The Women

Dir. George Cukor. 1939, 131 mins. 35mm. With Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Mary Boland, Marjorie Main. There’s not a man to be found in Cukor’s dazzlingly witty, razor-sharp comedy—and maybe that’s one reason why this satire of well-heeled Manhattanites embroiled in their own microcosm of scandal got zero Oscar nominations, not even a nod for Anita Loos and Jane Murfin’s nimble screenplay, adapted from a play by Clare Boothe Luce. Shearer is the heartbroken wife who discovers her husband is having an affair with perfume counter girl Crystal, played by Crawford. Russell, of course, holds it all together as the gossipy cousin who never met a salacious rumor she couldn’t magnify. The Women was released in 1939, and it’s certainly one of the most entertaining films from the year widely considered Hollywood’s finest. 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.