The Women - 10/10
This is one of my all-time favorite movies. Made in 1939. I've probably seen it more than a dozen times, but it never gets old. It has so many wonderful qualities. Glorious black and white photography. Lavish sets and costuming. A stellar all-female cast: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Mary Boland, Marjorie Main and little Virginia Weidler. (There is not a single solitary man present in this movie, not even an extra - which is amusing since the movie also happens to revolve around them, lol.) A fashion show in color (I love old movies with fashion shows!). Paulette Goddard in an adorable cowgirl outfit - hubba hubba!
And even a catfight! MEOW!
This film was directed by George Cukor after famously being fired as director of
Gone with the Wind. I've never been so happy to know that someone I admire was fired from their job.
This film was tailor-made for Cukor who was known as "a woman's director" and has the breathtaking glamour and biting humor that he is remembered for in abundance.
Basically the crux of the film's plot questions how a "good" woman should react when she finds her husband is being unfaithful. Don't want to give anything away, but some viewers may find the film's answer to that question to be uncomfortably retrograde. But I like to keep in mind the times when watching old movies like these and not attach my own generation's values to them. Besides, I don't think the points made in this film are totally without merit. For either men or women.
I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes old classics. Even though it is not as well known as many others, it is one of the best of the best.
And did I mention Paulette Goddard in a cowgirl outfit?