History Theatre / TheWomen

* VillanousBreakdown: Sylvia, after the fight with Miriam, throws cutlery around screeching "I hate you!" and "I hate everybody!" repeatedly as everyone cowers around her.

* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Peggy is treated like this, especially by Mary, who is like the TeamMom.

* BreakTheHaughty: The whole point of the film; Mary basically is a wealthy socialite with a darling child who doesn't have a care in the world. But her cousin Sylvia, with a strained marriage of her own and semi-envious of Mary's happiness, decides to destroy Mary's life by revealing her husband's adultery and pressuring her to divorce her husband.

* NiceGirl: Mary, her daughter Mary, and Peggy.

* BreakTheHaughty: The whole point of the film; Mary basically is a wealthy socialite with a darling child who doesn't have a care in the world. But her cousin Sylvia, with a strained marriage of her own and semi-envious of Mary's happiness, decides to destroy Mary's life by revealing her husband's adultery and egging her own to divorce her husband.

* AnimalMotifs: The opening credits of the 1939 movie.
* BeAWhoreToGetYourMan: "You should have licked that girl where she licked you--in his arms."

The play was made into a 1939 film directed by Creator/GeorgeCukor, with an AllStarCast of actresses that included Creator/NormaShearer, Creator/JoanCrawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and a young Creator/JoanFontaine in one of her first big roles. (As a matter of fact, in the movie there are no males of ANY species. The dogs are all bitches and the horses are all mares.) One, titled ''The Opposite Sex,'' was released in 1956 and actually featured men; the other, also titled ''The Women'' and featuring an all-female cast[[note]]With the exception of a scene at the end where one character has a newborn baby boy.[[/note]], came out in 2008.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A spectacular use is Crystal's last line in the film.
-->"And by the way, there's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society---outside of a kennel."
-->And also this one: "He likes you even better than his horse! And it's such a blasted big horse too!"
** There's also an early scene where, after Sylvia's just gone off on one of her cattier tangents, one of the characters (known for her sarcastic oneliners), seemingly apropos of nothing, offers a plate of nuts to her. Seems innocent enough until you consider that "nuts to you" is an early 20th century equivalent of "go f- yourself."

* GoldDigger: Crystal takes up with the extremely wealthy Stephen, and then starts another affair with the very wealthy Buck--not realizing how fragile the foundation for Buck's fortune is.

* GossipyHens: Sylvia and the manicurist, mostly.
* GracefulLoser: Crystal, of all people, concedes when her affair with Buck Winston is revealed, along with the fact that Buck has no money of his own and thereby she's screwed since Stephen is obviously going to divorce her. She calmly expects it's back to the perfume counter for her, but she does get in one snarky comment before she departs.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The Countess, as her friends aboard the train point out. One husband tried to poison her and another pushed her off a mountain in the Alps.

-->Edith: Somebody ought to shut that manicurist up.
-->Sylvia: A good piece of scandal like that? Not a chance, why that girl never stops talking. You know how those creatures are, babble babble babble babble babble, never let up for a minute, the lot they care whose lives they ruin. It wouldn't be so bad if only Mary's friends knew. We could keep our mouths shut.
-->Edith: I know I never breathe about my friends' husbands.
-->Sylvia: So do I.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Sylvia winds up getting a divorce herself, and then meets the woman her husband is planning on marrying while at Reno.

* NiceHat: Comes up often in the film. Sylvia gets the most ridiculous ones in both the movie and the 2001 stage revival.

-->Sylvia: But you know how some women are when they lose their heads... they do things they regret all their lives.
-->(Instructioness grabs Sylvia's leg and forces it into place)
-->Sylvia: Ouch, my [caesarean] scars!

* TheUnfairSex: Averted; the story directs its scorn to Crystal Allen, not the philandering husbands. It does turn out Stephen is miserable being married to Crystal.

