Duel de Femmes

Rachel Crothers was one of the United States' best playwrights for decades. "He and She" and "When Ladies Meet" are her two best-known works. There was a good earlier version of this work; this remake has the benefit of stars of the caliber of Greer Garson as the wronged wife, Joan Crawford as the girl who wrongs her, Herbert Marshall as Garson's husband and Robert Taylor as the young man who loves Crawford. Robert Z. Leonard directed the film, with his usual skill in getting first-rate performances from his actors. The screenplay, adapted from the fine play by Anita Loos and S.K. Lauren, seldom seems as if it had been a stage work; and the scenes are opened out to include sailing and other outside scenes. The film boasts another lovely set by Cedric Gibbons, and some dense B/W style provided by the photography team. Music is by Bronislau Kaper, and in the talented cast along with the aforementioned quartet of well-cast actors the director gave us Spring Byington and several other good choices. But it is the plot in this highly-intelligent and understated contest between two women that drives every action; the theme of this important look at personal relations and the rules of commitment in partnerships is honesty--to oneself, and to one's partner. Garson thought she had a good marriage; Marshall may not have thought so, but he had no real reason to cheat, except to pretend to be Crawfor'd infallible mentor--a very unhealthy misassumption. Crawford thinks she is modern because she does not care why she is making herself momentarily happy; and Taylor loves Crawford for what she should be, not what she is. Byington, older and wiser, has taken on a 'husband' who is content to be her husband, and she has settled for his good points and agreed to put up with the rest on equal terms. The gimmick that works as a plot device here, cleverly, is that the two women in Marshall's life have never met; and when they do, Crawford still does not know who Garson is--or that she know her for what she is... In their parts, Garson is powerful, wonderfully intelligent and strong; Crawford does her best but apart from matching her charisma she cannot begin to match Garson's ethical screen presence. Robert Taylor plays his part as callow, charmingly young, and it is one of his best in energy, approach and timing. Marshall is professional in his part, but a bit old or staid to play a part that really required a Warren William or Walter Pigeon. .The lighting, the set decorations by Edwin B. Willis and the costumes are a great asset also. This is a very underrated.and intelligent look at "modern marriage", c. 1941. The upshot of the film is that Marshall realizes what he about to lose and is smart enough to try to earn Garson's love again, and that Crawford realizes what she was about to do for momentary pleasure by pretense, without even having earned it--with the possibility that Taylor may become to her what she had been fantasizing Marshall might be. This is always an interesting narrative, a very compelling mix of dramatic and character- revealing screwball satire elements. Highly recommended

"When Ladies Meet" is the story of a married couple, a lady author and a charming single journalist. Joan Crawford, the author, considers herself a "modern woman" freed from tiresome conventions and moral imperatives. Despite the movie's 1941 date, the author's relativistic attitude toward marriage and fidelity would be right at home in today's left-wing intellectual circles. Her gradual evolution towards a different attitude is the meat of the movie. Mirroring the situation in her book is the situation of the married couple, Greer Garson and Herbert Marshall. The fourth member of the group is Robert Taylor as a journalist whose surface gaiety hides a serious moral foundation.

The four actors make the movie much better than the script. Garson and Crawford strike sparks off each other in every scene they share. Herbert Marshall is suitably smooth and sleazy. But it's Robert Taylor in a role involving physical comedy whose work is the most impressive. As it turns out, he is the person most grounded in reality--and the hidden hand behind everything.

Everything has the expected MGM gloss--extravagant costumes, beautiful sets, excellent photography. Highly recommended.

Two MGM divas get to have at one another in a most civilized, clipped-consonant fashion in this remake of a livelier 1933 comedy-drama, adapted from a hit Rachel Crothers play. Joan Crawford is a best-selling authoress on the brink of an affair with her publisher, Herbert Marshall, who is married to Greer Garson; meantime, Robert Taylor pines, rather inexplicably, after Crawford. I'm sure Joan was an intelligent woman, but playing a New York smart-set intellectual (with a downtown apartment whose garden is the size of a city block), she's unable to project intelligence; you simply can't believe this clothes horse could come up with the smart one-liners Anita Loos puts into her mouth, or that she could pen anything more complex than "The Little Engine That Could." You sense that MGM is building up Greer as it tears down Joan; it's a much more sympathetic part, and though Greer doesn't enter the film till nearly the second half, she dominates it from there on. I find Greer's charms calculated and her acting style obvious, but she has the audience on her side and is more interesting to watch than the ever key-light-seeking Crawford. Why either should pine after the doughy, monotonous Marshall is never clear, and the fadeout is so plainly headed toward a conventional-morality-circa-1941 ending that the drama never runs very high. (For all that, it's resolved quickly and capriciously, and unconvincingly.) But Robert Taylor, at least, is relaxed and unaffected (especially compared to this diphthong-happy trio), and Spring Byington expertly indulges in a ditsy-rich-lady characterization you'd more likely expect from Billie Burke or Alice Brady (who, in fact, played the role in the 1933 version). The real star is the set designer -- I don't know about you, but I want that weekend house of Byington's, with its water wheel and clear lake and Better Homes and Gardens design.

We meet the very successful novelist Mary Howard (Joan Crawford) at a party for the launch of her new book. The party is hosted by her good friend, the much older, wealthy dingbat "Bridgie" Drake in her lovely apartment in New York City. Mary's long-time boyfriend is there too. Jimmy Lee (Robert Taylor) is a journalist and he proposes to Mary there at the party but she blows him off. It becomes clear that her romantic interests have shifted to her publisher, the much older, much less fun (and less attractive) Rogers Woodruf (Herbert Marshall).

There's just one problem ... he's married to Claire (Greer Garson).

Mary's follow-up project is a book called "Gods of Destiny." It's about a woman who falls in love with a married man; and Mary is struggling with the ending. She's desperately trying to make "The Other Woman" into some noble heroine, and she can't get it quite right. Bridgie invites her up to her country estate for the weekend to work on the ending and Mary gets her to invite Rogers as well.

Jimmy gets wind of this; and arranges a way to "drop in" on Bridgie with Claire that weekend after he's found a sneaky way to get Rogers out of the house for a bit.

So, what happens when the ladies meet?

Well, the moment Mary sees Claire across the room she spits her gum out, shakes her shoes off, and hands her earrings to Bridgie - "Hold my gold!" She snatches Claire by the hair and dogwalks her out to the patio where she holds a bottle of champagne by the neck and breaks it over Claire's head, but before she can do any damage to her face Claire pulls a switchblade out of her sock and .....

Wait a minute. No. That's not quite right. Hold on.

It's actually quite civilized. They talk about the situation and about the concept of Love and blah blah blah, and I'm sure you can guess how it all plays out.

Joan is alright here, and Greer is wonderful, but I found the dingbat Bridgie (Spring Byington) and her younger witless and gay gold-digging boyfriend the most entertaining.

Sure, I'd recommend it!

...but perhaps I don't know a lot of true ladies. I'm more shocked that Joan Crawford got top billing in this delightful little farce. Greer Garson stole the show and Robert Taylor's role was dashing and quite likeable. Spring Byington played the perfect hostess for the weekend "Dish of the Dames". The truly unbelievable thing was the casting of Herbert Marshall as Rogers Woodruff. Hard to imagine one woman, let alone two having such rapturous feelings for that character. Perhaps there's the reality in this story. After all, these things are rarely understood. I found, in this case, "When Ladies Meet", to be quite entertaining and being a die-hard Greer Garson fan, I highly recommend it!!