The Women (Keepcase)
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.49 You Save: $14.48 (73%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Women (Keepcase)
Movie Review: Brava, The Real Housewives of Park Avenue
Summary: 5 Stars
Let's see if you can identify this property: a gaggle of upscale, high maintenance women, mostly married to men with deep pockets.
They lunch, they shop, they attend fashion shows, they dish. They form brief, musical chairs type alliances within the group. They diss each other and often the husbands as well.
They discuss their respective issues and sometimes appear supportive of each other, often disingenuously. One relies on her sage like mother for advice They go to spas to be pampered and pummeled. They work out to stay fit and desirable. They wear cutting edge a la mode everything.
Simply watching them rail and flail within their small milieu is ensorcelling verging on addictive.
And, did I mentioned among them there is a from the wrong side of the tracks unscrupulous wannabe?
Name the property.
Did you guess the Real Housewives of Hither and Yon? New York? New Jersey?
Well, no wonder. The work in question, though fiction, might well have been produced last week and a part of that franchise!
Meaning, comments about the work being stale, outdated,
even anachronistic....if you see what is there, must be coming from critics lacking discernment and perspective.
Thing is, this work was produced SEVENTY years ago.
The property is The Women. The original (the only one worth seeing), written by the Moxie-endowed, razor keen Claire Booth Luce and directed by one of the finest women's' directors who ever set foot on a set, George Cukor. And that, according to every actress he ever directed.
Ah, the halcyon days of MGM, and in a year considered to this day, marked by an almost embarrassing excess of brilliant movies: 1939. It's still considered Hollywood's Greatest Year.
The Women is populated by an all star, all female cast whose ages span several decades.
Each luminary delivers an unforgettable performance, most notably, the deliciously manic Rosalind Russell
at her rat-a-tat finest.
Costumes by Adrian...you bet, late 30s a la mode, and get that fashion changes and that is usually driven by commerce. So, make sure your vision is not stuck in Prada & D & G. Aspiring to be au courant has no circa, after all.
When I first saw this film on TV way back, I thought the premise that women ought be blindly devoted to their men was the fly in the cinematic ointment rendering this movie pre Feminist archaic.
I was wrong. Incredibly, not a lot has changed, as per what we see via the reality shows in question.
Norma Shearer plays the initially stoic lead opposite her nemesis, Joan Crawford, who, using faux sexuality, is out to steal Ms. Shearer's husband for his money. These two were actual rivals at MGM back in the day. Ms. Crawford,
who, in this film plays herself, addressing why Ms. Shearer's light eclipsed her own stardom at Metro, hurled,
"Well, she sleeps with the boss."
Indeed. Ms. Shearer married the creatively brilliant, but physically fragile Irving Thalberg. They had two kids together before he died far too young.
The characters depicted in The Women are no more caricatures than those individuals we see in The Real Housewives franchise.
If you are lucky enough to buy this movie, you will be taken aback by its timelessness if you work to see things in perspective.
Not to mention, you will be captivated and entertained...and perhaps even moved to ponder social mores and gender roles---and even if monogamy is indigenous to our species (we are not beavers, after all)---by some of the best who ever were.
Movie Review: A Great Film
Summary: 5 Stars
"Remember, it is being together at the end that matters."
~ "Mrs. Moorehead" in Clare Booth Luce's "The Women"
"The Women," one of the many spectacular films of 1939, explores love, marriage and divorce from the strictly female point of view. Not a single male character is shown in the film, nor in the play by Clare Booth Luce, upon which the movie was based, although the conversation constantly swirls around the husbands and boyfriends of the protagonists. While the women involved are wealthy socialites, many of their follies, sins and heartbreaks are those which pervade the lives of the female sex in every time and place. The ease of securing a divorce, however, is an issue confronting modern people; Mrs. Luce dissects with slow, brilliant cruelty the pain and devastation that goes with breaking up a family. No matter how cordial and legally effortless the parting of ways can be, it is almost impossible to escape upheaval, scandal, and tears.
The Women revolves around the lovely Mary Haines (Norma Shearer), who discovers that her previously devoted husband Stephen is having an affair with a shop girl. The gossip of her friends contributes in no small way to the destruction of the situation. The pivotal moment is when Mary refuses to listen to the wise words of her mother, Mrs. Moorehead (Lucile Watson) who begs her to ignore the infidelity and stop confiding in her friends. "They will see that you lose both your husband and your home." She also implores Mary to consider her young daughter, who must come first no matter what.
Indeed, the little girl is torn to pieces when Mary tells her that the divorce is imminent. One of the saddest scenes shows the child sobbing in private, "Oh, Mother, oh, Daddy!" knowing that the home she has known is gone forever. It is also disturbing how the daughter must later have to deal with her father's cheap new wife. Watching "The Women" always makes me annoyed at both Mary and Stephen for allowing their child to be exposed to such circumstances. But Mary wants to get back at her husband for hurting her more than she wants anything else. She seeks divorce on almost an impulse as pain dominates her reason. She comes to bitterly regret it.
In spite of the heaviness of the topic, "The Women" is fraught with humor; the dialog is one of the wittiest ever to grace the screen. And I do not think that there is single weak performance. Norma Shearer is sweetly sympathetic even when it would be nice to slap her. Joan Crawford is at her slutty best as "Crystal," the callous home wrecker. Rosalind Russell is hilarious as the gossiping Cousin Sylvia, who basically rejoices over Mary's misfortune. Paulette Goddard is the goodhearted wench who tells Mary what's what. A remake is debuting this year; it seems a little coarser and less elegant than the original, but then, of course, it is a reflection of our time.
