"The Women" A Film Review Dedicated To Peter Joseph Swanson

I told someone I was going to review Cast A Giant Shadow which I just bought and re-watched recently. But, for some reason the words just are not flowing. So I thought lighter fair might be in order and chose this film because I have been thinking about it lately. Let me tell you right off that this film made in 1939 is not politically correct. So if you need your films to be PC, well you might want to mosey on to the next thing. Having said that, this is a wonderful film about women and their relationships between each other and men, but there is not a man in sight in the whole film. The film is carried along by a well written script based on Clare Booth Luce's (writer and also wife of Henry Robinson Luce of Time and Life magazine fame) play of the same name and great performances by many of the studio systems biggest stars. One of the great successes of its day, the film starred Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Lucile Watson, Mary Boland, Marjorie Main, Virginia Grey, Phyllis Povah, Florence Nash, Ruth Hussey, Virginia Weidler, Butterfly McQueen, and Hedda Hopper.[1] The Women was directed by George Cukor.

I was going to start with how the film starts, but the opening credits are interesting too. It shows each of the actor's as an animal, a doe, a mule etc. and then shows a picture of the actor. I don't believe I have ever seen any other film start quite like this and think it's ingenious since it gives you some insight into their characters. The actual film starts with a view of the home life of Mary Haines {Norma Shearer} out riding with her daughter Little Mary {Virginia Weidler} at their country home. You see a portrait of a happy and contented home.

Mary is expecting guests for lunch her cousin Sylvia Fowler {Rosalind Russell}, Edith Potter {Phyllis Povah}, Peggy Day {Joan Fontaine} and the last guest Nancy Blake {Florence Nash}. Prior to her coming to lunch Sylvia had gone to Sydney's (a fancy place to have yourself redone, kind of like a really high tone Elizabeth Arden) and had her nails done in Jungle Red. The manicurist Olga {Dennie Moore} had dished some gossip about Mary Haines' husband to her and she was just dying to share it. So as soon as she arrives she gets into a discussion of this news in the bathroom with Edith, of course saying how sad it is and how undependable men are. They then go into lunch and continue discussing it in a general way until Mary arrives after changing her clothes. During lunch Edith in a ditzy sort of way shows off her manicure and how divine it is and tells Mary Oh you must go and ask for Olga.

Mary does eventually go to Sydney's to get a manicure from Olga and she of course passes along the same gossip. It turns out the that rich Mrs. Mary Haines husband is having an affair with a woman that works at the perfume counter at Black's Fifth Avenue named Crystal Allen {Joan Crawford}. Mary tells Olga who she is and Olga warns her to be very careful, Crystal is very smart and has her ways. She says she will not repeat the story again and apologies. Mary's mother {Mrs. Morehead played by Lucile Watson} comes to see her (now in their big New York apartment) and tells Mary she knows the whole story. She had been to Syndney's that day too. She offers some sage advice to Mary. Mary does not want to take her mother's advice because she is a modern woman, but in the end sees her wisdom. Onward we go through the story of Mary, her husband Steven, Sweet Crystal and the women.

This film is very character driven, there is very little action at all. It presents an acidic commentary on the pampered lives and power struggles of various rich, bored wives and the other women that they come into contact with.[1] I think the dialogue, taken in context, is quite funny. It was filmed in glorious black and white with the exception of the fashion show. Most versions have the fashion show in colour, but Turner Classic Movies has restored the film and in their version the fashion show in also in black and white. I personally like the contrast of the fashion show being in colour while the rest of the film is in black and white. I am firmly opposed to the colourization movement in film, but in this case it works for me. It is a contrast between a reality and a fantasy.

I have to admit that even though I would not want to dress that way (Give me sweats anyday!) I love the fashions of that time. The gowns are so glamourous and some of the day-wear is quite amusing. I have seen this film many times and enjoy it each time I see it. The dialogue is wonderful, it is humourous and at times it makes me wonder what our mother's, grandmothers and those before them had to put up with. The acting is superb. I don't know if it's on the American Film Institutes's Top 100, but if it isn't, it should be.

It was remade as a 1956 musical comedy, The Opposite Sex, starring June Allyson, Joan Collins, and Ann Miller. In 2008, Diane English wrote and directed "The Women" based on Cukor's 1939 version of the film starring Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler and Debra Messing.. I believe it was also made as a made-for-TV movie, I remember seeing part of it, but I don't think transplanting this story to the present day work's.

In 2007, The Women was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". If you are interested you can get this film as well as the 2008 version through NetFlix . If you are interested in Continuity goofs, they can be fun, you can find them on the website IMdb. Run time is 133 minutes, sorry I don't know the rating, but come on it was made in 1939.

Now for my shameless plug. This review was written primarily for the group All About Film, Movies And Actors. If you write on anything concerning film or movies please do submit to the group.

[1] Wikipaedia article on The Women

[2] IMdb article on The Women