Stars:  Five out of five stars

I saw "The Women" on the big-screen at Chelsea Clearview recently, ironically during Women's Heritage Month (supposedly).  The saying is that, since the entire cast and even all the animals in the film are female, there aren't any Y chromosomes to be found onscreen.  However, it was just the opposite in the packed theater which was predominately male (and gay).  It's hard not to enjoy this wickedly bitchy satire about a well-to-do woman Mary "Mrs. Stephen" Haines (Norma Shearer) whose husband is having an affair with shopgirl and "man trap" Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford - who else?) and whose gossipy friends (particularly the sublime Rosalind Russell as Sylvia "Mrs. Howard" Fowler) thrive on scandal.  The huge cast is superb with even the bit players excelling at delivering rapidfire one-liners that hit their mark like a good left hook.   Yet beneath the dizzyingly paced fun are horribly misguided messages aimed at women such as "[Pride is] a luxury a woman in love can't afford" and "A woman is compromised the day she is born," along with the notion that women's lives revolve around catching and maintaining a man and then accepting any behavior said man throws her way as part of women's lot.   The film is so brilliant, however, and so chock full of talent that it stands the test of time in spite of these painful messages (which were indeed deeply internalized by women and still are to some degree).  Among the supporting cast, Mary Boland as the Countess DeLave and the beautiful Virginia Grey as Pat are outstanding.  Crawford as Crystal has actually comparatively little screen time, but her presence is so strong and vital that she comes off as a lead.

An endless array of great lines, including these delivered by Crystal: 

"He almost stood me up for his wife" and "Thanks for the tip.  But when anything I wear doesn't please Stephen, I take it off." and "There is a name for you, ladies, but it isn't used in high society... outside of a kennel." and --my favorite -- "You noble wives and mothers bore the brains out of me.  And I bet you bore your husbands, too." Next to the latter, my favorite lines are these:

Sylvia Fowler:  Oh, you remember the awful things they said about what's-her-name before she jumped out the window? There. You see? I can't even remember her name so who cares?

Crystal Allen:  I'm having him dine at my place. It's about time he found out I was a home girl.

 

Pat:  A home girl? Get her? Why don't you borrow the quintuplets for the evening?

 

Crystal Allen:  Because I'm all the baby he wants, pet. – D. Nowak