The play was made into a 1939 film directed by Creator/GeorgeCukor, with an AllStarCast of actresses that included Norma Shearer, Creator/JoanCrawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and a young Creator/JoanFontaine in one of her first big roles. (As a matter of fact, in the movie there are no males of ANY species. The dogs are all bitches and the horses are all mares.) One, titled ''The Opposite Sex,'' was released in 1956 and actually featured men; the other, also titled ''The Women'' and featuring an all-female cast[[note]]With the exception of a scene at the end where one character has a newborn baby boy.[[/note]], came out in 2008.

The play was made into a 1939 film directed by Creator/GeorgeCukor, with an AllStarCast of actresses that included Norma Shearer, Creator/JoanCrawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and a young Joan Fontaine in one of her first big roles.. (As a matter of fact, in the movie there are no males of ANY species. The dogs are all bitches and the horses are all mares.) One, titled ''The Opposite Sex,'' was released in 1956 and actually featured men; the other, also titled ''The Women'' and featuring an all-female cast[[note]]With the exception of a scene at the end where one character has a newborn baby boy.[[/note]], came out in 2008.

The play was made into a 1939 film directed by George Cukor, with an AllStarCast of actresses that included Norma Shearer, Creator/JoanCrawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and a young Joan Fontaine in one of her first big roles.. (As a matter of fact, in the movie there are no males of ANY species. The dogs are all bitches and the horses are all mares.) One, titled ''The Opposite Sex,'' was released in 1956 and actually featured men; the other, also titled ''The Women'' and featuring an all-female cast[[note]]With the exception of a scene at the end where one character has a newborn baby boy.[[/note]], came out in 2008.

->[[FromACertainPointOfView It's all about men]]!
-> -- '''Tagline for the 1939 version.'''

The play was made into a 1939 film directed by Creator/GeorgeCukor, with an AllStarCast of actresses that included Norma Shearer, Creator/JoanCrawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and a young Creator/JoanFontaine in one of her first big roles.. (As a matter of fact, in the movie there are no males of ANY species. The dogs are all bitches and the horses are all mares.) One, titled ''The Opposite Sex,'' was released in 1956 and actually featured men; the other, also titled ''The Women'' and featuring an all-female cast[[note]]With the exception of a scene at the end where one character has a newborn baby boy.[[/note]], came out in 2008.

* TheGhost: All the men.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Sylvia is gleeful over the Haines' marriage troubles, sets Mary up for an appointment with the manicurist to have her hear the rumor of Stephen's affair, and eggs Mary on to confront Crystal and then divorce him rather than reconcile.

* BeAWhoreToGetYourMan

* HorriibleJudgeOfCharacter: The Countess, as her friends aboard the train point out. One husband tried to poison her and another pushed her off a mountain in the Alps.

The play was made into a 1939 film directed by Creator/GeorgeCukor, with an AllStarCast of actresses. (As a matter of fact, in the movie there are no males of ANY species. The dogs are all bitches and the horses are all mares.) One, titled ''The Opposite Sex,'' was released in 1956 and actually featured men; the other, also titled ''The Women'' and featuring an all-female cast[[note]]With the exception of a scene at the end where one character has a newborn baby boy.[[/note]], came out in 2008.

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_women_the_cast.jpg]]

* AllStarCast: The 1939 version features, among others, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine and Norma Shearer. The 1956 film has June Allyson, Anne Miller, Joan Collins, and LeslieNielsen. The 2008 version features, among others, Creator/MegRyan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Creator/EvaMendes (all five of which were "jointly" nominated for a UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Actress), Cloris Leachman and Carrie Fisher.

* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The 2008 remake, which was first pitched by director and writer Diane English (the creator of ''Series/MurphyBrown'') in 1993.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to Diane English on a DVD making of documentary for the 2008 remake, she originally pitched it with both Creator/MegRyan and Creator/JuliaRoberts agreeing to be not only in the lead roles, but also as co-producers, and Creator/JamesLBrooks as the director. Blythe Danner and Marisa Tomei would have co-starred, as would have Candice Bergen and Debi Mazar (who remained in the final cut). The project went into DevelopmentHell after Roberts and Ryan declared they both wanted to play the same role at the first table reading. Brooks left to work on Film/AsGoodAsItGets, and Roberts declared she was no longer interested and also dropped out. Other actresses that expressed interest included Creator/SandraBullock, Ashley Judd, Uma Thurman, Music/WhitneyHouston and Queen Latifah. She also declared she wanted the script to have strong and self-reliant female characters.
** There was also a remake planned in the 1970s, and it would have possibly featured men. For some reason it was cancelled.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to Diane English on a DVD making of documentary for the 2008 remake, she originally pitched it with both Creator/MegRyan and Creator/JuliaRoberts agreeing to be not only in the lead roles, but also as co-producers, and Creator/JamesLBrooks as the director. Blythe Danner and Marisa Tomei would have co-starred, as would have Candice Bergen and Debi Mazar (who remained in the final cut). The project went into DevelopmentHell after Roberts and Ryan declared they both wanted to play the same role at the first table reading. Brooks left to work on Film/AsGoodAsItGets, and Roberts declared she was no longer interested and also dropped out. Other actresses that expressed interest included SandraBullock, Ashley Judd, Uma Thurman, Music/WhitneyHouston and Queen Latifah. She also declared she wanted the script to have strong and self-reliant female characters.

* AllStarCast: The 1939 version features, among others, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine and Norma Shearer. The 1956 film has June Allyson, Anne Miller, Joan Collins, and LeslieNielsen. The 2008 version features, among others, Creator/MegRyan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Creator/EvaMendes (all five of which were "jointly" nominated for a GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Actress), Cloris Leachman and Carrie Fisher.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to Diane English on a DVD making of documentary for the 2008 remake, she originally pitched it with both Creator/MegRyan and JuliaRoberts agreeing to be not only in the lead roles, but also as co-producers, and Creator/JamesLBrooks as the director. Blythe Danner and Marisa Tomei would have co-starred, as would have Candice Bergen and Debi Mazar (who remained in the final cut). The project went into DevelopmentHell after Roberts and Ryan declared they both wanted to play the same role at the first table reading. Brooks left to work on Film/AsGoodAsItGets, and Roberts declared she was no longer interested and also dropped out. Other actresses that expressed interest included SandraBullock, Ashley Judd, Uma Thurman, Music/WhitneyHouston and Queen Latifah. She also declared she wanted the script to have strong and self-reliant female characters.

* SpoiledSweet: An adult version, although Mary could be considered a subversion since she's not a bad person, though she is naive when the movie begins.

* GoldDigger

* GracefulLoser: Crystal of all people concedes when her affair with Buck Winston is revealed, along with the fact that Buck has no money of his own and thereby she's screwed since Stephen is obviously going to divorce her. She calmly expects it's back to the perfume counter for her, but she does get in one snarky comment before she departs.

* InLoveWithLove: The Countess.

* MealTicket: Stephen and Buck.

* YourCheatingHeart

''The Women'' is a 1939 film directed by George Cukor and based on the 1936 stage play by Clare Boothe Luce. As its title implies, and contrary to the page quote, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin it's about women]]; in fact, there are no men at all in the story. (As a matter of fact, in the movie there are no males of ANY species. The dogs are all bitches and the horses are all mares.)

The film has inspired two remakes. One, titled ''The Opposite Sex,'' was released in 1956 and actually featured men; the other, also titled ''The Women'' and featuring an all-female cast[[note]]With the exception of a scene at the end where one character has a newborn baby boy.[[/note]], came out in 2008.

!!This film features examples of:

* AllStarCast: The 1939 version features, among others, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine and Norma Shearer. The 1956 film has June Allyson, Anne Miller, Joan Collins, and LeslieNielson. The 2008 version features, among others, Creator/MegRyan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Creator/EvaMendes (all five of which were "jointly" nominated for a GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Actress), Cloris Leachman and Carrie Fisher.