diamond in a golden setting.
The two stars had only one scene alone together, and there were no reported problems while filming, except one. Director George Cukor sent Crawford home early when she caused a distraction by loudly clicking her knitting needles off camera as Shearer tried to do her close-ups.
Crawford was proved right in taking the movie, it's one of her most memorable and, finally for once, villainous roles. As Crystal Allen, the scheming homewrecker who is out to sleep her way to a Park Avenue penthouse, she was ideally cast. It was her life.
Rosalind Russell, previously not known as a comedienne, surprised everyone with her rapid-fire sarcastic delivery. She would continue to perfect the biting style for 20 years until she reached the pinnacle with Auntie Mame. Roz gives the strongest performance of the film as the spitefully catty Sylvia Fowler, and I don't think Shearer and Crawford knew what hit them.
As for the long-suffering, hair-clutching, heavy-sighing Norma Shearer, even she was able to make the thankless role of noble Mary Haines memorable. One of her best moments is when she raises her nails and growls "I've had two years to grow claws, Mother, and they're Jungle Red!," and then goes to take her husband back from Crawford. Shearer has a few Silent Screen moments that look out of place, such as collapsing and weeping at her mother's knee. But she makes the character warm and likable and we root for her to win.
There are many gems in the all-female supporting cast. Most spectacular is Mary Boland as the heavy-drinking, high-living Countess De Lave. "L'amour L'amour" she wails as she's about to divorce her fourth studly husband -- for trying to kill her.
Paulette Goddard, the most beautiful member of the cast, is the best I've seen her, as the streetwise Miriam Aarons. Like Crawford, she plays a role she understands, the chorus girl who snags a millionaire. But unlike Crystal, Miriam has a heart -- and Goddard is great at doling out straight-shooting advice and rolling out put-downs under her breath.
Marjorie Main gives a preview of the persona she would later use as Ma Kettle. It was the first time she was able to step out and create the character, and she used it the rest of her career. I never tired of her raucous horse laugh.
I hope Hollywood has the good sense not to update this classic with another misguided remake. It is a priceless diamond in a golden setting.
Women as Darwinian Predators
nycritic3 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Women having cat fights over men never looked better than they did in George Cukor's adaptation of Clare Boothe-Luce's hit Broadway play. An all-star cast of actresses (which included the established, the Broadway vets, and the rising in one huge ensemble), THE WOMEN never once seems as if it's aged a bit because its story could very well be placed in a modern setting.
The only shame I think is that its release coincided with the year 1939. There were too many other movies that were already vying for recognition and because of this massive competition it got lost in the shuffle. Had its release been withheld until the following year, there's no doubt it would have gotten at least an acting nomination, or multiple nominations in different categories including best picture.
The story at the center is any woman's nightmare: that her husband is having an affair and that everyone but her knows about it. Norma Shearer is this woman. She plays Mary Haines, happily married to Stephen Haines and mother of Little Mary. She has no idea that Stephen is having a torrid affair with perfume clerk Crystal Allen, but Sylvia does (as does everyone else) and plans to have Mary find out about it. Sylvia uses the communication skills of a manicurist to have Mary find out about her husband's secret, and things boil up to a crescendo at a fashion show when both Mary and Crystal meet and spar. Mary decides after an argument to leave her husband in a quickie divorce signing at Reno where she meets not only the eccentric Countess deLave but Miriam Aarons, who is the other woman in the Fowler marriage. Sylvia later also arrives in tears and then finds out that Miriam is set to be the next Mrs. Fowler and a fight ensues. At the last moment, Mary gets a call from Stephen: he will marry Crystal Allen after all. Crystal, now the new Mrs. Stephen Haines, takes to his money and her new lifestyle with a vengeance and makes Stephen pretty miserable. On top of that, she is carrying on with a new guy, Buck, who was up to now the Countess deLave's husband. Sylvia of course learns of this, and the news reaches Mary's ears, who tries to win back her husband and re-kindle her marriage using the same viciousness used against her.
At first glance this is a pretty straightforward comedy of manners among the women who inhabit this world -- who are more real than anyone would like to imagine. However, there are a lot of little elements that the script adaptation of Booth-Luce's play tell about women and how they see not only other women in society, rich or poor, but how they see themselves in a world where the next young thing could displace them and their perfect homes. In essence, this is the first movie to tackle the issue of divorce so successfully and movies like THE FIRST WIVES' CLUB and the TV soaps MELROSE PLACE and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES owe a lot to THE WOMEN. The use of the term 'sister' is an interesting one, it being at the heart of the feminist movement -- female bonding is one of the film's strongest points and serves as a counterpart to the viciousness that we see early on. Interesting that Miriam Aarons, herself an "other woman" is the first to come up with the term. She is the exact opposite of Crystal Allen. She also comes from the streets but is a well-meaning woman and Paulette Goddard plays her like she herself has been there.
Cukor definitely knows his actresses and extracts their best performances of their careers. Of the main actresses, the only one to have been past her prime is Norma Shearer but she gives here her last great performance. Restrained, at times even underplayed, vulnerable in a world of female sharks, watch for the scene when she collapses into tears at the news that her husband will marry another woman. This other woman, played by Joan Crawford at a time when she needed the boost in her career (albeit a temporary one), is vicious, made of steel, and Crawford sinks her teeth and claws into Crystal, all growls and purrs, and literally walks off with the movie. Too bad she wasn't considered for a Best Supporting Oscar. This is her best performance on screen, multi-layered, fascinating. An interesting sequence between her and Virginia Weidler (who outdoes her admirably in a sensitive role) playing Mary's daughter is one with future "Mommie Dearest" echoes. And needless to say the rich comedic timing that Rosalind Russell brings to pretty horrific character, Sylvia Fowler. What an actress! She pulls out all the stops in her scenes, going from plain bitchy, to conniving, to furious, to deceived, and all the time in that rapid-fire speech of hers. Marjorie Main, Mary Boland, Lucille Watson, and Joan Fontaine are all great -- well written characters all directed by the equally great George Cukor who has created a timeless classic with this movie.
The only shame I think is that its release coincided with the year 1939. There were too many other movies that were already vying for recognition and because of this massive competition it got lost in the shuffle. Had its release been withheld until the following year, there's no doubt it would have gotten at least an acting nomination, or multiple nominations in different categories including best picture.
The story at the center is any woman's nightmare: that her husband is having an affair and that everyone but her knows about it. Norma Shearer is this woman. She plays Mary Haines, happily married to Stephen Haines and mother of Little Mary. She has no idea that Stephen is having a torrid affair with perfume clerk Crystal Allen, but Sylvia does (as does everyone else) and plans to have Mary find out about it. Sylvia uses the communication skills of a manicurist to have Mary find out about her husband's secret, and things boil up to a crescendo at a fashion show when both Mary and Crystal meet and spar. Mary decides after an argument to leave her husband in a quickie divorce signing at Reno where she meets not only the eccentric Countess deLave but Miriam Aarons, who is the other woman in the Fowler marriage. Sylvia later also arrives in tears and then finds out that Miriam is set to be the next Mrs. Fowler and a fight ensues. At the last moment, Mary gets a call from Stephen: he will marry Crystal Allen after all. Crystal, now the new Mrs. Stephen Haines, takes to his money and her new lifestyle with a vengeance and makes Stephen pretty miserable. On top of that, she is carrying on with a new guy, Buck, who was up to now the Countess deLave's husband. Sylvia of course learns of this, and the news reaches Mary's ears, who tries to win back her husband and re-kindle her marriage using the same viciousness used against her.
