The Women (1939)

Oh, I am a bit behind on the blogging. I watched this movie while I was at my parents' house the other week. I am fairly certain one of my high school teachers told me to watch this or to read the play . . . I don't remember which. Anyway, The Women is certainly an interesting film.

The basic premise is that one woman's husband is cheating on her and her group of friends becomes involved to something of a detrimental effect. So, you've got the married woman with the cheating husband, a married friend who is certain her husband would never cheat (that doesn't so much work out for her) who is a terrible gossip and instigator and also the cousin of the married woman, a newlywed whose husband won't let her have a say in anything, and a "feminist" (gasp!) who is not married. Then you have the gold-digging perfume saleswoman who is the temptress in the affair. High jinks ensue and all works out in the end for the good girls (at least by the terms the movie sets).

What is interesting about this film is that there are no men in it. Not one. Yet almost the entire subject matter of the film revolves around men. What makes this trick sort-of bad is that a film that is ostensibly about women, ends up being all about the absent men. And, given that it was made in the late 30s, the hurrah! moment of the end doesn't feel as great for women as I'm sure it did then. What the film does well is capture the gossip and the speech patterns of women as well as the intricacies of our friendships.

The cast is spectacular: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell . . . and some I don't know the names of but who performed wonderfully.

It's a good movie with interesting things to say about how far women have come--especially since this was marked as a turning point for women--but it does feel a little long in parts. I am incredibly interested to see how the film is updated for the remake due out later this year (I think). I'm not sure it will work and still be the same premise but I'm interested to see what they try.