The Women (1939)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Clare Boothe Luce (play)
Anita Loos (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 September 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The Female Of The Species . . . when the men aren't watching !

Plot:

Wealthy Mary Haines is unaware her husband is having an affair with shopgirl Crystal Allen. Sylvia Fowler...

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Gossip | Dude Ranch | Train | Pride

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Norma Shearer	...	Mrs. Stephen Haines (Mary)
Joan Crawford	...	Crystal Allen
Rosalind Russell	...	Mrs. Howard Fowler (Sylvia)
Mary Boland	...	The Countess De Lave
Paulette Goddard	...	Miriam Aarons
Phyllis Povah	...	Mrs. Phelps Potter (Edith)
Joan Fontaine	...	Mrs. John Day (Peggy)
Virginia Weidler	...	Little Mary
Lucile Watson	...	Mrs. Morehead
Marjorie Main	...	Lucy
Virginia Grey	...	Pat (perfume counter clerk)
Ruth Hussey	...	Miss Watts (Stephen's secretary)
Muriel Hutchison	...	Jane (Mary's maid)
Hedda Hopper	...	Dolly Dupuyster (columnist)
Florence Nash	...	Nancy Blake
Cora Witherspoon	...	Mrs. Van Adams
Ann Morriss	...	Exercise instructress
Dennie Moore	...	Olga (manicurist)
Mary Cecil	...	Maggie (Mary's town house cook)
Mary Beth Hughes	...	Miss Trimmerback (notary)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Margaret Dumont	...	Mrs. Wagstaff (scenes deleted)
Dorothy Adams	...	Miss Atkinson (uncredited)
Ruth Alder	...	Woman under sunlamp (uncredited)
Mariska Aldrich	...	Singing teacher (uncredited)
Meeka Aldrich	...	Masseuse (uncredited)
Barbara Jo Allen	...	Receptionist (uncredited)
Judith Allen	...	Corset model (uncredited)
Maude Allen	...	Cyclist (uncredited)
Effie Anderson	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Mary Anderson	...	Young girl (uncredited)
Dorothy Appleby	...	Treatment girl (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor	...	Mud bath nurse (uncredited)
Bunny Beatty	...	Debutante in powder room (uncredited)
May Beatty	...	Fat woman / Society woman (uncredited)
Wilda Bennett	...	Mrs. Carter (uncredited)
Joan Blair	...	Miss Atkins (uncredited)
Gladys Blake	...	Miss St. Claire (woman with tough girl) (uncredited)
Marie Blake	...	Stockroom girl (uncredited)
Betty Blythe	...	Mrs. South (uncredited)
May Boley	...	Mud mask (uncredited)
Lilian Bond	...	Mrs. Erskine (uncredited)
Frederika Brown	...	Head saleswoman (uncredited)
Veda Buckland	...	Woman (uncredited)
Aileen Carlyle	...	Miss Hicks (uncredited)
Shirley Chambers	...	Girl in a bath (uncredited)
Lita Chevret	...	Woman under sunlamp (uncredited)
Dora Clement	...	Woman under sunlamp (uncredited)
Mabel Colcord	...	Woman getting massage (uncredited)
Beatrice Cole	...	Negligee model (uncredited)
Mildred Coles	...	Debutante (uncredited)
Nell Craig	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Esther Dale	...	Ingrid (Mary's country house cook) (uncredited)
Mary Dees	...	Girl (uncredited)
Eva Dennison	...	Old girl (uncredited)
Estelle Etterre	...	Hairdresser #2 (uncredited)
Dot Farley	...	Large woman (uncredited)
Nance Lee Ferrar	...	Edith Potter's daughter (uncredited)
Flora Finch	...	Woman window tapper (uncredited)
