The Women

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: This DVD is a must have in your DVD collection. Joan Crawford is fabulious.

Rating:
Summary: The Women SHINES in The Great DVD Spotlight!
Review: This DVD is a great example of how a classic can shine again with modern technology! Warner Brothers is to be commended for the great job they did in putting this DVD together.

The Women is very crisp and clear with the fashion show glowing in color more beautiful than ever. The extras are amazing. There are two MGM shorts that talk about the current fashions and show movie trailers from the biggest MGM movies such as The Maisy movies, The Thin Man Movies and more! There is a soundtrack listening station that's set up with a chapter list, but instead of going to the scene, it plays the music from that scene. Now how many DVD's do that? You own the soundtrack right on the DVD! The trailers are also beautiful, and include the even better remake of The Women called The Opposite Sex.

The work that Warner Brothers did on this film gives the other companies no excuse for bringing films out on DVD with NOTHING on them, and charging so much. This DVD is VERY reasonably priced, and a treasure to any film buff. I hope we can see it's remake, The Opposite Sex released soon in the very same fashion.

I highly recommend you see this film on DVD, even if you've seen it before hundreds of times. Seeing it this time is like seeing it your first!

Rating:
Summary: AT LAST-The beloved "catfight" classic is a spectacular DVD!
Review: It is a heartbreaking shame that most of the great classic MGM films have yet to see DVD release. Hopefully Turner and Warner Bros. (who own those movies now) have started uncork the champagne bottle, because this DVD of George Cukor's 1939 classic THE WOMEN is a stunner! Few films can even try to compete with this one for its star-power, its wit, its style, and its timeless ability to entertain and entrance an audience.

Now, comes this DVD looking downright gorgeous, and beautifully put together by Warner Home Video. The film itself has "never looked so beautiful before" (to quote another MGM classic!) and you get a host of great extras. The B&W image of the feature is crisp and sharp, and the Technicolor fashion show sequence is now lustrous, when it used to look pallid. One of the bonus features is the same fashion show sequence, as filmed in B&W, and you can even see stars Norma Shearer and Rosalind Russell in character, watching the parade of designer outfits in front of them.

The disc also provides two dandy MGM promotional shorts. One of them is FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH made in 1939, which has excerpts from lots of Metro features of the day including THE WOMEN, with alternate takes, different from those in the movie. The other short HOLLYWOOD STYLE CENTER OF THE WORLD has a quick glimpse of famous fashion designed Adrian. In adddition, the DVD provides what seems to be all the music from the film, as recorded on the MGM soundstage. Listening to these music cues is a treat for anyone who loves this film. It even sounds like the Main Title and Fashion Show cues are in stereo. Other bonus features include the WOMEN trailer, the trailer for the re-make THE OPPOSITE SEX, and a very informative and well-written production essay. Who knew that F. Scott Fitzgerald contributed to the script of this masterpiece? That's just one of the trivia pieces to be found here.

As for the film itself, the magnificent performances of Shearer, Crawford, Russell, Goddard, Boland & Co. will never be equalled. If you liked the recent Broadway revival (which can't begin to compare to this definitive film), get the REAL DEAL! This is essential viewing for anyone who appreciates great filmmaking, especially from the "Golden Era"!

Rating:
Summary: If you hate gossip, you're going to love this one
Review: I just saw the play, & I loved it. At first, I thought I wouldn't find anything intersesting about this story. But in a very funny way you see how horrible things can go with spreading gossip. It was sad to see all the people who were hurt by the gossips of others, but to see them overcome & become better people by the lesson made it even more interesting to watch.

Rating:
Summary: CAN'T WAIT!
Review: Although this movie hasn't been released on DVD yet, I have it in VHS. Can't wait for the release on DVD. I have loved this movie for years. Watch it AGAIN every once in a while when I need a good laugh & just want to "get away" for a while. ALL performances are terrific & the story is great. I agree with a previous reviewer that I don't understand either why Roz Russell didn't get the acknowledgement she deserved. I am also waiting impatiently for the release of Auntie Mame on DVD. Any doubts about The Women should be forgotten. Buy it!

Rating:
Summary: Extremely entertaining!
Review: This is a terrific film and one of the many masterpieces from the 1930's. It's all about a group of feisty women and how they interact with each other and deal with the men in their lives. While they seem to be just a gossipy, back stabbing bunch of women, they also show how resilient and resourceful they can be when the chips are down. Norma Shearer stars as devoted wife Mary Haines who's been done wrong by her husband. Joan Crawford also stars as Crystal Allen, a catty home wrecker and Rosalind Russell is excellent as Sylvia Fowler, a scandal hound that just can't wait to spread the news of Mary's marital problems. Also stars Paulette Goddard and Joan Fontaine. This is a classic film with clever and fiery dialogue that also features a Technicolor fashion show with the ensembles designed by renowned MGM fashion designer Adrian. Be sure to see this film!

