The Women (1939) on Netflix
Mary Haines, a contented Manhattan wife, learns that her husband Stephen has been stepping out with a perfume counter girl, Crystal Allen. Her cousin Sylvia passes the word around.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.7/1016,288 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes94%
Trailer
Plot summary
In Manhattan, Mary Haines keeps a cheerful household with her husband Stephen and their daughter Little Mary, surrounded by a circle of friends. Her cousin Sylvia Fowler, part of that circle, visits Sydney's salon for the new Jungle Red nail color, and the manicurist Olga lets slip that Stephen has been stepping out with Crystal Allen, a perfume counter girl. Sylvia tells the other women first, then arranges for Mary's nails to be done by Olga, who repeats what she knows. Mary is shattered. Her mother urges patience and takes her along to Bermuda so she can think it over.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Women (1939)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Every one of the film's more than 130 speaking roles was played by a woman, carrying on the all-female tradition of the stage play it was based on.
- Not a single male character is ever seen or heard in the film, and the attention to detail reached the props: only female figures appear in the portraits, and the animals playing pets were female too.
- To stop his three famously demanding stars from competing over precedence, Cukor had all three called to the set at the same instant, either by separate staff knocking on their dressing room doors or by a call of "Ready ladies!" The system lapsed only once, and the unnamed offended star stayed in her dressing room a very long time.
- Filmed in black and white, it includes a six-minute fashion parade shot in three-strip Technicolor showing Adrian's most outré designs; often cut from modern screenings, the sequence has been restored by Turner Classic Movies.
- MGM reportedly sought to bring back Marion Davies for the role of Sylvia Fowler, but she declined; Norma Shearer and Carole Lombard had been in negotiations to star.
