16 Comments

  1. Great review! I agree – this film IS a visual feast because those fashions are gorgeous.

    As for the men in this film… Tsk tsk! I get frustrated with some of these characters because what DO they see in these oafs? However, the film still says a lot of interesting things about careers, marriage, ambition – and friendship.

    Thanks for joining the blogathon with a film that deserves more attention than it receives. 🙂

    • Thanks for such a great blogathon. I’m going to enjoy it now, and come back to it again and again later:)
      It does, doesn’t it? And the friendships are well drawn. I thought Gregg was a particularly interesting character–would have liked more time with her.

  2. Love this review!

    There’s so much I love about this movie, but couldn’t agree MORE about the worthless nimrods these women love. I am especially confounded by Hope Lange’s character finally ditching her awful married lover for a drunken, burned-out cynic.

    Yeah, bet that worked out MUCH better.

    Still, there is so much to recommend it. It feels like a transitional film, in between the 50s career-women movies and the feminist films later on.

    • Thank you! It’s true. That isn’t going to work out much better (possibly much worse), so it’s odd that the film thinks the fact that he didn’t take advantage of her when she was drunk somehow makes him a catch.

  3. I actually revisited this film during my Mad Men obsession. It really is a great peek into the plight of the single woman and how she was treated (and how she treated herself). It is simply gorgeous, but it makes me a little sad. I enjoyed your post very much!

    • Thank you! Yes, how she treated herself is the roughest to watch. I was intrigued by their independence early on–I just wish we’d seen a character that didn’t lose it so quickly. Isn’t it funny to think of 26 as old to be single??:)

  4. Happy you reviewed this – I’ve been meaning to watch it for a while, having read elsewhere that it’s the female characters that make this work. It’s easy to view films like this as dated, but I really think they must’ve seemed achievable and realistic to women of the time – but it’s a shame that the melodrama element that films like this introduced into ‘women’s pictures’ have never really been overcome.
    I’d be interested to read the book this was based on.

    Costume note: as much as I love the more glam fashions of stars from earlier eras I appreciate the realism in films like this!

    • I am thinking about reading the book too. From what I’ve gathered from comments on it, there does seem to be more emphasis on the friendships than in the film. The melodrama really killed the Gregg arc for me, and I think she’s (before that) such an interesting character. I didn’t buy where they took her. I’m always more likely to watch comedies about women for this reason.

  5. Thanks for this excellent review about one of my favorites, Leah! Very insightful and I sure agree about Greg. Such a fascinating character at first–and then?? Have you listened to the DVD audio commentary? It’s excellent and full of background info. Like you and others, I too want to read the book. Remember what Don Draper said about the book? “it’s a lot dirtier than the movie.” (or words to that effect). Glad I discovered your site/blog. Hope you and your readers will have a chance to check out my contribution to the blogathon: http://jimattulgeywood.blogspot.com/2015/06/wondrous-to-see-widescreen-splendor-of.html

    • Thank you! The DVD I bought had really poor sound quality, so I didn’t have the patience to try the commentary. I will have to get another copy, as I was really intrigued about the story. Glad to hear it’s good! I will definitely check your entry out.

  6. Thank you, Leah! Sorry to hear about the poor quality of the DVD…that’s so frustrating! The audio commentary is well worth seeking out: it’s by Rona Jaffe, who wrote the novel, and film historian Sylvia Stoddard, who is excellent.

    • Thank you for the reminder! I just requested Charlie’s Angels, with Beau Brummel as a back-up:) Sorry for the delay. I teach at an intensive summer program in July and tend to be unreliable w/my blogging during it!:( Leah

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