7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
Starring: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette GoddardDrama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The Women is a classic, in both the original play and the 1939 film adaptation, because there's a timeless quality to the conflicts and character types battling across its cloistered spaces. We all know a well-intentioned innocent like Mary Haines, who still believes in romance. Pot-stirrers like Sylvia Fowler still run around chattering and spreading gossip. And manipulators like Crystal Allen still break up marriages and relationships to get what they want. Look closely at Lena Dunham's Girls, and you can spot modern versions of these archetypes under all the texting, career anxiety and dysfunction. But The Women is very much a product of its time. It plays out in the hermetically sealed world of Park Avenue society in the Thirties, the American equivalent of an English drawing room. (You'd never know there was a Depression.) These are the original "ladies who lunch": pampered, idle, with plenty of time on their hands to make trouble for one another—which, in Clare Booth Luce's original Broadway hit, is exactly what women do when men aren't around. The plot depends on manners and morals of a bygone era, when belonging to the right crowd was just as important as having wealth, extramarital affairs led to social ostracism and divorce required a trip to Reno. Remove The Women from its original context, and it no longer holds up, as writer/director Diane English discovered when she tried to remake it for the modern era in 2008.
Whatever source was used, Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray of The Women is one of those presentations of a black-and-white classic that demonstrates the ability of the Blu-ray format to revive older films and allow them to be experienced in a way that hasn't been possible outside of revival houses (and, given the poor quality of prints in circulation, maybe not even there). The source material is either in pristine condition or, I suspect, has been extensively restored. The blacks, contrast and shades of gray are so good that the sets look like sets (which, to me, is not a criticism but a compliment). Details of the elaborate costumes can be readily distinguished, as can the hair and makeup, which have obviously been done with great care for each actress. The Technicolor fashion sequence features rich but not oversaturated hues, with no bleeding and no diminution in sharpness. The scenes may not contribute to the plot, but they're pretty to look at. The film's grain pattern is fine and appears undisturbed by digital tampering. The average bitrate of 22.95 Mbps isn't overly generous, but the compressionist was able to take advantage of the pillarbox bars at either side to conserve bits, and the image does not suffer from artifacts.
The Women was released in mono, which is reproduced here in lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0. The track is serviceable and typical of the period, with acceptable but limited dynamic range. The dialogue is clear, except when Rosalind Russell reaches full velocity, at which point it can be difficult to keep up with her. The score by David Snell and Edward Ward is used sparingly but effectively.
The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2005 DVD, with the addition of the MGM cartoon, "One Mother's Family".
The Women borrows elements from screwball comedy, and it has secondary characters who are there strictly for laughs, but it's a serious film at its core. For evidence, look no further than the character of Little Mary, whose struggles to comprehend what is happening to her parents are a reminder that the bloodsport being played by the adults does real and lasting damage to innocents who cannot fend for themselves. Then again, pay close attention to the long and revealing scene between Little Mary and Crystal in the latter half of the film. Despite repeated provocation, Little Mary behaves like a perfect lady, yet behind the well-mannered facade, you sense that she's watching and probing an adversary for weaknesses (and she finds some). Unlike her mother, Little Mary has caught on early. She too will soon be one of "the women"—and she'll be better prepared than her mother. Highly recommended.
Warner Archive Collection
1933
1937
Warner Archive Collection
1928
2008
Limited Edition to 3000
1984
2012
2009
Warner Archive Collection
1933
1932
1955
1931
1937
Warner Archive Collection
1936
2009
Rental Copy
2015
1937
1934
1934
2014
1933