What's new

The Women (1939)(Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

Will Krupp

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2003
Messages
4,014
Location
PA
Real Name
Will
Woohoo! Just got my notice that this has shipped!

"Can you tone her down, Madame? This is a TOLL CALL!"

"That old gasoline truck is 60 if she's a day."

"I AM Dandy Gelatine!"

"hmmm...cheap Chinese embroidery, you know I bet PEGGY gave her these."

"Where I spit, no grass grows...ever!"

"If ya put a lamb chop in a hot oven, what's to stop it from gettin' done?"

"Remember the AWFUL things they said about whatshername before she jumped out the window? There...I can't even remember her name so who cares?"

"Our new one-piece lace foundation garment...zips up the back and no bones"

"That's what she calls meeting Mrs. Haines socially!"

"Shoot Cora, it's a coast to coast hook-up!"

"Oh Mary, if I couldn't have caught this train, I'd have jumped right in front of it."


It's possible I may have seen this TOO many times but here's to a few more! Love it to pieces.
 

Matt Hough

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
26,152
Location
Charlotte, NC
Real Name
Matt Hough
Love your enthusiasm, Will. I haven't gotten my shipping notice yet, but I hope it'll come this morning.
 

ahollis

Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
8,864
Location
New Orleans
Real Name
Allen
Got my shipping notice yesterday. I actually have four friends more excited about myself getting the Blu than I am. Oh well sounds like a movie night this week.
 

HarleyDog

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
75
Real Name
Dennis Haney
Will Krupp said:
Woohoo! Just got my notice that this has shipped!

"Can you tone her down, Madame? This is a TOLL CALL!" "Those daughters of hers are absolute gangsters!"

"That old gasoline truck is 60 if she's a day." "One more perm and she won't have a hair left on her head."

"I AM Dandy Gelatine!" "Now you can give Buck away with every box."

"hmmm...cheap Chinese embroidery, you know I bet PEGGY gave her these." "Ten cents a cake - well it's one thing to be homespun in the country."

"Where I spit, no grass grows...ever!" "What are you doing?" "Fumigating!"

"If ya put a lamb chop in a hot oven, what's to stop it from gettin' done?" "Say, do you get him? He tried to stand me up for his wife!"

"Remember the AWFUL things they said about whatshername before she jumped out the window? There...I can't even remember her name so who cares?" "I see no evil, hear no evil, speak no eveel."

"Our new one-piece lace foundation garment...zips up the back and no bones" "Men! You can't trust none of 'em. They only want one thing!" "What else have we got to give?"

"That's what she calls meeting Mrs. Haines socially!" "You know. Ripped the ermine off that Allen woman."

"Shoot Cora, it's a coast to coast hook-up!" "Where does he say he's been?" "Visiting his horse!"

"Oh Mary, if I couldn't have caught this train, I'd have jumped right in front of it." "That'd have been quite a feat."


It's possible I may have seen this TOO many times but here's to a few more! Love it to pieces.

I used to have to have the laserdisc of this where each memorable line had it's own chapter mark. It had a LOT of chapters

My copy arrives tomorrow!
 

Will Krupp

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2003
Messages
4,014
Location
PA
Real Name
Will
Yay Harley, a kindered spirit!!!! :D

HarleyDog said:
"One more perm and she won't have a hair left on her head"
"She's got plenty on her arms, baby!"
 

AnthonyClarke

Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
2,767
Location
Woodend Victoria Australia
Real Name
Anthony
Yes, it's an utterly wonderful knockout movie .. and it's still a constant surprise to see it burst into spectacular Technicolor at one point. Love that effect.
Great mix of snappy comedy and drama .. but if it came to a knock-down match, I'd still give the verdict to All About Eve, one of our all-time favourite movies. I forgot to put that in my Top Ten in another current thread.....
 

Matt Hough

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
26,152
Location
Charlotte, NC
Real Name
Matt Hough
I watched it tonight. Good transfer overall but the sound seemed a little bit low. I cranked it up a few notches.
 

Will Krupp

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2003
Messages
4,014
Location
PA
Real Name
Will
I watched it too. I agree, strong job. They fixed the "jumping" during the Mary/Crystal showdown in the dressing room and the jittery credits. The cue marks are also gone!

They've played around some more to try to recreate the stencil look of the original black and white to color transition as the original transitional footage is lost. On the DVD the small color image was placed over a black and white still image from later in the fashion show and here they've put the audience members from the still OVER a portion of the color footage so it now appears to be partially "behind" the black and white audience. If you look closely it's not very organic (and they never would have had that capability in 1939) and not really smooth but I appreciate the effort they took for a shot that lasts all of seven seconds. the Technicolor fashion show looks like a dream. Beaver says the footage has color bleed but I didn't see any. I thought it looked bold and rich and very satisfying.

