Stars Wore Their Own Jewels in ‘The Women’

There is something about the dog days of summer that always inspires me to cue up classic movies for entertainment at home. Around this time last year, I wrote about some of my favorites in “6 Hitchcock Films with Major Jewelry Moments.” It includes Rear Window, which is number one on my list of all-time best movies. Another classic on my top 10 is The Women (1939). Several actresses in the landmark film, directed by George Cukor, amped up the glam in their wardrobes for the battles royale with arsenals of their own jewelry.

“A glorious cat-clawing rampage,” is how The New York Times described the movie in a review. Set in the rarefied world of Park Avenue society, the film’s action swirls around the gossip and facts of affairs, marriages and divorces. The rapid-fire dialogue is so riveting you may not notice for some time, no men appear on screen. There’s not one in the entire production.

What may sound like a gimmick was actually an ingenious way to show just the women’s side of the story. The concept works by placing the action in locations where it is completely plausible there would be no men around: a spa, private homes, a fashion show, a department store fragrance counter, a ladies lounge and a ladies-only dude ranch in Reno.