The Women had been a Broadway hit playing 666 performances. When MGM purchased the play, Norma Shearer had always been considered for the lead role of Mary Haines. Reluctant to take the part, she was aware it would be a big hit and prove her critics wrong three years after the death of husband Irving Thalberg. A story of a broken marriage, Shearer’s character Mary Haines is the core of this circus of infidelity and backstabbing humor. Rosalind Russell’s portrayal of Sylvia Fowler brings comic relief to the proceedings, while the casting of Joan Crawford as Crystal Allen brings sparks to the screen. Shearer and Crawford had a long-standing rivalry (from Crawford’s end), so their scenes together are especially crisp.

Completely devoid of any male actors, the dozens of women in this film make it a delight. The Women would go on to be Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s second biggest box-office film of 1939, behind the co-production of Gone with the Wind.

Introduction and post-film conversation with Illeana Douglas, author of the new book Jungle Red: The Making of MGM’s The Women. Book signing following the film.