At first glance this is a pretty straightforward comedy of manners among the women who inhabit this world -- who are more real than anyone would like to imagine. However, there are a lot of little elements that the script adaptation of Booth-Luce's play tell about women and how they see not only other women in society, rich or poor, but how they see themselves in a world where the next young thing could displace them and their perfect homes. In essence, this is the first movie to tackle the issue of divorce so successfully and movies like THE FIRST WIVES' CLUB and the TV soaps MELROSE PLACE and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES owe a lot to THE WOMEN. The use of the term 'sister' is an interesting one, it being at the heart of the feminist movement -- female bonding is one of the film's strongest points and serves as a counterpart to the viciousness that we see early on. Interesting that Miriam Aarons, herself an "other woman" is the first to come up with the term. She is the exact opposite of Crystal Allen. She also comes from the streets but is a well-meaning woman and Paulette Goddard plays her like she herself has been there.
Cukor definitely knows his actresses and extracts their best performances of their careers. Of the main actresses, the only one to have been past her prime is Norma Shearer but she gives here her last great performance. Restrained, at times even underplayed, vulnerable in a world of female sharks, watch for the scene when she collapses into tears at the news that her husband will marry another woman. This other woman, played by Joan Crawford at a time when she needed the boost in her career (albeit a temporary one), is vicious, made of steel, and Crawford sinks her teeth and claws into Crystal, all growls and purrs, and literally walks off with the movie. Too bad she wasn't considered for a Best Supporting Oscar. This is her best performance on screen, multi-layered, fascinating. An interesting sequence between her and Virginia Weidler (who outdoes her admirably in a sensitive role) playing Mary's daughter is one with future "Mommie Dearest" echoes. And needless to say the rich comedic timing that Rosalind Russell brings to pretty horrific character, Sylvia Fowler. What an actress! She pulls out all the stops in her scenes, going from plain bitchy, to conniving, to furious, to deceived, and all the time in that rapid-fire speech of hers. Marjorie Main, Mary Boland, Lucille Watson, and Joan Fontaine are all great -- well written characters all directed by the equally great George Cukor who has created a timeless classic with this movie.
Best of the Best!
guil124 November 1999
This, by far, is the greatest classic bitch film of all time. It can never be equaled. They tried, but failed, when trying to remake it a musical with a less than glamorous casting of the roles made famous by the all-star female cast of the original written by Clare Boothe Luce. George Cukor, the director, had his hands full with the likes of these dames of fame. Each, in their own right, could steal a scene if left up to them, and they tried. But Cukor, held tight to the reins and kept them all in line. The beginning credits were cleverly done with each star being represented by an animal. Norma Shearer, the doe; the delicious Joan Crawford, a tiger; Roz Russell a cat; Paulette Goddard, a fox; Marjorie Main, a mule; Joan Fontaine, a lamb.
My favorite scenes were the fight scene with Goddard and Russell, bath scene with Crawford, and last scene when all THE WOMEN go at it at the ball. With wonderful, crisp dialogue, beautiful costumes designed by Adrian and a stellar cast, you can see the sparks fly in this all-time classic comedy of 1939.
My favorite scenes were the fight scene with Goddard and Russell, bath scene with Crawford, and last scene when all THE WOMEN go at it at the ball. With wonderful, crisp dialogue, beautiful costumes designed by Adrian and a stellar cast, you can see the sparks fly in this all-time classic comedy of 1939.
A Legendary Comedy Available On DVD
gftbiloxi22 April 2005
The female of the species goes jungle red in tooth and claw in this brilliant screen adaptation of Claire Boothe Luce's famous Broadway play--a wickedly funny portrait of 1930s society women whose lives revolve around beauty treatments, luncheons, fashion shows, and each other's men. Socialite Mary Haines is the envy of her set: rich, beautiful, and happily married... but when her husband steps out on her with a gold-digging perfume counter sales clerk, Mary's so-called friends dish enough dirt to make divorce inevitable whether Mary wants it or not.
The script is wickedly, mercilessly funny, fast paced, razor sharp and filled with such memorable invective that you'll be quoting it for weeks and months afterward: "He says he'd like to do Sylvia's nails right down to the wrist with a buzz-saw;" "Why that old gasoline truck, she's sixty if she's a minute;" "Gimme a bromide--and put some gin in it!" And the all-female cast, which includes every one from Cora Witherspoon to Butterfly McQueen to Hedda Hopper, plays it with tremendous spark.
This was the last significant starring role for Norma Shearer, one of MGM's greatest stars of the 1930s, and she acquits herself very well as the much-wronged Mary Haines. But the real winners are the members of the supporting cast. Joan Crawford is truly astonishing as Crystal Allen, the shop girl who leads Mary's husband astray, and Rosalind Russell gives an outrageously funny performance as the back-biting gossip whose nasty comments precipitate Mary's divorce. Indeed, it is hard to do anything except rave about the entire the cast, which includes such diverse performers as Marjorie Main, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, and Lucille Watson. Even the smallest bit parts score with one-liners that have the impact of a slap in the face, and director George Cukor does an incredible job of keeping everything and every one in sharp focus.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about THE WOMEN is the way in which director Cukor ties the behavior of its characters to their social status. Possessed of absolute leisure and considerable wealth, their energies are inevitably directed into competition for the ultimate status symbol: a successful man. Cukor allows us to sympathize with Mary (Shearer) and laugh at Sylvia (Russell), but he also requires us to pity them--and indirectly encourages grudging admiration for the devious Crystal (Crawford) and the savvy Miriam (Goddard), characters who are considerably more self-reliant. Consequently, not only does THE WOMEN paint a poisonously funny portrait of women as a sex, it takes a hatchet to the society that has shaped their characters as well.
Unfortunately, this landmark comedy has not received the full benefit of what DVD offers. Although the print is crisp, the film has not been restored, and the extras are spurious and hardly do the film justice; while I would recommend the DVD simply because you're likely to wear out a VHS, the DVD has no great advantage over the VHS release. But whether you have it on VHS or DVD, this is one title that you must have in your collection: you'll watch it again and again. A must-have! Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
The script is wickedly, mercilessly funny, fast paced, razor sharp and filled with such memorable invective that you'll be quoting it for weeks and months afterward: "He says he'd like to do Sylvia's nails right down to the wrist with a buzz-saw;" "Why that old gasoline truck, she's sixty if she's a minute;" "Gimme a bromide--and put some gin in it!" And the all-female cast, which includes every one from Cora Witherspoon to Butterfly McQueen to Hedda Hopper, plays it with tremendous spark.
This was the last significant starring role for Norma Shearer, one of MGM's greatest stars of the 1930s, and she acquits herself very well as the much-wronged Mary Haines. But the real winners are the members of the supporting cast. Joan Crawford is truly astonishing as Crystal Allen, the shop girl who leads Mary's husband astray, and Rosalind Russell gives an outrageously funny performance as the back-biting gossip whose nasty comments precipitate Mary's divorce. Indeed, it is hard to do anything except rave about the entire the cast, which includes such diverse performers as Marjorie Main, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, and Lucille Watson. Even the smallest bit parts score with one-liners that have the impact of a slap in the face, and director George Cukor does an incredible job of keeping everything and every one in sharp focus.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about THE WOMEN is the way in which director Cukor ties the behavior of its characters to their social status. Possessed of absolute leisure and considerable wealth, their energies are inevitably directed into competition for the ultimate status symbol: a successful man. Cukor allows us to sympathize with Mary (Shearer) and laugh at Sylvia (Russell), but he also requires us to pity them--and indirectly encourages grudging admiration for the devious Crystal (Crawford) and the savvy Miriam (Goddard), characters who are considerably more self-reliant. Consequently, not only does THE WOMEN paint a poisonously funny portrait of women as a sex, it takes a hatchet to the society that has shaped their characters as well.
