Director: George Cukor
Screenwriter(s): Anita Loos, Jane Murfin & Clare Boothe Luce (play)
Producer: Hunt Stromberg
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
In Theaters: September 1st, 1939
Run Time: 133 minutes
Color: Black & White
Starring: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell
Genre(s): comedy/drama
Storyline: Wealthy Mary Haines is unaware her husband is having an affair with shopgirl Crystal Allen. Sylvia Fowler and Edith Potter discover this from a manicurist and arrange for Mary to hear the gossip. On the train taking her to a Reno divorce Mary meets the Countess and Miriam (in an affair with Fowler's husband). While they are at Lucy's dude ranch, Fowler arrives for her own divorce and the Countess meets fifth husband-to-be Buck. Back in New York, Mary's ex is now unhappily married to Crystal who is already in an affair with Buck. When Sylvia lets this story slip at a country club dinner, Crystal brags of her plans for a still wealthier marriage, only to find the Countess is the source of all Buck's money. Crystal must return to the perfume counter and Mary runs back to her husband. Written by Ed Stephan
Movie Trailer:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZV0k77ih8Q]
My Review: Whenever I see an old movie in the movie theater it's an experience. Especially when I'm going to the Chelsea Clearview Cinemas where..."dreams come true!" You have to have attended a screening to get that. Also, the added bonus to seeing these Clearview Classics is if you go to the 7pm showing you get a pre-show well worth the price of admission and then some! Ms. Hedda Lettuce is phenomenal in her opening act of banter and pure insults that she dishes with such panache you'd wish she were a part of your deranged family.
This movie was extra special because not only did Ms. Lettuce watch the entire movie with us but she kept her mic on and had hilarious quips throughout the movie that added a little lightheartedness to the seriousness of this movie. Don't get me wrong, this movie is a comedy. Who doesn't like a good chick fight? And the insults that the women of this movie throw back and forth at each other is enough to make you angry with revenge.
The movie, in short, is about the lives a group of women lead in a short period of time. Some are friends with each other and others are just friendly to each other in order to better stab you in the back later. Just because they are of the upper class does not mean you can't bring their persona down to your level and be able to understand their strife. There main character is the woman scorned. And although Norma Shearer tries to play cool and unaffected by her husbands cheating on her with the girl at the perfume counter, it isn't until she realizes she's got nothing left to lose that her claws come out for revenge. I've never seen her act in any other movie but from what I've seen of her in this movie she isn't half bad.
Honestly, of all the women of the 1930's and 40's who I felt was missing from this movie, it was Bette Davis. I think she would have done and Oscar worthy performance of Mary. Especially when she transitioned from complacent wife to hell cat after her man! But I digress...
My favorite actresses in this all female cast (no men are ever shown, just mentioned, A LOT!) were Rosalind Russell who plays Sylvia and Mary Boland who plays the Countess that Norma Shearer character meets while on the train headed to Vegas. Apparently that's where you went away to hide while the paper work was going through on the divorce back then. You would go away on "holiday" and go back home a new woman once the divorce was all settled. How convenient? The Countess has been through countless husbands. I believe she says she's either on husband number four or five when she befriends Mary. Her experience has left her far wiser than her years.
Countess DeLave: Oh, l'amour, l'amour, how it can let you down. Hmm. How it can pick you up again.
If you're looking for a feel good chick flick movie, check this one out because it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but most of all, it will leave you feeling that all too lacking empowerment of women! Oh, but don't bother with the Meg Ryan remake. This original is always the best.
My Rating: A
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