I have resisted watching this movie for the longest time, expecting it to be some silly, frilly, campy extravaganza - and now, finally leisurely settled on vacation, the time has come to return to what I really always liked the best, namely old classic black and white movies. Poured the wine, lighten the smoke and in a spur of the moment convinced myself that maybe I should check this 1939 movie - after all, its done by George Cukor during the golden era of Hollywood and apparently it has some famous actresses in there.
Before you know it, I was laughing - giggling at first, than louder and louder until wine almost spurted out of my nose. What got my attention immediately were the opening credits, showing each character as an animal first (tiger, wild cat, owl, pussycat, lamb and so on). That got my attention all right. And immediately I realised there is no male actor in sight. Not one! Talk about famous Hollywood female movies, this time meaning taken literary.
Of course it is silly, frilly, campy extravaganza - what else it could be with story that starts in beauty salon, with seemingly countless number of female characters bitching, gossipping and back-biting, but it was great fun. What makes it so special and unforgettable is razor sharp wit overflowing the script, there are just so many sarcastic jokes thrown around in abundance that my head went spinning - I could hardly remember any of them after a while - it is a delicious script, based on a theatre play but there is nothing stagey here as director George Cukor made sure there are plenty of outside scenes. Sure, the philosophy of its times places the movie squarely in its time (husband and marriage being the ultimate goal and fulfilment) but honestly, you just have to take it for what it is and not get too upset with obviously old-fashioned and dated, caricatured portrayals of its heroines - the movie cleverly balances between true misogyny and celebration of sisterhood (just when you start wondering do these film-makers actually hate women, ladies start supporting each other). The amount of gabbing is amazing - you have to concentrate very hard not to miss all those lines, it must be the most talkative movie I have ever seen, like Oscar Wilde on speed - it left me completely exhausted and worn out, but I still laugh about what I heard.
Actresses chew the script for all it's worth - Norma Shearer is the centre of the story as a woman whose seemingly happy marriage and equilibrium are destroyed by her bunch of gossipy friends who love nothing better than to claw at her (and at each other). Rosalind Russell (who is actually very attractive but purposely made into caricature here) is a leader of the backstabbing gang, with young and willowy Joan Fontaine tagging innocently behind. It takes forever for the main antagonist to finally come on the stage, but when the scheming adulteress Joan Crawford belatedly arrives, she lightens the screen with her presence. Its Alexis Carrington some half a century earlier. Even the little child actress Virginia Weidler holds herself surprisingly well in such distinguished company. Later in the story there is another sisterhood centred around divorce town Reno, where we encounter hard-boiled Paulette Goddard who is so good that she almost overbalances the movie. (Blink and you'll miss wonderful Butterfly McQueen, squeaky-voiced servant from "Gone with the Wind")
There are some cringing moments - women exercise comically, obsession with men gets tiresome and surreal fashion walk right in the middle of the movie is so off-the-wall that its just mind-boggling. Last scene with Shearer (arms outstretched) is pure camp but if you are able to simply take it as extremely funny period piece exploding with Dorothy Parker kind of wit, "The Women" is actually unforgettable.
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