The Women
The Women is a modern
comedy of manners by
Clare Boothe Luce, which opened on
Broadway in
1936 at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre with an all-female cast that included
Arlene Francis,
Marjorie Main.
Directed by
George Cukor, it was adapted for the screen by
Anita Loos and
Jane Murfin, who toned down the innuendo for a movie audience, and released as a
1939 comedy film which was one of the great successes of its day.
The film continued the play's all-female tradition - the entire cast of more than 130 speaking roles was female. Set in the glamorous
Manhattan apartments of high society evoked by
Cedric Gibbons, and in
Reno where they obtain their divorces, it presents an acidic commentary on the pampered lives and power struggles of various rich, bored wives and the other women that they come into contact with. Throughout the film, not a single male is seen although the males are much talked about, and the central theme is the women's relationships with them. The attention to detail was such that even in props such as portraits only female figures are represented, and several animals which appeared as pets were also female. The only exception is a poster-drawing clearly of a bull in the fashion show segment.
Directed by
George Cukor, the film starred
Norma Shearer,
Joan Crawford and
Rosalind Russell. Among the well known actresses who also appeared were
Paulette Goddard,
Joan Fontaine,
Lucile Watson,
Mary Boland,
Marjorie Main,
Virginia Grey,
Ruth Hussey,
Virginia Weidler,
Butterfly McQueen and
Hedda Hopper.
Filmed in
black and white it originally included a 10 minute
fashion parade filmed in
Technicolor, which featured
Adrian's most outré designs; often cut in modern screenings, it has been restored by
Turner Classic Movies.
The film proved to be a great success, both commercially and critically, and although it received no
Academy Award nominations many critics now describe it as one of the major films of what was a stellar year in
Hollywood film production.
It was remade with little success in
1956 as a
musical and renamed
The Opposite Sex. Male performers were seen onscreen on this occasion, but even with a cast including such well known actresses as
Joan Collins,
June Allyson,
Ann Sheridan,
Ann Miller,
Agnes Moorehead,
Charlotte Greenwood and
Joan Blondell, it failed to create the level of interest that the original had stirred.
The play was revived on Broadway in 1973 with
Dorothy Loudon,
Myrna Loy,
Jan Miner, and
Alexis Smith, and in 2001 with
Kristen Johnston,
Rue McClanahan,
Cynthia Nixon, and
Jennifer Tilly.
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Turner Classic Movies: The Women*Gutner, Howard.
Gowns by Adrian: The MGM Years 1928-1941
