The Women (1939)

Madisen Stubbs | January 2019 - 3 min read

I was a weird kid. Growing up, I never really spent time with friends at sleepovers and whatnot. Instead, I spent my time alone in my room with my eyes glued to the television. There was one channel that remained constant on that square television: the Turner Classic Movie channel. These films with insight from actors and experts sparked a flame inside of me that will never die.

I can still remember when I first saw The Women (1939). The night was still young and I sat on my bed. Before the movie started, I was already filled with excitement since I had already grown to love Joan Crawford.

There are NO men in this film.

But yes, of course there were men on the crew along with the director.

In this film, Mary (Mrs. Stephen Hanes), played by Norma Shearer, receives drastic news when she finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Mary is faced with a tough decision and ultimately travels to Reno to get a divorce. Even as a child, I remember being shocked that this film talked about divorce in a good way. Anyway, Mary has a group of girl friends to talk with through this tough time.

The Women is a comedy/drama but with more comedy than anything. Rosalind Russell plays a great character who is sly in every way. At first, she snoops around to find the mistress of Mary’s husband. Later in the film, she befriends this mistress who is now the new Mrs. Stephen Hanes. But still, Sylvia (Russell) remains her sly self.

One of my favorite characters in the film is Miriam Aarons played by Paulette Goddard. She is a tad bit younger than the rest of the women and she is feisty! More so than the other women, who all travel to Reno for the same outcome, Miriam is sure of herself and her circumstance. Miriam and Sylvia tussle at one point and it is one of the original comedy cat fights. After we and the women find out that Sylvia’s husband is having an affair with Miriam, the gloves come off. Miriam says,

"I made Howard pay for what he wants. You made him pay for what he doesn’t want."

I want to mention Joan Fontaine’s character who is just an overall sweetheart. Like the others, she finds herself in Reno with one outcome to look forward to. Again, her situation took me by surprise, even as a kid. Peggy (Fontaine) struggles with her divorce because she finds out that she is pregnant. She tells Mary that she is not sure what her husband will do or how he will react to the news. But Mary insists that she call him anyway. The whole moment is very heartwarming.

Comedy!

As I mentioned before, this movie exudes comedy. The Women is riddled with snappy one-liners that will make you laugh too hard or too loud to hear the next one. It is a very fun movie that I encourage you to watch. I’ll encourage you now by providing clips down below.

(1:43) Remember the time Hilary Duff fell into the trash can in Lizzie McGuire? Or what about Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls? Well, here is their inspiration.

And you can’t talk about this movie without talking about Joan Crawford’s last scene. It slaps you in the face with the best and most classy insult you have ever heard. Just wait for it.