Rating:
Summary: Classic Viewing
Review: I had to add this video to my library. I saw it for the first time several years ago and I have been searching for my own copy ever since. This is a movie about men and how women deal with them. However, there are no men in the movie and not once will you hear a man's voice. It is so well-written with stellar performances by some of Hollywood's vintage actresses. It's touching with an honest sense of humor. A must-see!

Rating:
Summary: A movie fit for a queen...both female and MALE
Review: The movie is so witty, brilliant and "catty" no wonder why it's required viewing in Gay 101. Any homosexual that's been in a gay bar on a Saturday night can identify with this movie

Rating:
Summary: Five stars all the way...
Review: An absolute classic... This is THE film which has eventually led me to become a devoted fan of "old movies". Before that, I thought "motion pictures" from the "Golden Age of Hollywood" were boring, outdated and over-sentimental. Then in 1986 at the age 18, I happened to catch "The Women" on television and realized just how wrong I was.

From the very first scene, this movie grabs you by the throat and never lets up. We see many women going to a beauty parlor to get all dolled-up with fluid camera-work and bitchy repartee, kicking the movie off to one hell of a start. I have noticed that so far, every single person who has reviewed this movie has granted it five stars... Probably one of the very few films if not the only one who was warranted such praise from every critic. And you know what? It doesn't even surprise me.

The movie was directed by George Cukor, a ... director who had an illustrious career spanning five decades. As you probably know already, he almost directed "Gone with the wind" in 1939 but instead, was reassigned to this movie by the studio bosses because he and "Clark Gable" didn't get along. George was an amazing director and excelled at getting the best performances out of actresses, working with many female stars from that era. But without a doubt, even though he has directed many wonderful movies, this is his ultimate achievement.

Brilliantly directed in full high camp mode, it contains top-notch acting performances by all the actresses, even in the smallest roles. The cast here is so strong that it couldn't have been possible to make a bad movie of out this ensemble even if they had tried. I have watched this movies so many times now that I know almost every single line by heart but still, I often get the urge to succomb to its magic all over again, even though I have discovered this movies more than fifteen years ago.

But everyone must agree that "Rosalind Russell", who plays "Sylvia Fowler" and became a full-fledged star with this movie, steals the show with her amazingly hilarious performance. The first time I watched the movie, I didn't even understand what she said half the time as she throws away one joke after another, talking faster than a speeding bullet. I had never seen an actress having such impeccable timing and she is probably the only woman in the world ever to be able to talk so fast in such a natural manner while actually making sense.

At that point in cinema history though, Norma Shearer was without a doubt the biggest star of the cast. The movie revolves around her character "Mary Haines" as the cheated wife. You probably don't need a synopsis of the story since it was told to great length in other reviews so I will spare you. Anyway, I am a big fan of Norma and she gives a very good performance as the noble wife. But towards the end, she grows her claws and get some wonderful bitchy lines, getting back at her so-called "friends".

Of course, I also have to mention "Joan Crawford" who is probably the best remembered star of the cast. Joan was often accused of not being much of an actress but here, she simply blew me away. True, her part is absolutely delicious and along with Rosalind's part, the most scene-stealing character you could find. But still, she could have botched it up had she not been in the hands of such a skilled women's director, as George has often been described.

Her telephone scene at the perfume counter along with the one in her bathroom are among the best of the movie. But the confrontation between the cheated wife (Shearer) and the husband-stealing temptress (Crawford) which is actually the only scene where they appear together is also extremely fun to watch. Especially if the viewer knows the fact that Crawford hated Shearer in real life, feeling jealous of the fact that Norma was married to a studio head (Irving Thalberg), which somehow granted her a special status at MGM as queen of the lot.

But the mark of a true classic is when no line or part is a throwaway. You can feel that George gave just as much attention to the actresses with lesser parts, making sure that everyone would give their absolute best so the great story would get its proper due. And in my opinion, along with everyone else here, he succeeded every step of the way.

I can not recommend this movie enough. It belongs in your collection, even if you don't usually like old movies. Once you watch it, you'll understand exactly why everyone is fawning over this precious gem from a lost era.

Rating:
Summary: MEOW!!
Review: I got interested in seeing this movie after reading about the authoress of the original play,Clare Booth-Luce I think. I knew I was in for a good time when in the opening credits before they show the actress they would show a different cat. This was the cattiest movie I have EVER seen. It is fairly suprising when you take into account when the movie was made. You really could not make this now, it would not come across right. Buy this movie! Rent this movie! Just watch this movie,it is great!