Unfortunately, this landmark comedy has not received the full benefit of what DVD offers. Although the print is crisp, the film has not been restored, and the extras are spurious and hardly do the film justice; while I would recommend the DVD simply because you're likely to wear out a VHS, the DVD has no great advantage over the VHS release. But whether you have it on VHS or DVD, this is one title that you must have in your collection: you'll watch it again and again. A must-have! Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
A fabulous fun movie!
SHOCK-614 June 2002
This movie is two wonderful hours of gossipy, clever fun. The script is incredibly good and makes you wish every movie in the world could turn out as well as THE WOMEN. The performances all blend together perfectly, which is what you need if you are going to tell a story like this. Joan Crawford is sublime as the husband stealer and Norma Shearer plays the usual virtuous kind of part she always played in her career. However in my opinion, Roz Russell, who played Mrs. Fowler simply is at her best. It is one of the most funny and exquisite performances that i have ever seen given by an actress on film. It is plain to see she only cares about herself and her own superficial motives but you cant help being on her side and enjoying all the trouble she stirs up. And also Paulette Goddard gave a sassy performance as the sarcastic woman who has seen it all and wants no more of it. The best scene of hers is when she and Mrs. Fowler fight at the divorce ranch. I loved this movie!
The Women, AKA: All the Women Rejected as Scarlett O'Hara Have it Out
scarlaohorror20 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Many of the elements in this classic are sexist by today's standards, and the ending is a bit of a wash-out. But the top-notch performances and series of zingers and one-liners transcend any plot discrepancies. But overall it is the performances that make the movie. Norma Shearer is engaging at first, palling around with her daughter in the yard. Unfortunately, after her husband cheats, she becomes too saccharine and nobly strong to be enjoyed in an otherwise wisecracking comedy (at least she's always fashion conscious: during one of her numerous breakdowns, she collapses on a couch that matches her plaid shirt). Joan Fontaine is an adorable parody of Shearer's soft character; she's especially ridiculous and charming in a phone call to her husband at the ranch. Joan Crawford is a little too terrifyingly mean to be convincing as a sexy temptress (her gorgeous and sassy co-worker Virginia Grey would in reality be the more obvious choice for an erring husband), but she's exuberant and energetic, a welcome contrast to Shearer's refined humility. Paulette Goddard is equally exuberant and energetic, exuding confidence and assurance in every line she utters. She's a foxy little charmer. Mary Boland is hilarious and giggly, though her "l'amour, l'amour" lines get a little old. Marjorie Main's appearance is all too brief, her salty ranch-owner a welcome change of pace from the more sophisticated lodgers.
The most triumphant turn comes from Rosalind Russell as the "high-sterical" Sylvia Fowler. It's as if an escapee from an insane asylum were masquerading as a high-society wife, turning her charade into a mad burlesque. She's wonderful. Her tall, slouchy, slinky frame is so perfect for the role, and I can't recall having ever seen anything funnier than her cat fight with Goddard and its after-math. You can tell you're watching an under-appreciated genius at work when in a frenzy she destroys various dishes and pitchers while yelling, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate everybody!" It's regretful that her motives and fate are left ambiguous while too much screen-time is devoted to Shearer's precious tears, meditating on her plight and redemption. Or her husband's redemption. Or--oh, who knows! The moral dilemma is too muddled, and neither Cukor nor the screenwriters seem to know how to resolve it. All the attention paid to this darker storyline messes up the screwball rhythm set-up by Russell and others, and it's so jarring it wrecks the movie once in awhile. It's worth these occasional transgressions, however, for some of the finest performances to come out of old Hollywood's best actresses. Not to mention the privilege of witnessing them utter such great lines as, "Well, let the story ride! No one will remember! You remember those awful things they said about What's her name before she jumped out that window? See, I can't even remember her name, so who cares?" Or the classic closer, "There's a name for you ladies, only it isn't used in high society. Outside of a kennel."
The most triumphant turn comes from Rosalind Russell as the "high-sterical" Sylvia Fowler. It's as if an escapee from an insane asylum were masquerading as a high-society wife, turning her charade into a mad burlesque. She's wonderful. Her tall, slouchy, slinky frame is so perfect for the role, and I can't recall having ever seen anything funnier than her cat fight with Goddard and its after-math. You can tell you're watching an under-appreciated genius at work when in a frenzy she destroys various dishes and pitchers while yelling, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate everybody!" It's regretful that her motives and fate are left ambiguous while too much screen-time is devoted to Shearer's precious tears, meditating on her plight and redemption. Or her husband's redemption. Or--oh, who knows! The moral dilemma is too muddled, and neither Cukor nor the screenwriters seem to know how to resolve it. All the attention paid to this darker storyline messes up the screwball rhythm set-up by Russell and others, and it's so jarring it wrecks the movie once in awhile. It's worth these occasional transgressions, however, for some of the finest performances to come out of old Hollywood's best actresses. Not to mention the privilege of witnessing them utter such great lines as, "Well, let the story ride! No one will remember! You remember those awful things they said about What's her name before she jumped out that window? See, I can't even remember her name, so who cares?" Or the classic closer, "There's a name for you ladies, only it isn't used in high society. Outside of a kennel."
Cats
jotix10019 October 2003
"The Women" owes its appeal to the great George Cukor. Without him, it would certainly have been a different movie. Because of his direction this is a Hollywood classic at its best.
They certainly don't make pictures like this anymore. Imagine what it would have cost to have a first rate cast to fill the shoes of all these women in today's Hollywood? It would probably be so prohibitive that no one in the present climate would touch it with a ten foot pole.
"The Women", as written by Clare Booth Luce for the stage, was a delicious comedy about New York society, as it was in the late 30s. Of course, by today's standards, this is a very chaste take on that subject. Had it been done today, it would have been done entirely different and the excellent text by Ms. Luce would have probably been thrown away to satisfy the taste of contemporary audiences.
Norma Shearer was excellent as Mary Haines, the suffering wife, who has no clue of how her husband has fallen to the charms of Crystal Allen, beautifully played by Joan Crawford. Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine and the rest of the cast seem to be having a lot of fun while playing these women.
One thing does come clear, those women had a style and a sophistication well beyond the times they lived. It's very clear that Claire Booth Luce was well ahead of it all, as she had an understanding for what was going on around her. What a thrill it must have been to have been around New York in that glamorous era!
Women: Love them, as we cannot live without them!
They certainly don't make pictures like this anymore. Imagine what it would have cost to have a first rate cast to fill the shoes of all these women in today's Hollywood? It would probably be so prohibitive that no one in the present climate would touch it with a ten foot pole.
"The Women", as written by Clare Booth Luce for the stage, was a delicious comedy about New York society, as it was in the late 30s. Of course, by today's standards, this is a very chaste take on that subject. Had it been done today, it would have been done entirely different and the excellent text by Ms. Luce would have probably been thrown away to satisfy the taste of contemporary audiences.
Norma Shearer was excellent as Mary Haines, the suffering wife, who has no clue of how her husband has fallen to the charms of Crystal Allen, beautifully played by Joan Crawford. Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine and the rest of the cast seem to be having a lot of fun while playing these women.
One thing does come clear, those women had a style and a sophistication well beyond the times they lived. It's very clear that Claire Booth Luce was well ahead of it all, as she had an understanding for what was going on around her. What a thrill it must have been to have been around New York in that glamorous era!
Women: Love them, as we cannot live without them!
