The Women (1939)

“The Women”, as the title suggests is what they called a “woman’s movie” in Hollywood’s classic era, so much so that forty-five minutes in, there is a fashion show and its five minutes are in color, contrasting with the rest of the film’s black and white two hour and eight minute running time (the better to show off the clothes). But it’s so much more than that.This is a great classic film that has always had a big cult following and which can be enjoyed on many levels. Essentially a comedy, it nevertheless exposes deep issues in the lives of women from their absolute dependence on men in that era to internal frictions among themselves. Admittedly these are all wealthy women leading cushioned lives, but even they have their problems, not the least of which is the boredom of their existence unless their marriage is truly good. Even then, watch out - jealous friends and gossips will do what they can to upset your happiness.It’s no accident that a popular nail polish is named “Jungle Red”. A great deal of “The Women” is conversation, sharp, witty, often cutting conversation at that. The film is so rapid fire at times you really have to see it twice to get it all; preferably one time with the closed captioning on.Much time has gone by since the filming of “The Women” and you need to appreciate that these women were really rather liberated for their day. As Norma Shearer’s Mary explains to her mother, played by Lucile Watson, “It’s alright for you to talk of another generation when women were chattels and did what men told them to. But this is today! Stephen and I are equals.” Women still lived in almost entirely female worlds outside the home, but were relatively free to come and go as they pleased, at least if they could afford to.The cast was famously all-female as it was in Clare Boothe Luce’s hit Broadway play (written as Clare Boothe in 1936). An amazing cast of big stars and up and comers was assembled for this film. It opens with clever cameos showing each actress with an animal that represents their inner character. Norma Shearer as central character Mary gives one of the best performances of her career in what would be one of her last films. She is especially good and down to earth in her scenes with her daughter, played by Virginia Weidler. No one could have been better as her nemesis than Joan Crawford’s scheming salesgirl, Crystal Allen, all venom and ice. Crawford got a considerable career boost from this film after a period of declining popularity. She was also known not to particularly care for Shearer at the studio, which added an extra element to it all.Others received enhanced careers as a result of “The Women”. Rosalind Russell had mostly played bland nice girls (as in “China Seas”) or the other woman ( in “West Point of the Air”) but here she got to show a comic persona which became her signature for years to come. Lucille Watson had frequently played maids with little or no dialog but from this time on became a notable character actor in films from “Watch On the Rhine” to “The Thin Man Goes Home”. Marjorie Main plays comic relief as a ranch manager in Reno and would play essentially the same character in many Ma and Pa Kettle films. Joan Fontaine is sweet and innocent (her usual film personna) and Paulette Goddard is stunning as Rosalind Russell’s nemesis.Mary Boland’s over-the-top Countess De Lave is a character you won’t forget, divorcing her fourth husband but always proclaiming, “L’amour, L’amour!” Even small characters like the maids, sales women and an exercise instructor have choice lines, and Hedda Hopper appears as a gossip columnist.This big production filled with so much talent and so many egos could have been a mess but it was all held together by director George Cukor. He was known as a woman’s director and had done great work before with Hepburn, Harlow, Shearer, Garbo, Crawford, Jeanette MacDonald (at Paramount) and others. He resented that epithet and notably did fine jobs with male actors, including Clark Gable (in “Manhattan Melodrama”). He took on “The Women” after Selznick dismissed him from “Gone With the Wind”. The dismissal story is so long and tangled with two competing versions that it would be too much to go into here. It’s enough to know that this is among the best of his many great films. Enjoy!EXTRA NOTE: Clare Boothe Luce was an amazing woman herself. She not only wrote for and edited magazines but wrote stories and plays as well as war journalism. She was a rare woman writing Broadway plays without a male writing partner, and writing one with an all-female cast was truly daring for her time. She went on to be a Republican Representative in Congress from Connecticut for several terms and eventually Ambassador to Italy. Her second marriage was to Henry Luce, Publisher of Time and Life magazines. Her third play, “Margin of Error”, was an attack on the Nazis’ racist ideas. She also co-authored a law allowing Indians and Filipinos to immigrate to the U.S. and called for the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Great classic Hollywood movie, if you have a chance watch it.

SOOOO much fun to watch. Rosalind Russell 's exit from the perfume counter is PRICELESS!!!

Great acting! This Art Deco version much better than the later version.

I am writing this review after recently watching a revival of the play on PBS. Not having seen the movie in many years, I ordered it on DVD afterward. First, the DVD transfer is flawless. This film is mostly in black-and-white, save an insert in Technicolor for a fashion show. The range of gray tones in these old movies can be a revelation to those who have only seen recent B/W films. The masters of the studios in lighting these movies are long since gone, and apparently their craft went with them. The DVD has not only the delightful movie trailer that went with "Women", but also the trailer for the musical remake in 1956, "The Opposite Sex". I never liked the musical, but others might.The amazing thing about "The Women" is that, if one doesn't pay attention to the trailer, it's possible to watch it and never realize that there are no men at all in the picture! As the trailer says, 135 women and no men. But of course it's all about men!This is the basic story of Mary, played by Norma Shearer, who discovers her husband is seeing another women. It follows her through her divorce and reunion with her husband. Naturally it's not that cut-and-dried. Her bitchy, back-biting friends go through many of the same travails on a cross-country route to a happy ending. Sounds boring written here, but the movie definitely isn't. Every time Ms. Shearer threatens to get too sugary, a few choice cracks by one of the other characters brings things back into line.I really can't remember another movie I've seen with Norma Shearer, so this movie defines her work for me. She is a very unusual-looking woman, hard to define as pretty, yet definitely with screen presence. Of course, being Mrs. Thalberg didn't hurt her ability to get this part, and she plays it beautifully. All of the others who support her are equally appropriate, particularly Joan Crawford as the 'other woman'. This movie was made in one of the low periods in her career, and once again placed her as an A-level actress. Mary Boland also stands out as the Countess and later Mrs. Buck Winston. In the recent PBS production on television, Rue McClanahan played this part and the resemblance to Boland was uncanny!Wardrobe for the movie was provided by Adrian at his best. Standouts for me are the gowns worn by Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer in the final scene of the movie, at the nightclub. Ms. Shearer's looks almost like something from a sci-fi film!There is no escaping that this movie, and play from which it was derived, were made pre-WW-II. The extravagance shown in this film was never revived after the War, so this gives an insight into the lives of the wealthy. In particular, homes post-War were never staffed with the number of servants shown here.Art Deco never looked better in movies than it does in this one. The beauty salon at the beginning of the movie, and the night club at the end, are creamy and curvaceous like never before, or since.A final note on casting: Marjorie Main leaps from the screen with her screeching voice and uncouth manners. Strangely, she was younger than many of the others in the movie, but as usual she was made to appear frumpy and worn-out. In some ways this appears to be a rehearsal for her part as Ma Kettle in "The Egg and I". Look closely, though, and you'll see her youth, here.This is a fairly long movie, well over two hours, but it is so enjoyable that the time isn't noticed. There truly isn't a 'slow' part to the movie, something or someone is always on the go.Nineteen thirty-nine was an amazing year for movies, seemingly one last pre-War gasp at screen opulence. "The Women" on DVD can be a welcome addition to anyone's film library, waiting for the right evening when light comedy combined with beautiful women and sassy dialogue is called for. It would be a great buy at twice the price.