The Women (1939)
4.0 of 5 from 51 ratings
2h 13min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Be careful what you say in private. It could become a movie. Some gossip overheard by Clare Boothe Luce in a nightclub powder room inspired her Broadway hit that's wittily adapted for the screen in The Women. George Cukor directs an all female cast in this catty tale of battling and bonding that paints its claws "Jungle Red" and shreds the excesses of pampered Park Avenue princesses. Joan Crawford, Rosalind Rusell, Joan Fontaine, Mary Boland and Paulette Goddard are among the array of husband snatchers and lovelorn ladies. Norma Shearer is jilted Mary Haines, who ultimately learns to claw without ruining her manicure. All the glamming and slamming comes with a shimmery bauble: a fashion show sequence in eye-popping Technicolor. - Actors:
- Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Phyllis Povah, Joan Fontaine, Virginia Weidler, Lucile Watson, Marjorie Main, Virginia Grey, Ruth Hussey, Muriel Hutchison, Hedda Hopper, Florence Nash, Cora Witherspoon, Ann Morriss, Dennie Moore, Mary Cecil, Mary Beth Hughes
- Directors:
- George Cukor
- Writers:
- Clare Boothe Luce, Anita Loos
- Genres:
- Classics
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Lesbian Cinema, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to François Ozon, The Instant Expert's Guide to Pedro Almodóvar, Top 10 Films Set in Department Stores, Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- Not released
- Run Time:
- 133 minutes
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Reviews (1) of The Women
Satirical Comedy. - The Women review by Steve
The universality suggested by the title is misleading. These are fashionable trophy wives of the Park Avenue wealthy elite who spend their lives shopping and being pampered and gossiping about each others' infidelities. And living in unspoken fear that as they sink into their thirties they will be replaced by a younger model.
While the film dallies with the trivial competitiveness of these mannequins in their natural habitat of fashion shows, lunch dates and beauty parlours, it's hilarious. When the film gets darker it loses its lustre. There are some long, tearful scenes between the divorcing Norma Shearer and her daughter which are hard, unpleasant work.
When the girls are pulling each other apart, it's thrilling. The film has no male actors. Every part (130+) is a woman on an MGM contract. My favourite is Rosalind Russell as the ultimate queen bitch who finds sport in wrecking Norma's marriage. Though there is a letdown when the promised superbabe who has her talons in the husband turns out to be a frumpy Joan Crawford...
George Cukor directs the abundance of dialogue with a light touch and a lot of style. There are fabulous, grandiose sets. It's great to see this amazing cast working together, with astute performances all the way down the credits. The Women satirises some pretty shallow people. With the world marching to war, Hollywood would change. These stories never stopped getting made; but not with all this glamour
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