It Has Its Highlights
jzappa7 September 2008
The Women is a bitter satire resting on the spoiled lives and struggles for clout and control of a variety of wealthy Manhattan women, social climbers and up-and-comers and the gossip that drives and wounds their relationships. At the same time men are recurrently the focus of their airy banter and take part in important functions of the action on screen, they are no more than characters mentioned but never seen.
Norma Shearer plays a fashionable wife and mother who learns by way of hearsay that her husband is having an affair and leaves him. Shearer is far from the strongest actress in the film. Rosalind Russell thoroughly steals every scene she is in, hitting the nail on the head as the epitome of the gossipy, scatter-brained, motor-mouthed drama queen who brings the most wit and laughs to the film's mercurial verbal spars. Joan Crawford, Shearer's husband's cold adulterous lover, renews the comfort of your seat in front of the screen after a first act that does not keep up with the speed of its characters' mouths. It follows that the bitchy exchanges spin into great fun and laughs when Russell and sexy, brassy Paulette Goddard burst out into a catfight.
Madcap and unpredictable in temperament just like its characters, George Cukor's estrogen festival, at its core, becomes a little too affectionate with the object of its acidic commentary. As a result, it goes through tedious troughs like the color fashion show sequence included in this black-and-white film which has no content but the glossy spectacle of fashion. This loss of cynical edge causes one to feel that the film's criticisms are ones that it merits itself, that every single character acts as if her function in life is defined by men, and that we are intended to ponder these childish and high-strung women who think about and act upon nothing more than the battle of the sexes.
Norma Shearer plays a fashionable wife and mother who learns by way of hearsay that her husband is having an affair and leaves him. Shearer is far from the strongest actress in the film. Rosalind Russell thoroughly steals every scene she is in, hitting the nail on the head as the epitome of the gossipy, scatter-brained, motor-mouthed drama queen who brings the most wit and laughs to the film's mercurial verbal spars. Joan Crawford, Shearer's husband's cold adulterous lover, renews the comfort of your seat in front of the screen after a first act that does not keep up with the speed of its characters' mouths. It follows that the bitchy exchanges spin into great fun and laughs when Russell and sexy, brassy Paulette Goddard burst out into a catfight.
Madcap and unpredictable in temperament just like its characters, George Cukor's estrogen festival, at its core, becomes a little too affectionate with the object of its acidic commentary. As a result, it goes through tedious troughs like the color fashion show sequence included in this black-and-white film which has no content but the glossy spectacle of fashion. This loss of cynical edge causes one to feel that the film's criticisms are ones that it merits itself, that every single character acts as if her function in life is defined by men, and that we are intended to ponder these childish and high-strung women who think about and act upon nothing more than the battle of the sexes.
The Quintessential Film of the Late 30's
dinnymo269 May 2005
There were so many excellent films produced in 1939, but this is the best at showing (what Hollywood wanted to show) the current times. It showcases so many wonderful actresses all at once. Norma Shearer is just outstanding; this is my favorite movie of hers.
It also shows the values and thinking about women's roles at that time; but challenges them at the same time. As embodied by Mary's mother-in-law, there's a feeling of "boys will be boys" and the thought that even though her husband is playing around (for no good reason given - they seem to be a happy couple), Mary should let him get his "wild oats" out of his system, and look the other way. On the other hand, it shows a rich and varied view of all types of women, intelligent, catty, gentle, vicious, etc. They are not necessarily defined by the men in their lives - who are not shown. It actually shows the women ultimately deciding how their men will live - and with whom.
Overall, a wonderful, enjoyable movie.
It also shows the values and thinking about women's roles at that time; but challenges them at the same time. As embodied by Mary's mother-in-law, there's a feeling of "boys will be boys" and the thought that even though her husband is playing around (for no good reason given - they seem to be a happy couple), Mary should let him get his "wild oats" out of his system, and look the other way. On the other hand, it shows a rich and varied view of all types of women, intelligent, catty, gentle, vicious, etc. They are not necessarily defined by the men in their lives - who are not shown. It actually shows the women ultimately deciding how their men will live - and with whom.
Overall, a wonderful, enjoyable movie.
Women - the Good and the Not so Good
daoldiges29 May 2018
I'd heard small bits about this film and mostly from its many admirers, so I was looking forward to checking it out myself. There is quite a bit to enjoy, the tight and often times witty dialogue, along with solid performances by an overall wonderful cast are definitely to this films credit. That the focus seems to be on the most negative female stereotypes and cliches is disappointing and does get a little tiring after a while. Despite some reservations I do think this film is worth checking out though.
Every woman's worst enemy is another woman- often her best friend
JamesHitchcock26 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
There have been plenty of films with an all-male, or almost all-male, cast, but films with an all-female cast are much rarer; in the thirties they were virtually unheard-of. There were, of course, plenty of what were called "women's pictures", aimed at a predominantly female audience and generally with a strong female character in the leading role, but as the theme of such films was normally heterosexual love and relationships there generally had to be men in the cast, if only as secondary characters. "The Women", however, is a "woman's picture" in which man are much discussed but never make an appearance; every single member of the cast is female.
Today we tend to think of the Production Code era as being a time when the film industry was dominated by a crippling and oppressive Puritanism, but films like this one remind us that, in America at least, the censors were not as puritanical as we sometimes imagine. I cannot imagine this arch, knowing comedy about divorce and adultery finding favour with the British censors of the thirties, but the Hays Office appear to have raised no objections.
The film is set among the women of New York's high society. The main character is Mary Haines, wife of a successful engineer and mother of a young daughter. Mary's marriage initially seems to be a happy one, but in fact her husband Stephen is having an affair with a shop-girl named Crystal Allen. They say that in cases like this the wronged wife is always the last person to know, and so it proves here, but the time-lag between the rest of the world knowing and Mary knowing herself is a fairly short one, largely because she has the sort of "friends" who (in the words of the song) can't wait to bring all of that bad news to her door.
Despite the advice of her worldly-wise old mother, who takes the view that women ought to condone their husbands' adultery for the sake of a quiet life, Mary travels to Reno, Nevada, to obtain a divorce. (In the 1930s it was very difficult to get a divorce in New York State itself which, despite being liberal in many other matters, has always been conservative when it comes to matrimonial law; it was the last state to legalise no-fault divorce, as recently as 2010). Stephen marries Crystal, but the marriage is not a happy one and Mary sees her chance to turn the tables on her rival.
The role of Mary- the noble, idealistic, long-suffering wronged wife, not unattractive but a bit sexless- seemed ready-made for Norma Shearer, who seemed to specialise in such parts. Joan Crawford tries to make the most of the mercenary, conniving Crystal, but she was really a bit too old for the part. Crawford tended to guard her age as though it were an official secret, but she seems to have been born around 1904, making her about 35 in 1939, only two years or so younger than Shearer. The age-gap between Mary and Crystal needs to be much greater; a dedicated gold- digger like Crystal would doubtless have got her man long before she reached her mid-thirties. When the film was remade in 1956 as "The Opposite Sex" Crystal was played by another "Joan C", Collins, sixteen years younger than June Allyson who played the Mary-figure.
"The Women" is often regarded as a great classic from Hollywood's Golden Age, but it is not a film I care for very much. It has some good points; there is occasionally some witty dialogue, Shearer is reasonably good as Mary and the child star Virginia Weidler is enchanting as her young daughter Little Mary. It also, however, has a number of faults. The first is that the decision not to have any male characters was a mistaken gimmick; the makers of "The Opposite Sex" clearly realised this because they altered the plot in order to show Stephen and some of the other men referred to. The mainspring of the plot is, after all, the marriage of Mary and Stephen, and to show only one side of their relationship is to tell only half the story.
