In 1939, a Hollywood blockbuster featured over 130 speaking roles and zero men.
In short: George Cukor’s The Women is a cinematic anomaly: a high-society comedy-drama where not a single male character appears on screen. Even the animal pets and background portraits were strictly female. This radical experiment in all-female storytelling remains a sharp, venomous look at power, infidelity, and the social hierarchies of Manhattan.
Based on Clare Boothe Luce’s 1936 play, the film centers on Mary Haines, a contented wife whose life unravels after discovering her husband’s affair with a perfume counter girl. The narrative follows Mary and her circle of friends through a series of betrayals and reconciliations, moving from glamorous Manhattan apartments to a divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada. The film’s commitment to its premise was absolute; even props and minor background details were curated to exclude male presence, with only a few accidental exceptions like a magazine advertisement.
Managing the production required immense logistical precision. Director George Cukor famously handled his three demanding leads by ensuring they were summoned to the set at the exact same moment to avoid any perceived favoritism. Despite the film's critical acclaim and its status as a landmark of 1939 cinema, it was not an immediate financial success. MGM records indicate the production initially lost $262,000, though it eventually turned a modest profit following a 1947 re-release. In 2007, the Library of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry for its cultural and historical significance.
The film is perhaps best remembered for its biting dialogue and a surreal, three-strip Technicolor fashion show that interrupts the black-and-white narrative. While contemporary critics like Frank Nugent questioned the sequence's relevance, later observers have interpreted it as a symbolic, wordless reflection of the characters' lives. The film’s legacy is complex, having inspired various remakes and even a proposed, though never produced, all-male version titled Gentlemen's Club. Today, it is celebrated for the way its ensemble cast—including Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell—embraced their roles as sharp-tongued vixens in a world defined by female competition.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Women (1939 film)
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