Review: The Women (1939)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“The Women” is a great classic film that takes an old plot point and shows it in a different light. “The Women” is about a woman named Mary Haines and her friends. Mary faces something that many women have faced… her husband named Stephen Haines has strayed and is in the midst of an affair. Her friends gossip and try to influence Mary to divorce from her husband. They try to influence Mary into being miserable and alone.

“The Women” focuses on Mary and her friends. There are no cameos or actors that show the men in the women’s lives. That is a completely new way to depict such a topic.

This is a great film. Mary is an amazing women. She faces her husband’s indiscretion with strength, poise and aplomb. Mary’s friends are all cats. They hiss and snarl and try to bring Mary down. Then, there is Mary’s counterpart… Crystal Alan. Crystal is the woman that has snagged Mary’s husband. Alan is sly, manipulative and crafty. She tries her best to keep Stephen Haines. She is everything that a good woman like Mary Haines hates.

This is a great classic film. The movie is in black-and-white but that doesn’t hinder the film from being a great movie. The actress named Norma Shearer plays Mary in the best way possible. Mary is beautiful, kind and sweet. Sylvia Fowler is Mary’s “friend.” She is played by Rosalind Russell. Sylvia is conniving and deceitful. She hates Mary and wants to bring her down. Finally, there is Crystal Alan. Crystal is played by Joan Crawford. Crystal is an awful woman. She wants everything that Mary has and she will stop at nothing to get it.

This movie portrays women in both a good way and a bad way. It is a great movie regardless of what you think about that.

I give this movie 5/5-star rating.

Luca Lane