Ruth Findlay	...	Pedicurist (uncredited)
Agnes Fraser	...	Debutante (uncredited)
June Gittelson	...	Mrs. Goldstein (uncredited)
Grace Goodall	...	Head saleswoman (uncredited)
Rita Gould	...	Dietician (uncredited)
Grayce Hampton	...	Dowager in powder room (uncredited)
Sibyl Harris	...	Fashion show commentator (uncredited)
Theresa Harris	...	Olive (uncredited)
Winifred Harris	...	Mrs. North / Society woman (uncredited)
Grace Hayle	...	Cyclist (uncredited)
Brenda Henderson	...	Mrs. Jones' daughter (uncredited)
Jany Hope	...	Edith Potter's daughter (uncredited)
Joey Hope	...	Edith Potter's daughter (uncredited)
Virginia Howell	...	Receptionist (uncredited)
Carol Hughes	...	Salesgirl at Modiste Salon (uncredited)
Jane Isbell	...	Edith Potter's daughter (uncredited)
Suzanne Kaaren	...	Countess Tamara (uncredited)
Alice Keating	...	Saleswoman (uncredited)
Carole Lee Kilbry	...	Theatrical child (uncredited)
Carole Lee Kirby	...	Theatrical child (uncredited)
Lucia LaCerte	...	Treatment girl (uncredited)
Lenita Lane	...	Mrs. Spencer's friend (uncredited)
Priscilla Lawson	...	Hairdresser #1 (uncredited)
Leni Lynn	...	Edith's oldest daughter (uncredited)
Leila McIntyre	...	Woman with bundles (uncredited)
Janet McLeay	...	Girl in Shadowgraph / Glamour girl (uncredited)
Butterfly McQueen	...	Lulu - Costmetics Counter Maid (uncredited)
Greta Meyer	...	Masseuse (uncredited)
Helene Millard	...	Cosmetic saleswoman (uncredited)
Sue Moore	...	Masseuse (uncredited)
Natalie Moorhead	...	Woman at Modiste Salon (uncredited)
Gertrude Needham	...	Woman (uncredited)
Hattie Noel	...	Maid on train (uncredited)
Florence O'Brien	...	Euphie (uncredited)
Mimi Olivera	...	Manicurist (uncredited)
Blanche Payson	...	Masseuse (uncredited)
Edith Penn	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Barbara Pepper	...	Tough girl (uncredited)
Virginia Pine	...	Glamour girl (uncredited)
Hilda Plowright	...	Miss Fordyce (uncredited)
Aileen Pringle	...	Miss Carter (saleslady) (uncredited)
Catherine Proctor	...	Woman in cabinet (uncredited)
Isabel Randolph	...	Woman in cabinet (uncredited)
Renie Riano	...	Ugly saleswoman (uncredited)
Ruth Rickaby	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Jo Ann Sayers	...	Debutante (uncredited)
Dorothy Sebastian	...	Saleswoman Pat (uncredited)
Peggy Shannon	...	Mrs. Jones (uncredited)
Mildred Shay	...	Helen, (Crystal's French maid) (uncredited)
Clarice Sherry	...	Girl (uncredited)
Florence Shirley	...	Miss Archer (uncredited)
Irene Shirley	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Gertrude Simpson	...	Stage mother (uncredited)
Ann Teeman	...	Makeup artist (uncredited)
Terry	...	Fighting dog at beauty shop (uncredited)
Charlotte Treadway	...	Companion woman (uncredited)
Beryl Wallace	...	Woman in cabinet (uncredited)
Josephine Whittell	...	Mrs. Spencer (uncredited)
Marjorie Wood	...	Sadie, (old maid in powder room) (uncredited)
Charlotte Wynters	...	Miss Batchelor (uncredited)
Mary Young	...	Grandma (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
Clare Boothe Luce		(play) (as Clare Boothe)
Anita Loos		(screenplay) and
Jane Murfin		(screenplay)
F. Scott Fitzgerald		uncredited and
Donald Ogden Stewart		uncredited