The second flaw is that the action does not always flow easily. The film is in black-and-white but includes a ten-minute fashion parade filmed in Technicolor, which does not advance the plot at all but slows the action right down. Apparently director George Cukor disliked the sequence and wanted to remove it but was overruled by the studio who evidently felt that female audiences would want to see what the well- dressed woman was wearing that year. Today it has little interest except for the few who care about what the well-dressed woman was wearing more than seventy years ago. At other times, however, it seems that Cukor, perhaps realising that the script contained too much dialogue to be accommodated within the film's running time, had instructed his cast to speak their lines as quickly as possible. The worst, although by no means the only, offender in this regard is the motormouth Rosalind Russell as Mary's bitchy cousin Sylvia. (Russell was to be better in another comedy, "His Girl Friday", the following year).
The film's third, and worst, fault is its general tone. For what is ostensibly a "woman's picture" it is surprisingly misogynistic, embodying a number of male prejudices about the fairer sex. The characters in "The Women" inhabit the sort of world where nearly all women (Mary being one of the few exceptions) are spiteful, scheming, bitchy, gossipy and backstabbing. It is a world where every woman's enemy is another woman, often her so-called "best friend", who is either trying to seduce away her man or spreading malicious gossip about her. If there is a "war of the sexes" the female authors of this drama seem to have been fighting on the side of the enemy. 5/10
Today we tend to think of the Production Code era as being a time when the film industry was dominated by a crippling and oppressive Puritanism, but films like this one remind us that, in America at least, the censors were not as puritanical as we sometimes imagine. I cannot imagine this arch, knowing comedy about divorce and adultery finding favour with the British censors of the thirties, but the Hays Office appear to have raised no objections.
The film is set among the women of New York's high society. The main character is Mary Haines, wife of a successful engineer and mother of a young daughter. Mary's marriage initially seems to be a happy one, but in fact her husband Stephen is having an affair with a shop-girl named Crystal Allen. They say that in cases like this the wronged wife is always the last person to know, and so it proves here, but the time-lag between the rest of the world knowing and Mary knowing herself is a fairly short one, largely because she has the sort of "friends" who (in the words of the song) can't wait to bring all of that bad news to her door.
Despite the advice of her worldly-wise old mother, who takes the view that women ought to condone their husbands' adultery for the sake of a quiet life, Mary travels to Reno, Nevada, to obtain a divorce. (In the 1930s it was very difficult to get a divorce in New York State itself which, despite being liberal in many other matters, has always been conservative when it comes to matrimonial law; it was the last state to legalise no-fault divorce, as recently as 2010). Stephen marries Crystal, but the marriage is not a happy one and Mary sees her chance to turn the tables on her rival.
The role of Mary- the noble, idealistic, long-suffering wronged wife, not unattractive but a bit sexless- seemed ready-made for Norma Shearer, who seemed to specialise in such parts. Joan Crawford tries to make the most of the mercenary, conniving Crystal, but she was really a bit too old for the part. Crawford tended to guard her age as though it were an official secret, but she seems to have been born around 1904, making her about 35 in 1939, only two years or so younger than Shearer. The age-gap between Mary and Crystal needs to be much greater; a dedicated gold- digger like Crystal would doubtless have got her man long before she reached her mid-thirties. When the film was remade in 1956 as "The Opposite Sex" Crystal was played by another "Joan C", Collins, sixteen years younger than June Allyson who played the Mary-figure.
"The Women" is often regarded as a great classic from Hollywood's Golden Age, but it is not a film I care for very much. It has some good points; there is occasionally some witty dialogue, Shearer is reasonably good as Mary and the child star Virginia Weidler is enchanting as her young daughter Little Mary. It also, however, has a number of faults. The first is that the decision not to have any male characters was a mistaken gimmick; the makers of "The Opposite Sex" clearly realised this because they altered the plot in order to show Stephen and some of the other men referred to. The mainspring of the plot is, after all, the marriage of Mary and Stephen, and to show only one side of their relationship is to tell only half the story.
The second flaw is that the action does not always flow easily. The film is in black-and-white but includes a ten-minute fashion parade filmed in Technicolor, which does not advance the plot at all but slows the action right down. Apparently director George Cukor disliked the sequence and wanted to remove it but was overruled by the studio who evidently felt that female audiences would want to see what the well- dressed woman was wearing that year. Today it has little interest except for the few who care about what the well-dressed woman was wearing more than seventy years ago. At other times, however, it seems that Cukor, perhaps realising that the script contained too much dialogue to be accommodated within the film's running time, had instructed his cast to speak their lines as quickly as possible. The worst, although by no means the only, offender in this regard is the motormouth Rosalind Russell as Mary's bitchy cousin Sylvia. (Russell was to be better in another comedy, "His Girl Friday", the following year).
The film's third, and worst, fault is its general tone. For what is ostensibly a "woman's picture" it is surprisingly misogynistic, embodying a number of male prejudices about the fairer sex. The characters in "The Women" inhabit the sort of world where nearly all women (Mary being one of the few exceptions) are spiteful, scheming, bitchy, gossipy and backstabbing. It is a world where every woman's enemy is another woman, often her so-called "best friend", who is either trying to seduce away her man or spreading malicious gossip about her. If there is a "war of the sexes" the female authors of this drama seem to have been fighting on the side of the enemy. 5/10
Better than I Expected
J-Hargett8 March 2016
After choosing George Cukor's "The Women" I was skeptical of its premise at first. I became quickly surprised at how often I found myself enjoying each catty scene or insult along with the characters' prima donna behavior. The story was two hours of hilarious female innuendo's and clever insults along with a deeper story between Mary, her daughter, and the familiar intricacies of divorce. The cast was perfect in their roles, each one bringing their own flair to the script. The all-female cast molded well gabbing amongst one another in a relentless barrage of gossip. I enjoyed this movie much more than I thought and I especially liked the end scene where all the women go at it. I recommend this movie to anybody who enjoys the genre.
One of the greatest films ever made!
MarkDain16 September 1999
It's not exaggerating to say this is one of the wittiest, smartest and glamorous films ever made. Almost every line is an absolute gem, and every time you watch it, you hear another brilliant comment that you missed before.
Crawford was in her wickedest prime. It could be said she's a tiny bit too old for the part, but it doesn't matter due to her force of presence. Shearer was absolute perfection as the slightly self-righteous overly dramatic heroine who finally turns into a fighter. I still get goose pimples when she does the "... two years to grow claws, mother. JUNGLE red!" line. As for Russell - she's an absolute scream in her fast-talking, slapstick role.
None of the three leads steal the film from the others, as the time which they are on-screen together is limited. The supporting cast is just as fantastic - all the way down to Hedda Hopper's brief appearance at the denouement, up to Paulette Goddard, and, of course, the Countess deLave ("Oh, la publicite, la publicite!")
In terms of comedy, it is unequaled, in my opinion (except perhaps for Some Like it Hot, which is very different)
No remake could do it justice - let's please not have one!
Crawford was in her wickedest prime. It could be said she's a tiny bit too old for the part, but it doesn't matter due to her force of presence. Shearer was absolute perfection as the slightly self-righteous overly dramatic heroine who finally turns into a fighter. I still get goose pimples when she does the "... two years to grow claws, mother. JUNGLE red!" line. As for Russell - she's an absolute scream in her fast-talking, slapstick role.
None of the three leads steal the film from the others, as the time which they are on-screen together is limited. The supporting cast is just as fantastic - all the way down to Hedda Hopper's brief appearance at the denouement, up to Paulette Goddard, and, of course, the Countess deLave ("Oh, la publicite, la publicite!")
