"The Women" turns 75
Friday, September 12, 2014 at 9:35AM
Anne Marie here to celebrate a personal favorite. There are two ways to enjoy George Cukor’s sparkling comedy, The Women. The most obvious is to thrill in the delights of the best that a 1930s MGM comedy had to offer: an A-List, all-lady cast including Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard and Joan Crawford; costumes designed by Adrian (with a Technicolor fashion show bonus), and lavish sets, from department stores to nightclubs to Reno, including a bizarrely beautiful bathtub courtesy of Cedric Gibbons. But strip the elegant frivolity away, and you see the true nature The Women: A claws out, teeth bared, no-holds-barred bitchfest.
The Women is social satire aimed squarely at the myth of love in marriage. Neither Clare Boothe Luce (original playwright) nor Anita Loos (who adapted the screenplay) was shy about uncovering the backbiting of upper class socialites. The fights get more vicious as the stakes rise for these rich women for whom marriage is as much a job as a happy accident of love.
The film centers on two knock-down, drag out fights.
ROUND ONE: Saintly Mother Mary Haines vs Perfume Counter Girl Crystal Allen in the dressing rooms of Saks Fifth Avenue. The barbed insults fly as Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford, MGM’s reigning royalty, face off.
WINNER: It seems to be a draw. Crystal doesn’t fight fair, but Mary gets a few blows in for motherly morality.
ROUND TWO: Old Wife Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) vs New Wife Miriam Aarons (Paulette Goddard) in the wilds of Reno, all pretenses of civility stripped:
WINNER: Miriam gets a scar, but she also gets Sylvia’s husband. Here’s where the film gets tricky: Sylvia’s presented as a comedic villain, but she’s also in the exact same position as Mary, losing her husband to a lower class woman. The fact that Miriam Aarons is the victor in the fight and in the audience’s sympathy makes The Women better than a simple divorce comedy.
Of course, these are just two scenes in a film with more insults and innuendo than a Hedda Hopper gossip column. So this weekend, paint your nails Jungle Red, open a bottle of wine, and watch the film while thanking heavens you don’t have friends like these.
Whom do you root for: Mary or Crystal or Miriam or Sylvia? Post your favorite moments below!
Reader Comments (11)
Paulette Goddard doesn't get enough credit for this movie--her opening shot where she turns and says "Cham-PAGNE?" and drops a wink actually made me gasp in the theater: who was this sensational-looking woman with this comedic timing? (I hadn't seen enough old movies growing up.) And I adore her line about "Where I spit, no grass grows EVER." After "The Women" hits a slight slow spot with Mary's breakup, her telling her daughter, etc., the scenes with the Countess and MIriam come along at just the right time to put wind back in the movie's sails.
Dback-yes! She's my MVP of this movie "I make Howard pay for what he wants; you make him pay for what he DOESN'T want." I don't think she's ever looked more beautiful.
So many great performances and quotable lines in this endlessly entertaining film. Definitely one of my favorites.
Miriam might be a climber but she seems like a decent person who at least likes, if not loves, Howard Fowler. Sylvia, great comic creation though she may be, is a deplorable woman who would stab her own mother in the back if she thought she could get something out of it.
So many great performances in this, although I'd like to smack Joan Fontaine into next Tuesday. As great as Roz, Paulette, Joan and Phyllis Povah are my favorite character and performance is Mary Boland's flighty Countess.
I also really like the semi musical remake The Opposite Sex. It's got some really fun performances in it from Joan Collins, Ann Miller, Agnes Moorehead and Dolores Gray plus beautiful Technicolor photography and awesome clothes, they should have stuck to the spirit of the piece and excluded the men however. One thing though why with Dolores Gray and Ann Miller in the cast does June Allyson have all the musical numbers?
The appalling redo with Meg Ryan isn't even worth commenting on.
joel, my favorite Mary Boland performance is in the following year's Pride and Prejudice. The way her tongue flutters exasperatedly over the frequent entreaty "Mr. Bennett" is captivating!
The weird thing about The Women is that I truly despise the character Rosalind Russell plays. But I really don't know if it's her or the character. I'm still scratching my head over the actress who I adored in her two previous films--Night Must Fall and The Citadel--affected me in this way. Could it be the sudden switch from British studios? Or maybe that is great acting LOL.
This movie alone could supply a year's worth of "Great Moments in Screen Bitchery" posts.
JUNGLE RED.
god how i love this movie. it's too bad we don't get more all female comedies. Bridesmaids being a notable recent exception.
Love this movie- great cast, witty script, classy direction- jungle red indeed!
Love this film. Love it, love it, love it all the way to the perfume counter.
I have to pick Mary of the four choices. She wins the game without seeming to break a nail, without begging or looking like she is trying to win. A woman to be feared and respected. It's my favorite Shearer performance.
Ugh, words can't describe how much I adore this movie. It's an actress loving gay man's dream. And it's a travesty that no one got Academy recognition. I'd happily nominate Joan, Norma, and Roz.
One of those films that is like listening to a great piece of music, it sails along and sweeps me away on a tide of good cheer and laughter whenever I see it. Rosalind Russell is unafraid to be a comically awful human being, she really made her name with this performance.
But I agree with others who find Boland & Goddard and their earthy comedy the real heart of the film. Mary & Cristal wouldn't be half as interesting without this great supporting cast.
Norma Shearer gets some credit for being able to share the spotlight so willingly, her generosity comes across on the screen.
meg ryan & annette beningoh, wait...."it will be out tomorrow, mrs. prowler" - crystal's my gal