It's funny but each home video incarnation is one step closer in trying to "fix" this transition (it should be the color stage in the middle of the frame with the black and white room surrounding it, only the shot of the black and white room is long gone as it was never more than an odd bit printed onto the beginning of the color reel.) The old VHS tape just had the color shot in the middle of a blank white frame, the DVD put the same shot over the still image and now this. I really do appreciate the ongoing effort

The film looks great!
 

Matt Hough

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
26,152
Location
Charlotte, NC
Real Name
Matt Hough
I agree with you, Will. I saw no color bleed during the fashion show, but the color was rich and bold and with no fringing or misalignment.

I've always found it a bit unsettling after seeing those fashions in such vibrant color to then see some of them in the following scene show up in black and white. (The white gown with the red sash going down the dress is the most obvious example.)
 

Will Krupp

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2003
Messages
4,014
Location
PA
Real Name
Will
Not only that Matt but, because the color fashion show was an afterthought and re-shot (by a director other than George Cukor and with none of the star actresses in the audience as they are in the original b&w footage) after principal photography ended, it's also unsettling to see an entirely DIFFERENT actress playing "Princess (who are you to tell me how to wear clothes) Mara" than the one who played her just moments before in Technicolor!
 

Ronald Epstein

Founder
Owner
Moderator
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 1997
Messages
66,561
Real Name
Ronald Epstein
I have never seen this film. Ordered it blindly.

I guess I was just in the wrong mood for this film today.

I turned it off 30 minutes in. To me, just a bunch of cackling women.

I realize it's based on a stage play, and it unfolds pretty much as such.

I am going to revisit this other time when I am in a better mood to sit
through it.
 

Robert Crawford

Crawdaddy
Moderator
Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 1998
Messages
67,604
Location
Michigan
Real Name
Robert
Ronald Epstein said:
I have never seen this film. Ordered it blindly.

I guess I was just in the wrong mood for this film today.

I turned it off 30 minutes in. To me, just a bunch of cackling women.

I realize it's based on a stage play, and it unfolds pretty much as such.

I am going to revisit this other time when I am in a better mood to sit
through it.
Yeah, I wouldn't have recommended it to you Ron. It's a woman's film, a really good film, but one in which you have to take the era it was made into consideration when evaluating it as a film as some things are definitely dated. I haven't bought it yet, but will when I'm ready to watch it right away.
 

Ronald Epstein

Founder
Owner
Moderator
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 1997
Messages
66,561
Real Name
Ronald Epstein
Yeah, I wouldn't have recommended it to you Ron. It's a woman's film, a really good film, but one in which you have to take the era it was made into consideration when evaluating it as a film as some things are definitely dated.
Phew! Thank you for that.

I was afraid to comment negatively on a highly regarded film. I don't want
to bring down this thread. Just wanted to make a comment about what I thought
and then politely exit stage left....
 

Will Krupp

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2003
Messages
4,014
Location
PA
Real Name
Will
Ronald Epstein said:
Phew! Thank you for that.

I was afraid to comment negatively on a highly regarded film. I don't want
to bring down this thread. Just wanted to make a comment about what I thought
and then politely exit stage left....
Some movies you just have to be in the mood for, and this (for you) may just BE one of those. BRINGING UP BABY is one of those for me. There are times I watch it and think it's the funniest thing I've ever seen and then I'll see it another time and I just want to tie a brick around Katharine Hepburn's neck and toss her off a boat.

I feel you, but please DO give it another chance at some point (the staginess of the opening montage and the following luncheon dissipates at it goes on.)
 

Rob_Ray

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Messages
2,141
Location
Southern California
Real Name
Rob Ray
Ronald Epstein said:
Phew! Thank you for that.

I was afraid to comment negatively on a highly regarded film. I don't want
to bring down this thread. Just wanted to make a comment about what I thought
and then politely exit stage left....
Don't worry about bringing down this thread. Since the disc is now in release and there's nothing about the transfer to complain about, this thread's ready to run its course and fade off anyway so any talk regarding the film itself will only keep it alive for awhile longer.

THE WOMEN is an acquired taste because it *is* a lot of cackling women (of a class that doesn't exist anymore if it ever did other than a few blocks either side of Park Avenue). Most of them are blathering a mile a minute, but the dialogue is filled with more gems per capita than possibly any other movie from its era if you can stand it. i sensed that the screenwriters and Mr. Cukor sensed the estrogen overload and purposely inserted the quieter moments with Norma Shearer and her daughter to give one's ears a rest, but those scenes tend to wallow in sentiment and melodrama.

I've always considered THE WOMEN to be the antithesis of David Lean's BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, two pictures where there is hardly a female in site. A friend if mine had a similar reaction to yours and said, "This movie needs some testosterone!"
 

Mark Collins

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
2,552
Real Name
Mark
I love this movie too!!! I would not for some reason put out the money for it yet. I do not know what my reason is. Mood and what favorite classic you are watching IS a very important factor. I had never thought about this until it was spoke about it here. As for the two remakes forget them except I sort of like the Joan Collins one if I had to pick.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,802
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top