In terms of comedy, it is unequaled, in my opinion (except perhaps for Some Like it Hot, which is very different)
No remake could do it justice - let's please not have one!
"Claws, I've Had Two Years To Grow Them"
bkoganbing27 February 2007
It was fitting that MGM was the studio that brought The Women to the screen. Claire Boothe Luce's play which ran on Broadway for 657 performances, was her view of the Republican ladies of Park Avenue, in whose society she fit in so well.
None of those studio bosses were exactly flaming liberals, but probably the most political of all was Louis B. Mayer who served on the California Republican State Committee and had his stable of stars ready to do or die for the GOP whether they wanted to or not. Mayer was very active in the campaign to defeat Upton Sinclair for Governor of California in 1934 and put all of MGM's propaganda resources to defeat the radical Mr. Sinclair.
Claire Boothe Luce knew this world well and certainly had the satirical skills to define it. But make no mistake about it, the real villain here is Joan Crawford, shop girl, working class, and I've got no doubt is a Democrat.
Norma Shearer is her opposite, tasteful, refined, and unfortunately getting a little stale with age. Why would her husband now be eying Crawford at the perfume counter if not so.
Due to a lot of interference by not so well meaning friends like Rosalind Russell, who does nothing but gossip about others, Shearer's marriage does break up and her husband goes off with Crawford. Norma's down, but not out.
The Women has aged very well as entertainment. It's as fresh as it was when first presented on Broadway in 1936. There's always the complaint about no good parts for women being written for the female sex. Definitely not as good as the characters that Clare Boothe Luce created in this play.
My favorite in the cast is Rosalind Russell. Usually cast as second leads and colorless heroines, she fought hard for the part she got her as the heroine's best friend and worst nightmare. She also fought hard to share above the title billing with Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford who had lots more seniority at MGM than Russell. In her memoirs Russell gives total credit to George Cukor for bringing out comedic talents that no one really thought she possessed. Russell had done comedy before, but had not been as well received as she was in The Women.
George Cukor always had that reputation as a women's director and I think this film with the obvious title probably is what gave him that reputation. The Women takes a lot of its edge also from the real life situation at MGM. Norma Shearer, being the widow of Irving Thalberg, was the dowager queen of the lot and she still got the first pick of dramatic parts. Only Greta Garbo at MGM who was in a different plane of existence practically topped her. The rest got Shearer's leavings, especially Joan Crawford. That led to a lot of resentment around MGM.
Among the supporting cast look for good performances from Joan Fontaine as the young and shy divorcée, Mary Boland as the scatterbrained Zsa Zsa Gabor of the day, Paulette Goddard who gets Russell's goat, her man, and the best of her in a chick fight and Marjorie Main as the wisecracking owner of a Reno dude ranch where the women stay when they're shedding their mates.
Within two years Norma Shearer would retire from the screen and Joan Crawford in four years would leave MGM. This was the last really good film either of them did at Leo the Lion's den and it's fabulous.
None of those studio bosses were exactly flaming liberals, but probably the most political of all was Louis B. Mayer who served on the California Republican State Committee and had his stable of stars ready to do or die for the GOP whether they wanted to or not. Mayer was very active in the campaign to defeat Upton Sinclair for Governor of California in 1934 and put all of MGM's propaganda resources to defeat the radical Mr. Sinclair.
Claire Boothe Luce knew this world well and certainly had the satirical skills to define it. But make no mistake about it, the real villain here is Joan Crawford, shop girl, working class, and I've got no doubt is a Democrat.
Norma Shearer is her opposite, tasteful, refined, and unfortunately getting a little stale with age. Why would her husband now be eying Crawford at the perfume counter if not so.
Due to a lot of interference by not so well meaning friends like Rosalind Russell, who does nothing but gossip about others, Shearer's marriage does break up and her husband goes off with Crawford. Norma's down, but not out.
The Women has aged very well as entertainment. It's as fresh as it was when first presented on Broadway in 1936. There's always the complaint about no good parts for women being written for the female sex. Definitely not as good as the characters that Clare Boothe Luce created in this play.
My favorite in the cast is Rosalind Russell. Usually cast as second leads and colorless heroines, she fought hard for the part she got her as the heroine's best friend and worst nightmare. She also fought hard to share above the title billing with Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford who had lots more seniority at MGM than Russell. In her memoirs Russell gives total credit to George Cukor for bringing out comedic talents that no one really thought she possessed. Russell had done comedy before, but had not been as well received as she was in The Women.
George Cukor always had that reputation as a women's director and I think this film with the obvious title probably is what gave him that reputation. The Women takes a lot of its edge also from the real life situation at MGM. Norma Shearer, being the widow of Irving Thalberg, was the dowager queen of the lot and she still got the first pick of dramatic parts. Only Greta Garbo at MGM who was in a different plane of existence practically topped her. The rest got Shearer's leavings, especially Joan Crawford. That led to a lot of resentment around MGM.
Among the supporting cast look for good performances from Joan Fontaine as the young and shy divorcée, Mary Boland as the scatterbrained Zsa Zsa Gabor of the day, Paulette Goddard who gets Russell's goat, her man, and the best of her in a chick fight and Marjorie Main as the wisecracking owner of a Reno dude ranch where the women stay when they're shedding their mates.
Within two years Norma Shearer would retire from the screen and Joan Crawford in four years would leave MGM. This was the last really good film either of them did at Leo the Lion's den and it's fabulous.
Seeing How The Other Half Lives
slokes1 March 2010
It's funny to read people arguing "The Women" is a flawed movie because it no longer speaks to who or what women are today. Does the same metric apply to "The Scarlet Letter" or "Anna Karenina"? Of course not. They are timeless classics. So is "The Women".
The setting is Manhattan, at a time when women enjoyed some newly acquired independence but still had to find their way in a world built by and for men. Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) treasures the company of her loving husband, but the wool is rather roughly pulled from her eyes and she is left to discover he's been stepping out with shopgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford).
What makes "The Women" great? Having an entire film with no male characters is a cool trick, but doesn't guarantee re-watchability. What clicks starts with a zesty, witty script, written by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin from a Claire Booth play. It doesn't conceal the hurt of marital separation so much as send up the associated entanglements stirred up by an idle, jealous set that holds court over Mary's world.
At its vortex, more essential to the comedy's success than either Crawford or Shearer, is Rosalind Russell's performance as Mary's conniving cousin Sylvia Fowler. She shouldn't be so enjoyable, but she is. When you think of it, Sylvia's by far the nastiest character in the film. At least Crystal has a profit motive. "You can't bear Mary's happiness" is how one bystander puts it to Sylvia, and she's right.
Russell's ability to seize the comic high ground throughout, mugging up a storm, taking pratfalls, and even biting Paulette Goddard's calf, goes a large way to making "The Women" such a blast. Russell's as much fun as Olivier was playing Richard III, twisting Mary into a pointless confrontation with Crystal with her cruel dig: "No doubt that girl will make a perfectly good stepmom for your daughter." But just try hating Sylvia. You can't!
I relish the whole cast. It's quite a large one, Dickens-like not only in mass but in the number of distinctive characterizations. It's not an especially deep story, though there are emotional resonances and points worth discussing and debating. That goes especially for Mary's parleys with her mother (Lucile Watson), who tells her to ignore hubby's affair and "keep still". The mother wishes times were simpler, and women didn't have the option of not tolerating a husband's infidelity. You can question the rationale, but their scenes have impact.
