"The Women"

I really liked The Women (1939) because it read like a play. The dialogue was so quick-paced and well written that it seemed more like a Broadway show than a movie (I know that it was a play before being adapted to film). Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, and the many other powerhouses in this film are all incredible. Shearer's character Mary is so interesting, since she kind of falls out and in of the overall characterization of women in the rest of the film as gossipy and devious. While portraying women as such may be seen as anti-feminist, the story just proves how, especially then, women's lives were dictated by the views of men. This makes it all the more interesting that we never see men on screen (having servant characters relay their conversations, talking on the phone, and of course the ending scene) but they still have huge impacts on the story.

I think it's interesting considering the time period when it was made--after the worst of the Great Depression--as it is kind of a riches-to-rags-to-riches-again story, as well as the brief Technicolor segment which was glamorous, reminding me of how in The Wizard of Oz Dorothy's life is briefly glamorized in Technicolored Oz but then she returns to black and white Kansas. Overall I really enjoyed the film and I could definitely imagine this being brought back today as a play or even another movie :)