The 1939 film The Women is an excellent commentary on the female psyche. George Cukor, the director, excelled at directing films with strong female characters. Some of his other successes included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Little Women (1933), My Fair Lady (1964) and A Star is Born (1954). Cukor was also an uncredited director of Gone with the Wind, another 1939 film that many of The Women cast members auditioned for. Leading the all-star cast is Norma Shearer, who plays Mary Haines, a care-free New York City socialite who is very much in love with her husband Stephen. The gossip starts spreading and soon Mary finds out that her husband is cheating on her with a perfume saleswoman named Crystal Allen (played by Joan Crawford). Rounding out the rest of the cast are Sylvia (Rosalind Russell), Peggy (Joan Fontaine), Mary’s mother (Lucile Watson), Edith (Phyllis Povah), Miriam (Paulette Goddard) and the Countess de Lave (Mary Boland), who play friends and foes of Mary. The plot follows the characters through rumors, affairs, break ups and “cat fights” as the characters try to make sense of their lives. Women of any era are familiar with the turmoil and stress that comes with interacting with other women.
At first, it feels strange to be watching a movie with no men. Even the extras, artwork in the background and animals featured in the film are all females. The creative minds behind this movie nailed what goes on in the mind of a woman on the head. (No pun intended!)
As a college student at a mostly female school, I constantly see situations like those in The Women occur. I noticed several similarities in women’s behaviors. I particularly loved that like today, women in the 1930s congregated in salons and restrooms to gossip. Therefore, it only seemed fitting that the climax of the film would occur in a restroom at a fancy party.
For some reason it is my gender’s nature to talk about other women. Maybe it’s just that women tend to be more vocal in general than men, I don’t know, but somehow it makes me feel a little bit better to know that it isn’t just a generational phase.
I invite you to check out The Women, especially if you are a woman. It just might enlighten you about some of the ridiculous things that we do to each other, and for what? My only conclusion is that women like those in the film gossip and do the other things they do to boost their egos and make them feel better about themselves. Even offscreen, the actresses weren’t exactly at peace with each other. Actress Rosalind Russell called in sick until Norma Shearer agreed to share her top billing status on the film. Sound familiar ladies? We’ve all done something like that, I’m sure.
Clearly, women haven’t changed much in 70 years.