Shearer has the toughest job in the film playing the good-hearted victim. She's not as self-conscious there as her critics say; she's limited not by her talent but by the script. She can't even play it too naive as Joan Fontaine has that territory sewn up as Mary's gentlest friend. So Shearer works it down the middle, milks some tears, and hangs around long enough to deliver the film's greatest line, one you know already if you've seen it. And she nails it...purrfectly.
Crawford is surprisingly absent for much of the film, given she has second billing. She does make every scene she's in count. Mary Boland is a wonderfully affected older woman married and dropped by a parade of husbands - including one who pushed her off a mountain. Even Goddard, more pretty than talented in roles I've seen of hers, crafts an effective identity as a Crystal-like character who winds up one of Mary Haines' sisters-in-arms.
The more I see "The Women", the tougher time I have identifying anything really not good about it. Even a lengthy fashion show, a segment that was shot in Technicolor and which director George Cukor is on record regretting, doesn't feel off-the-beam. I love watching Russell in her glasses knitting and pretending not to be bothered by the pretty models she believes are competing for her husband's attention.
There's just a lot to see and enjoy with "The Women". What can I say? I'm a guy. I suspect any woman giving this half a chance will have even more fun than I did.
The setting is Manhattan, at a time when women enjoyed some newly acquired independence but still had to find their way in a world built by and for men. Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) treasures the company of her loving husband, but the wool is rather roughly pulled from her eyes and she is left to discover he's been stepping out with shopgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford).
What makes "The Women" great? Having an entire film with no male characters is a cool trick, but doesn't guarantee re-watchability. What clicks starts with a zesty, witty script, written by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin from a Claire Booth play. It doesn't conceal the hurt of marital separation so much as send up the associated entanglements stirred up by an idle, jealous set that holds court over Mary's world.
At its vortex, more essential to the comedy's success than either Crawford or Shearer, is Rosalind Russell's performance as Mary's conniving cousin Sylvia Fowler. She shouldn't be so enjoyable, but she is. When you think of it, Sylvia's by far the nastiest character in the film. At least Crystal has a profit motive. "You can't bear Mary's happiness" is how one bystander puts it to Sylvia, and she's right.
Russell's ability to seize the comic high ground throughout, mugging up a storm, taking pratfalls, and even biting Paulette Goddard's calf, goes a large way to making "The Women" such a blast. Russell's as much fun as Olivier was playing Richard III, twisting Mary into a pointless confrontation with Crystal with her cruel dig: "No doubt that girl will make a perfectly good stepmom for your daughter." But just try hating Sylvia. You can't!
I relish the whole cast. It's quite a large one, Dickens-like not only in mass but in the number of distinctive characterizations. It's not an especially deep story, though there are emotional resonances and points worth discussing and debating. That goes especially for Mary's parleys with her mother (Lucile Watson), who tells her to ignore hubby's affair and "keep still". The mother wishes times were simpler, and women didn't have the option of not tolerating a husband's infidelity. You can question the rationale, but their scenes have impact.
Shearer has the toughest job in the film playing the good-hearted victim. She's not as self-conscious there as her critics say; she's limited not by her talent but by the script. She can't even play it too naive as Joan Fontaine has that territory sewn up as Mary's gentlest friend. So Shearer works it down the middle, milks some tears, and hangs around long enough to deliver the film's greatest line, one you know already if you've seen it. And she nails it...purrfectly.
Crawford is surprisingly absent for much of the film, given she has second billing. She does make every scene she's in count. Mary Boland is a wonderfully affected older woman married and dropped by a parade of husbands - including one who pushed her off a mountain. Even Goddard, more pretty than talented in roles I've seen of hers, crafts an effective identity as a Crystal-like character who winds up one of Mary Haines' sisters-in-arms.
The more I see "The Women", the tougher time I have identifying anything really not good about it. Even a lengthy fashion show, a segment that was shot in Technicolor and which director George Cukor is on record regretting, doesn't feel off-the-beam. I love watching Russell in her glasses knitting and pretending not to be bothered by the pretty models she believes are competing for her husband's attention.
There's just a lot to see and enjoy with "The Women". What can I say? I'm a guy. I suspect any woman giving this half a chance will have even more fun than I did.
All-Time Classic Cat Fight
misctidsandbits25 September 2011
A TCM announcer said the classic cat fight of all times was in this movie. It is a humdinger. But it doesn't start at the ranch -- it runs all the way through!
So much has been noted about it, but wanted to comment on something about the Joan Crawford character. She works at a sales counter, yet has a nice place of her own and great clothes. She played a lot of shop girls, always having a knockout wardrobe, including over the top evening clothes and a very well appointed apartment. In the real world, a sales girl would have to be living at home or at the Y or have at least one roommate, and wouldn't be able to afford an expensive wardrobe. But, this is the movies, and we enjoy it that way.
Also, really enjoyed Virginia Grey's part as the savvy sales girl who prickles Crystal while she's on the phone with Steven. "Holy mackerel, what a line!" With so much cleverness going on, that sequence doesn't get much mention, but she was priceless.
How about that beauty clinic! What a setup.
And we do love to admire the clothes, which were so interesting then, their dressing up so much. There's a lot to check out in this picture, as well as catching the snappy lines, as has been mentioned here. Yep, play it again, Sam-antha.
So much has been noted about it, but wanted to comment on something about the Joan Crawford character. She works at a sales counter, yet has a nice place of her own and great clothes. She played a lot of shop girls, always having a knockout wardrobe, including over the top evening clothes and a very well appointed apartment. In the real world, a sales girl would have to be living at home or at the Y or have at least one roommate, and wouldn't be able to afford an expensive wardrobe. But, this is the movies, and we enjoy it that way.
Also, really enjoyed Virginia Grey's part as the savvy sales girl who prickles Crystal while she's on the phone with Steven. "Holy mackerel, what a line!" With so much cleverness going on, that sequence doesn't get much mention, but she was priceless.
How about that beauty clinic! What a setup.
And we do love to admire the clothes, which were so interesting then, their dressing up so much. There's a lot to check out in this picture, as well as catching the snappy lines, as has been mentioned here. Yep, play it again, Sam-antha.
Catty comedy played for stylish laughs, not histrionics...
moonspinner5517 September 2006
Norma Shearer, an almost infuriatingly sane and even-keeled actress, is once again typecast as the Voice of Good Reason. Here, she's an upscale wife and mother who finds out that her husband is having an affair and leaves him; her girlfriends surround her for support, but they're going through their own marital woes. Catty, brightly chatty screen-adaptation of Claire Booth's celebrated play is well-cast with energetic actresses and never bows to soapy melodrama; yet, when all is revealed, it's rather tame and good-girly. The color fashion show sequence inserted into this otherwise black-and-white film really says it all: the picture is less about relationships than it is about how fabulous each woman looks. Remade with music (and men) as "The Opposite Sex". **1/2 from ****
Jungle red cat claws
TheLittleSongbird7 October 2018
'The Women' appealed to me straight away hearing about it. That it had an all-female cast (not seen a lot in film at that point) of some truly great actresses, that it was directed by George Cukor who directed a number of solid and more films and that it had a great premise.
Am so glad of viewing it, because 'The Women' was by far one of the best, cleverest and most enjoyable films of all my recent viewings (saying a lot because they have been very variable) and contained some of the best work of all involved. And this opinion is coming from a woman who found nothing offensive about it and accepted the extremities of how females are portrayed, so am not sure where the ignorant allegations of those liking the film hating women have come from.
So great a film 'The Women' was, that it was for me easy to overlook any minor reservations about the start being slightly cloying (had no problem with the animal-representing-characters scene and found it interesting) and a few silent film mannerisms creeping in occasionally in Norma Shearer's performance.
