The Women vs. The Women
Comparing the 1939 and 2008 Films of the Play by Clare Boothe Luce
Satirical comedy about the wealthy women of Manhattan, the play The Women, focuses on happily married Mary Haines. Kind, intelligent, and pretty, Mary enjoys her life as a contented wife and mother. Although generally well-liked, Mary is also resented by some of her social circle, especially her bored socialite cousin, Sylvia Fowler, who enjoys stirring up trouble for the sake of excitement.
So when Mary’s normally impeccable husband Stephen is lured by shop-girl, Crystal Allen (while he experiences the confusion of a midlife crisis) Sylvia relishes throwing fuel on the fire, driving Mary toward the dissolution of her decade-long marriage.
The Women (1939)
Directed by George Cukor, this film remains predominately true to the original play, and casting included a collection of the brightest female stars of MGM, including Norma Shearer (Mary), Rosalind Russell (Sylvia), Joan Crawford (Crystal), Paulette Goddard (Miriam), and Joan Fontaine (Peggy). It also featured character actress Marjorie Main as Lucy and child-star Virginia Weidler as Mary and Stephen’s daughter, Little Mary.
A critical and commercial success, The Women aptly featured an only female cast, although it cleverly made it unobvious that the often mentioned male characters are never seen throughout the film.
The movie was a brilliant depiction of female relationships, and showed a variety of personality types as well as many honest effeminate feelings and desires. Both witty and poignant, it is entertaining and contemplative, and its superior filming and acting renders it a movie masterpiece.
The Women (2008)
The recent remake was an updated version of the original story, and it again featured an all-star only-female cast, including Meg Ryan (Mary), Annette Bening (Sylvie), Eva Mendes (Crystal), Debra Messing (Edie), and Jada Pinckett Smith (Alex).
There were some clever updates, such as having the character of Sylvie (replacing the character of Sylvia) being betrayed by her job and boss rather than her husband, but, overall, it was a poor quality corruption of the original story.
It took an honest depiction of female friendships and turned it into the fantasy female friendship foursome of Desperate Housewives meets Sex and the City, in which the women would each do anything for each other and the men are almost the enemy. This was not the case in the original, which showed the differences between different individuals and different friendships and marriages.
Most disappointingly, the remake not only featured a ridiculously silly ending, but it also minimized the original plot by making Mary take partial blame for her husband’s affair. While the original presented the rarely explored idea of it being possible to break-up a happy marriage through manipulation and outside interference, the remake fell back on the tired idea of a husband rejecting his wife due to her not being fully actualized as a “have it all” modern woman, who is unworthy of love unless she can have a career, look sexy through regular makeovers, and enjoy relaxing at home.
In short the remake, despite its strong cast, took an intelligent and amusing look at life, and minimized it by turning it into a flimsy and stereotypical story with superficial characters.
Ladies, Women, Females, and Girls
It is shocking to see that women were more respected in 1939 than they are today. While in 1939, a film could be made showing the varied personalities and desires of the female sex, today women are shown as superficial creatures, all wanting the same thing, reliant on friends, disconnected from family, and more in need of career then men.
While the 1939 film showed a woman, who had everything she wanted, caring about the perceived lost love and loyalty of her husband, the remake shows a not fully content character whose pride is injured by her husband’s affair until she realizes that she drove him away by not seeking “personal fulfillment,” something Mary is supposed to have possessed in the original.
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