Movie Review: "There is a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society... outside of a kennel..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Ignore myths of sisterhood. Women can be nasty, catty, devious, gossipy and gleeful -- especially about each other. So expect lots of that in "The Women," a screwball comedy about divorce, remarriage, affairs and lots and lots of inner feuding. It's a practically perfect girls' movie.
The uppermost ladies of Manhattan lunch, spa, shop and especially gossip together. So when Mary Haines' (Norma Shearer) hubby takes a perfume-counter mistress Crystal (Joan Crawford), the other women try to keep it from her. But Mary finds out, and after confronting her husband with his infidelity, she demands a divorce -- and so it's off to Reno with her goody-two-shoes pal Peggy (Joan Fontaine).
She spends the next few weeks at a ranch with other soon-to-be-divorced women, including her neurotic cousin, a much-divorced countess and a vixen. And though Mary still loves her husband, he feels obligated to marry Crystal. But then Mary's daughter reveals some juicy new information about Crystal -- and Mary's pals band together to help her set things right.
"The Women" is an all-star cast, with all women. Not a man to be seen or even heard (although I can't vouch for the animals) -- even the kids are all girls. This allows the attention to remain on The Women, whether it's the naive girls, kindly matrons or the catty hens.
The original play was by Clare Boothe Luce, but Anita Loos gives it her own witty spin. And Loos -- the original chick-litter -- knew how to spin witty, sparking dialogue without breaking a sweat ("She's got those eyes that run up and down a man like a searchlight!").
The plot moves at a fast pace, with the occasional lull, where we get some barbed dialogue about marriage and infidelity. Few movies can handle catfights in a really funny manner (Sylvia biting Miriam on the leg), throw in some insights about men and women's relationships, a dash of romance, revenge, and a climactic battle that involves a broom closet.
Shearer, Paulette Goddard and Mary Boland are all great as women hardened and strengthened by having their guy stolen; Rosalind Russell is hilarious as Shearer's immature, weirdly-dressed cousin, and Joan Crawford is as slimy and vicious as her role demands. The one dark spot is Virginia Weidler, who basically has to simper and whimper -- sadly, because she was delightful in "Philadelphia Story."
"The Women" prove that oftentimes, the female of the species is more deadly -- and more resourceful -- than the male. Hilarious, witty and wonderfully catty.
Movie Review: Cyrstal does it better
Summary: 5 Stars
Besides perhaps "Mildred Pierce," "The Women" is absolutely Joan's most famous and much-loved classic film. I really love this movie because it's so well put together, all of the performances are tops and the story is second to none. As you may know already, in this film, Joan plays man-eater, Crystal Allen. Crystal will stop at nothing to sink her claws into Mr. Stephen Haines. And of course it doesn't matter to her that he's a presumably happily married man to everyone's favorite sweetheart, Mary, otherwise known as Mrs. Stephen Haines.
My favorite clips from this movie are probably your favorites as well. I love the scene with Joan in the bathtub on the phone (they didn't have cordless phones back then so it behooves the imagination, where exactly did she stick the cord?) I love the fashion show and the part with Crystal being confronted by holier-than-thou Mary.
When Joan had a hit, she often loved to make 2 or 3 more movies with very similar plots because she didn't want to disappoint her public. A couple of years after filming "The Women," Joan made a similar movie, "When Ladies Meet." The plot is very similar, but the script and and overall performances were nowhere near as sensational as in this.
Even during Hollywood's Golden Age this film still stands out. The movie almost has an operatic feel to it because it's almost like a musical. All of the lines are almost magical or even poetic.
After 75 years, Joan can still heat up the screen with any number of her classic motion pictures! Like Exile said: she's a miracle, a site to see!
Movie Review: A Great Classic Film From George Cukor
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Women" will go down in movie history as the quentiessential ladies film. The central character, Mary Haines (Norma Shearer), is the one who is enduring her share of pain when learning of her husband's affair with a sneaky department store clerk (MGM studio rival Joan Crawford). With Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Lucile Watson, Marjorie Main and other cast members providing noted performances, "The Women" was directed with skill and strong, entertainment quality by the legendary George Cukor, who took the screenplay from the Clare Boothe Luce Broadway comedy that ran for a then-record 666 performances. And, yes, who can forget the technicolor fashion scene with the high fashions of 1939 flashing before your eyes? This is a comedy for the ages. To today's moviegoers, Norma Shearer is best remembered for "The Women" as opposed to her other films such as "Marie Antoinette," "The Divorcee" (her only Oscar-winner), "A Free Soul," to name a few. This marked Shearer's last "great film" appearance, although she would do two more MGM films before leaving the screen in 1942. As Mary, she nurtures a daughter, gets advice from her mother, and uses "Jungle Red" to later get back the man of her life from Crawford. The fight scene between Russell and Goddard was hilarious to the hilt as the ladies settle down on a western ranch away from New York City. And Mary Boland's countess was interesting with her emphasis on la'mour, la'mour, la'mour (love in French).
With an all-female cast, "The Women" shows bonding, feuding, and glamour in one, golden package. A must-see for all.