That minor reservation aside, Shearer is a likeable and beguiling presence, very difficult to dislike. There are also charming performances from Joan Fontaine and Paulette Goddard (quite possibly never better) and entertainingly broad one from Marjorie Main and Mary Boland. They are all outshone by the magnificent Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell, the former plays her role with delicious venom and the latter was rarely more hilarious than here. The cast do make this film.
Cukor is also in his element and gets the best of his cast throughout while keeping the momentum flowing and afloat. Alongside the cast, another huge strength is the script, can't pick a favourite line because there are so many delicious gems in one of the most cleverly structured, deliciously witty, remarkably daring and funniest scripts one can find anywhere. The story is always compelling, with the third act being especially good with entertainment value galore, while also having some substance in the first. That cat fight has to be seen to be believed and the fashion show of sheer class.
Very like the costumes themselves and 'The Women' is just a very well made film in general and beautifully shot.
Overall, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Am so glad of viewing it, because 'The Women' was by far one of the best, cleverest and most enjoyable films of all my recent viewings (saying a lot because they have been very variable) and contained some of the best work of all involved. And this opinion is coming from a woman who found nothing offensive about it and accepted the extremities of how females are portrayed, so am not sure where the ignorant allegations of those liking the film hating women have come from.
So great a film 'The Women' was, that it was for me easy to overlook any minor reservations about the start being slightly cloying (had no problem with the animal-representing-characters scene and found it interesting) and a few silent film mannerisms creeping in occasionally in Norma Shearer's performance.
That minor reservation aside, Shearer is a likeable and beguiling presence, very difficult to dislike. There are also charming performances from Joan Fontaine and Paulette Goddard (quite possibly never better) and entertainingly broad one from Marjorie Main and Mary Boland. They are all outshone by the magnificent Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell, the former plays her role with delicious venom and the latter was rarely more hilarious than here. The cast do make this film.
Cukor is also in his element and gets the best of his cast throughout while keeping the momentum flowing and afloat. Alongside the cast, another huge strength is the script, can't pick a favourite line because there are so many delicious gems in one of the most cleverly structured, deliciously witty, remarkably daring and funniest scripts one can find anywhere. The story is always compelling, with the third act being especially good with entertainment value galore, while also having some substance in the first. That cat fight has to be seen to be believed and the fashion show of sheer class.
Very like the costumes themselves and 'The Women' is just a very well made film in general and beautifully shot.
Overall, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Putting "The Women" in Its Place
wes-connors20 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
After Norma Shearer (as Mary) discovers her husband is having an affair with Joan Crawford (as Crystal), she learns women must not be proud. Rosalind Russell (as Sylvia) leads an MGM parade of supporting players - all women; in fact, only women appear in the film! But, don't expect a "feminist" statement from George Cukor's "The Women". The message may waver, but it never really gets too far away from putting women in their place. If the film is about anything other than being faithful and subservient to your man, it's about gossip. It could have been titled "Gossip".
What's appealing about "The Women" is enjoying some of its fine, albeit dated, dialog and situations. There are scores of actresses to watch; Ms. Shearer and Ms. Russell come off best, but appreciators of any will like their favorites. Ms. Crawford likes to smoke in her bathtub. The film's fun is severely weakened by an extremely distracting interlude - the "Fashion Show" - which is presented in COLOR. "Gimmicks" like the color segment and the all female cast ruin "The Women"; and, the acceptance of a "double standard" for men and women is presented as part of a great woman's character.
****** The Women (9/1/39) George Cukor ~ Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell
What's appealing about "The Women" is enjoying some of its fine, albeit dated, dialog and situations. There are scores of actresses to watch; Ms. Shearer and Ms. Russell come off best, but appreciators of any will like their favorites. Ms. Crawford likes to smoke in her bathtub. The film's fun is severely weakened by an extremely distracting interlude - the "Fashion Show" - which is presented in COLOR. "Gimmicks" like the color segment and the all female cast ruin "The Women"; and, the acceptance of a "double standard" for men and women is presented as part of a great woman's character.
****** The Women (9/1/39) George Cukor ~ Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell
You could never recreate this cast on the stage
MOscarbradley3 September 2006
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.
Sheer bitchy goodness!
madilayn18 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I stumbled across this movie late one night when I was suffering insomnia - and it certainly woke me up further! "The Women" is a marvelous showcase from some of the biggest female stars in 1939 - and it certainly shows why they were at the pinnacle of their profession.
The film explores the relationships between a group of women after one of them (Mary Haines) discovers that her husband is having an affair with a shop girl (Crystal). Mary is, naturally, devastated - and astonished when her mother gives her some extremely down to earth advice (to wit: live with it. All men do it) and she also starts to see her "friends" in a different light as well.
We watch her as the "other woman" starts to invade all aspects of her life - from her husband, to her hairdresser and beautician to the designer where she buys her clothes.
One can't help but feel that her friends - whilst they seemingly rally around her, also start to cultivate Crystal as well: just in case! When Mary decides to go for a quickie divorce from her husband, we meet a whole new cast of females in the same situation - and Mary grows even further as she learns new lessons from them.
There is not one male in the cast, and it is very interesting to watch a relationship between a man and a woman without any male/female interaction visible, although it is plainly there out of camera sight.
Interesting metaphorical use is made of "Jungle Red" colour of nail polish through the movie - from when it's first mentioned in the same breath as Mary learns about Crystal, to the end of the movie, when Mary emerges as a single woman determined to make her mark.
You won't be disappointed with this movie - even after almost 70 years, it's still fresh and original - I think that it's probably the original "Sex and the City" group of women!
The film explores the relationships between a group of women after one of them (Mary Haines) discovers that her husband is having an affair with a shop girl (Crystal). Mary is, naturally, devastated - and astonished when her mother gives her some extremely down to earth advice (to wit: live with it. All men do it) and she also starts to see her "friends" in a different light as well.
We watch her as the "other woman" starts to invade all aspects of her life - from her husband, to her hairdresser and beautician to the designer where she buys her clothes.
One can't help but feel that her friends - whilst they seemingly rally around her, also start to cultivate Crystal as well: just in case! When Mary decides to go for a quickie divorce from her husband, we meet a whole new cast of females in the same situation - and Mary grows even further as she learns new lessons from them.
There is not one male in the cast, and it is very interesting to watch a relationship between a man and a woman without any male/female interaction visible, although it is plainly there out of camera sight.
Interesting metaphorical use is made of "Jungle Red" colour of nail polish through the movie - from when it's first mentioned in the same breath as Mary learns about Crystal, to the end of the movie, when Mary emerges as a single woman determined to make her mark.
You won't be disappointed with this movie - even after almost 70 years, it's still fresh and original - I think that it's probably the original "Sex and the City" group of women!
An entirely petty movie
tinyredspoons12 May 2011
Though it is perhaps worth seeing because of the range of Hollywood leading ladies that star in it, I found The Women (1939) to encompass all of the most petty and disagreeable sides of the female psyche. Which made for a mostly grueling and un-enjoyable watching experience. Though the cast is comprised entirely of more mature women (albeit some slightly younger ones), the movie's dialogue is almost never anything but catty. Though the dialogue is admittedly "tight" it never espouses anything of value to the audience and high-jinks aimed at putting other women down are tiring. Few of the women in the movie are portrayed as having lives of their own, and ten minutes of watching bored housewives do strange aerobic 30s-styled exercises.... was ten minutes too long. The movie's entire premise was depressing and in my eyes entirely dull. Watching women exercises and gossip for two hours is draining, I wouldn't recommend it.
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