Produced by
Hunt Stromberg	....	producer

Original Music by
David Snell
Edward Ward

Cinematography by
Oliver T. Marsh		(director of photography)
Joseph Ruttenberg

Film Editing by
Robert Kern		(as Robert J. Kern)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis
Jack D. Moore		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edward Woehler	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Wade B. Rubottom	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Stunts
Donna Hall	....	riding double: Virginia Weidler (uncredited)
Stevie Meyers	....	riding double: Virginia Weidler (uncredited)
Audrey Scott	....	riding double: Norma Shearer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adrian	....	fashion show

Other crew
George King	....	dance teacher (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1945) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Delphi Filmverleih Produktion (1991) (Germany) (theatrical)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2004) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM Home Entertainment (????) (Italy) (video)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Ethel Barrymore Theatre  play presented at
• Max Gordon Plays & Pictures Corporation  movie made by arrangement with

Runtime:

133 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

France:U | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) (1939) | UK:U (re-rating) (2004) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #5546)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

When Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford were called to shoot publicity stills, neither actress would enter the studio first. Instead, they remained in their limousines and circled the parking lot until director George Cukor summoned them and they instantly behaved like best friends.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Two years passes between Mary's divorce and her subsequent reconciliation with her husband, but little Mary, her daughter, doesn't seem to grow at all during that time.

Quotes:

Countess DeLave: La publicité!

Movie Connections:

Featured in 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Old Chisholm Trail (Come a Ti Yi Yippee Yippee Yay)

A Legendary Comedy Available On DVD

The female of the species goes jungle red in tooth and claw in this brilliant screen adaptation of Claire Boothe Luce's famous Broadway play--a wickedly funny portrait of 1930s society women whose lives revolve around beauty treatments, luncheons, fashion shows, and each other's men. Socialite Mary Haines is the envy of her set: rich, beautiful, and happily married... but when her husband steps out on her with a gold-digging perfume counter sales clerk, Mary's so-called friends dish enough dirt to make divorce inevitable whether Mary wants it or not.

The script is wickedly, mercilessly funny, fast paced, razor sharp and filled with such memorable invective that you'll be quoting it for weeks and months afterward: "He says he'd like to do Sylvia's nails right down to the wrist with a buzz-saw;" "Why that old gasoline truck, she's sixty if she's a minute;" "Gimme a bromide--and put some gin in it!" And the all-female cast, which includes every one from Cora Witherspoon to Butterfly McQueen to Hedda Hopper, plays it with tremendous spark.

This was the last significant starring role for Norma Shearer, one of MGM's greatest stars of the 1930s, and she acquits herself very well as the much-wronged Mary Haines. But the real winners are the members of the supporting cast. Joan Crawford is truly astonishing as Crystal Allen, the shop girl who leads Mary's husband astray, and Rosalind Russell gives an outrageously funny performance as the back-biting gossip whose nasty comments precipitate Mary's divorce. Indeed, it is hard to do anything except rave about the entire the cast, which includes such diverse performers as Marjorie Main, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, and Lucille Watson. Even the smallest bit parts score with one-liners that have the impact of a slap in the face, and director George Cukor does an incredible job of keeping everything and every one in sharp focus.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things about THE WOMEN is the way in which director Cukor ties the behavior of its characters to their social status. Possessed of absolute leisure and considerable wealth, their energies are inevitably directed into competition for the ultimate status symbol: a successful man. Cukor allows us to sympathize with Mary (Shearer) and laugh at Sylvia (Russell), but he also requires us to pity them--and indirectly encourages grudging admiration for the devious Crystal (Crawford) and the savvy Miriam (Goddard), characters who are considerably more self-reliant. Consequently, not only does THE WOMEN paint a poisonously funny portrait of women as a sex, it takes a hatchet to the society that has shaped their characters as well.

Unfortunately, this landmark comedy has not received the full benefit of what DVD offers. Although the print is crisp, the film has not been restored, and the extras are spurious and hardly do the film justice; while I would recommend the DVD simply because you're likely to wear out a VHS, the DVD has no great advantage over the VHS release. But whether you have it on VHS or DVD, this is one title that you must have in your collection: you'll watch it again and again. A must-have! Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer