The Women Overview:

The Women (1939) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by George Cukor and produced by Hunt Stromberg.

SYNOPSIS

In a social satire as sharp as a cat's claw, Cukor pulls back the curtains of drawing rooms and ladies' lounges to expose the machinations that go into the war between women over men. Shearer has what she thinks is a happy marriage until meddlesome Russell connives to have her learn the truth about her husband's affair with store clerk Crawford. After a trip to Reno for a quickie divorce, she learns that her husband isn't pleased with Crawford. So Shearer paints her nails jungle red and enlists her friends to snare her husband from Crawford's clutches. Snappy, spiteful dialogue from Loos, based on the play by Luce, delivered by MGM's best actresses.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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The Women was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2007.

BlogHub Articles:

Westward The Women (1951): A Fuller, Richer Kind of Western

By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 15, 2022 From 4 Star Films

My only qualm with Westward The Women might be the title itself because otherwise, it’s a striking movie that should rightfully be heralded as a supremely significant western for the story it chooses to tell. At the very least, the title does make it evident that this is a story with women at ... Read full article


COMEDY GOLD #9: Gossip from The Women (1939)

By Carol Martinheira on Sep 27, 2018 From The Old Hollywood Garden

COMEDY GOLD #9: Gossip from The Women (1939) On September 27, 2018 By CarolIn Uncategorized Look, I like what The Women (1939) meant to do. I like the whole thing about it having an all-female cast, about it being about women and everything. Unfortunately, I’ve a... Read full article


The Women of Old Hollywood: Doris Day in That Touch of Mink

By Amanda Garrett on Apr 5, 2018 From Old Hollywood Films

Doris Day and Cary Grant in a lobby card for That Touch of Mink (1962). This article is part of The Doris Day Blogathon hosted by Love Letters to Old Hollywood. It's also part of my series on Women in old Hollywood. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, actor and singer Doris Day created a chara... Read full article


The Women of Old Hollywood: Greta Garbo in Anna Christie and Camille

By Amanda Garrett on Nov 25, 2017 From Old Hollywood Films

This article is the first in an occasional series about the portrayal of women in old Hollywood films. Today, my focus is on Greta Garbo's roles in Anna Christie (photo above) and Camille (1936). This article is also part of The Greta Garbo Blogathon hosted by In the Good Old Days of Classic Holl... Read full article


From the Archives : The Women ( 1939 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on Aug 31, 2017 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

Two cats ready to show their claws......Rosalind Russell and Norma Shearer in a scene from MGM's classic comedy The Women ( 1939 ). In this scene, they are on friendly terms, but they'll begin their fight shortly! From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverb... Read full article


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Quotes from

Olga: She's got those eyes that run up and down a man like a searchlight.


Crystal Allen: [on the telephone] Oh no, Steven, I couldn't think of your dissarranging your evening. I'll have another birthday next year.
Pat: You'll have another one next week!
Crystal Allen: [covering the mouthpiece] Look, so help me, I'm gonna slug you!


Lucy: Them big, strong, red-headed men... they're fierce!


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Facts about

"The Women's" screenwriter Anita Loos who wrote this film's original 1939 screenplay, started her writing career in 1912 with her first full film screenplay The Musketeers of Pig Alley starring Lillian Gish and directed by D.W. Griffith for the American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. which is still in existence today. After writing many scripts for Biograph, Loos went on to write such other films such as Saratoga, Another Thin Man, San Francisco, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
The stage actress who originated the role of Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell's role in the film) was Ilka Chase. She is probably best recognized by today's audiences as the Stepmother in the original Julie Andrews live TV musical production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Cinderella, the kinescope of which was recently rediscovered and released on DVD.
Judith Allen, who plays the corset model, had previously worked as a model in New York (under the name Mari Colman) before her acting career began.
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National Film Registry

The Women

Released 1939
Inducted 2007
(Sound)




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Also directed by George Cukor




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Also produced by Hunt Stromberg




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