The Women

At its surface, sort of simplistic and forgettable, but oh man, there's so much more! Not a satire about gossipy women, but instead a completely bizarre queering of the male gaze with clever, yet succinct critiques of a patriarchal society. Also, it's really funny! I wrote, uhh a lot more here: http://cinematalk.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/the-women-1939/

What's at first glance a campy satire of upper-class Park Avenue white women, is on a deeper level a feminist exploration of the widespread penetration of patriarchy in women's everyday lives, the emotional labour they perform for men, and the nature of feminine relationships. Granted its feminism is rather dated, but compared to something like Sex and the City, which came out 60 years later, The Women is damn-hell progressive for it's time. Also, Crawford, and Russell are both so wonderful.

Not exactly a "feminist" film, The Women focuses on society women who hang about beauty salons, having manicures and gossiping about marital infidelities. Nevertheless it is quite unique in its era for failing to pass a REVERSE Bechdel test - in fact, it features no men. I often don't get along with Cukor, and as usual with him, I found this way too chatty. In this case I forgive the highly superfluous dialogue because it kind of fits the charming "cackle of gossipers" atmosphere.

As impressive as it is annoying and pandering.Wonderful performances, some incredible lines and creative touches (the opening credits, the color sequence, the lack of men, etc) make it worth watching for its originality and spirit. Some of those same things are also the weak points: for every strong line there's another that falls completely flat, the fashion show grinds the film to a halt, the characters are one-dimensional and for every progressive idea there are two hideously regressive ones.

Rosalind Russell steals every scene she's in with all the sass that follows her around. She tends to do that in her films, but I think it's exacerbated in The Women where too much of the dialogue is one-note ruminations on women's relationship with their men. It gets tiring, especially when Russell disappears for an extended time in the middle of the film.

With its all-female cast I guess you could call this a "chick flick". I call it pandering, especially the Technicolor "fashion show" in the middle. Hey ladies, you like frilly dresses n' stuff, right? And every major character defines herself by her relationship to men. All they ever talk about is who's married to who and who's cheating on who (those gals sure love to gossip!). I know it was 1939, but come on. However, at least the performances are fun and the film moves amazingly fast.

It's better than all the lions and tigers and elephants in the whole wide world

The opening and closing segments are pure fast-and-furious screwball comedy. There are some zingers in the middle too, but there's a fair amount of awkward time, including the stop-the-story-dead Technicolor sequence where half the designs wouldn't be out of place at a Star Trek convention. Crawford does get most of the best lines, especially her exit. It's just very odd that all these characters are running around in the same social circles.

This is generally enjoyable enough, but it feels more progressive for its time than actually as progressive as it thinks it might be. While there is no male character on screen in the movie, I'm pretty sure it fails the Bechdel test in that every single conversation any characters have is about men. Plus, some of the "lessons" (even if your husband cheats on you, forgive him if he's sorry) are kind of cringe-worthy to modern eyes. Some very fun performances, especially Rosalind and Crawford.

The film has its hushed moments of radical feminism for its time, but then it dials it back with sentiment as if in apology. The shrill cattiness of the players wouldn’t be out of place in a modern Kardashians season - there are maybe three objectively decent people in the film - so I guess that means it’s timeless. Still, it’s practically a miracle this ever made it through Hays censorship, and Rosalind Russell cranks her dial to 11, so I’ll give it a few extra props for swinging in its corner.

Not my style

https://esperwatchesfilms.tumblr.com/post/642215128519016448/the-women-1939

Now this is an ensemble cast worth watching. The rapid fire dialogue is delivered with such intent and energy that as the viewer you at times feel assaulted (in a good way). As a critique of marriage it does not quite work, but you don't really notice as you are swept away by the glamorous fashion and gossip-driven hijinks. Russell's physical performance is a stand out and as soon as Goddard appears on screen you are spellbound. Hedda Hooper makes a nasty presence (soon to name names).

86.00

Do we expect this to age well? It is fascinating, if you can get past the dubious gender politics in a movie with an all-female cast that is, still, "All about men!" Everyone is a clown, and the closing shot is revolting, but everything, especially the costumes and the Technicolor fashion show sequence, is eye-popping. Includes a glorious catfight. Of course.

Tidvis märks filmens ålder i en moraliserande ton, men om man bortser från denna randanmärkning är filmen hysteriskt rolig. Den som är förtjust i oneliners har en högtidsstund framför sig

There's no men in the movie but it's all they talk about. There's some funny parts and certainly some moving moments but overall it's a lot of talking adding up to nothing.

I need an aspirin after this. MGM kicks out all the men and star just about every lady they have on their roster for a gossip ridden farce. Most prominent sweet Norma Shearer and the vixen Joan Crawford! Of all the silly females in this women's epic, perhaps surprising that I enjoyed Rosalind Russell the most. She looked completely out of place as far as character went in her conservative clothes and cartoonish cackle-tattle persona. But the girl showed she knew the art of slapstick!

By turns clever, campy, and at times almost unbearably maudlin. Some parts feel very proto-feminist while others seem like the exact opposite. All of which is to say, i found it incredibly uneven, but certainly not without it's charms. For me it works best when the banter is lightning fast and witty, the dramatic parts are kind of awful (the precocious daughter, ugh...) As a whole it's kind of too long? Not enough drunk scenes? Also is it just me or does Joan Crawford look like a drag queen?

83.500

The movie is quite dated. I was particularly put off by the cacophony of screeching women and frequent overuse of too much activity and excessive flamboyant decadence. Many performances seemed forced, rushed or pretentious. The music was schmaltzy. The script is full of snappish and graceless dialog. For half of it I'd prefer cackling chickens. I loved the swim suit like clothes under long flowing capes and the other fashion show wardrobe, but most of the hats were nutty. Crawford is hideous.

Acknowledged for walking outside the times limits of the American socially excepted.

"The tagline says it's all about men, but this 1939 comedy is really a testament to the females of a certain era, and how they go about securing their comfort and happiness." - Jeremiah Kipp

A brilliant all-star ensemble cast held together by the expert touch of George Cukor. Sure, it's kind of dated. So what?

There are some great moments here and the performances are excellent, but the film drags on quite a bit and its hard to get past the film's central message-"You should always compromise yourself for your man." If it had been more of a message of forgiveness, that I would have been ok with.

Oh.....my.......God......this.......is.......so......boring. OK, I need to be fair here--I'm a guy and this is unquestionably a chick flick. Still, I appreciate a good chick flick and this was just a bunch of ladies talking to each other about....NOTHING.