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The Women

Production: April 25, 1939 - July 7, 1939;
Premiere: not available;
Released: September 1, 1939;
Production/Distribution Companies: Metro Goldwyn Mayer/Loew's Inc.;
Runtime: 113 min;
Country: USA;
Language: English;
Color: Black and White with Technicolor Fashion Show;
Sound Mix: Mono (Western Electric Sound System);
Available on both VHS and DVD;

Cast: Norma Shearer as Mrs. Stephen Haines, Mary; Joan Crawford as Crystal Allen; Rosalind Russell as Mrs. Howard Fowler, Sylvia; Mary Boland as The Countess De Lave, Flora; Paulette Goddard as Miriam Aarons; Joan Fontaine as Mrs. John Day, Peggy; Lucile Watson as Mrs. Morehead; Phyllis Povah as Mrs. Phelps Potter, Edith; Virginia Weidler as Little Mary; Marjorie Main as Lucy; Virginia Brey as Pat; Ruth Hussey as Miss Watts; Muriel Hutchison as Jane; Hedda Hopper as Dolly DePuyster;

Production Credits:
Produced by: Hunt Stromberg;
Directed by: George Cukor;
Writers: Anita Loos, Jane Murfin, based on Clare Boothe's stage play;
Make-Up/Hair: Sydney Guilaroff;
Gowns by: Adrian;
Sound Recording: Douglas Shearer;
Editing: Robert J. Kern;
Music: Edward Ward, David Snell, Edward Ward, Bob Wright, Chet Forrest;

Reviews:

“The tonic effect of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s film of Clare Boothe’s The Women is so marvelous we believe every studio in Hollywood should make at least one thoroughly nasty picture a year. The saccharine is too much with us: going and coming to syrupy movies we lose our sense of balance. Happily, Miss Boothe hasn’t. She has dipped her pen in venom and written a comedy that would turn a litmus paper pink. Metro, without alkalizing it too much, has fed it to a company of actresses who normally are so sweet that butter (as the man says) wouldn’t melt in their mouths. And, instead of gasping and clutching at their throats, the women-bless em’-have downed it without blinking, have gone one a glorious cat-clawing rampage and have turned in one of the merriest pictures of the season.
Miss Shearer as Mary Stephens, whose divorce and matrimonial comeback keep the cat fight going, is virtually the only member of the all feminine cast who behaves as one of Hollywood’s leading ladies is supposed to. And even Miss Shearer’s Mary sharpens her talons finally and joins the birds of the prey. It is parenthetically, one of the best performances she has given.”
Frank J. Nugent in the New York Times, September 22, 1939

“I think probably the movies have made something solid out of The Women than the stage play did. The picture runs two hours and a quarter which is inexcusable in itself, and features Norma Shearer in some of the most incessant weeping and renunciation since Ann Hardin-which may not be inexcusable but it’s no fun for me. It is a holiday from Hays all right; there is more wicked wit than Hollywood has been allowed since The Front Page.”
Otis Ferguson in The New Republic, September 6, 1939

“The woman is Mary Haines, portrayed with deeply felt finesse by Miss Shearer. She is the wife who, thanks to the whispers and gabble of contingent led by Sylvia (Miss Russell), finds her marriage headed for the rocks. Of course, there is a another woman and she is played with an honestly that is sometimes shocking, is Miss Crawford. Fortunately, it has Miss Shearer, and we can cling to decency-albeit desperately-with her.”
Edwin Schallert in the Los Angeles Times, September 1, 1939

“Good is always at a disadvantage around evil. So is Mary around Crystal, the Countess, Sylvia and the rest of the women. Miss Shearer, constantly in the foreground throughout the picture, has a battle to hold her own. Her performance, however, is earnestly expressed.”
Harry Mines in the Los Angeles Daily News, September 11, 1939

“The Women, like its original is a mordant, mature description of the social decay of one corner of the U.S. middleclass.”
Time magazine, September 11, 1939

“Norma Shearer brings her usual polish and grace to a less showy role as the one really sympathetic character in the piece, Mrs. Stephen Haines.”
Picturegoer and Film Weekly, March 2, 1940

“Smart, brilliant play becomes sure-fire screen fare finely produced and acted.”
Film Daily, August 29, 1939

“Miss Shearer delivers a sparkling performance as the intelligent and loving wife who finds herself unable to cope with both the gossip undercurrent and her husband’s indiscretion. Miss Crawford is ruthless and tough-shelled as the wife stealer, while Rosalind Russell contributes a highlight characterization as the sly purveyor of maligning gossip, although her part was a little broadly sketched by direction. Lucile Watson is a sympathetic and male-understanding mother. Virginia Weidler provides several human and dramatic interludes as the child caught in the divorce maelstrom.
Miss Shearer is on the delivery line of some poignant scenes. Most important are her telephone conversations with her erring husband and explaining to daughter Virginia Weidler the reason for a divorce.”
Variety, September 6, 1939

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