The d-i-v-o-r-c-e train chugs along this week with one of my all-time favorite classic film comedies, George Cukor’s The Women (Disc/Download)! Featuring an entirely female cast and adapted by screenwriters Anita Loos and Jane Murfin from Clare Boothe Luce’s play, this film is an incredibly clever take on the upper echelons of New York society. From the nail salon to the Reno boardinghouse, these ladies come with sharp claws, sharper tongues, and fabulous clothes. When “Gowns and Fashion Show by Adrian” appears in the opening credits, you know you’re in for a good time.

If you’re looking for a shining example of Golden Age star-power, look no further than The Women. The entire cast reads like a who’s who of the Max Factor appointment book. Frequent Cinema Sips readers know I love a soap opera, so naturally I adore this tale of unfaithful spouses and society gossip. Norma Shearer brings a tough elegance to the character of Mary, who finds herself at the center of a cheating scandal involving her husband and a perfume counter girl (Joan Crawford), but it’s the fast-talking Rosalind Russell who gets the great lines and even greater fashions. From a blouse covered in glittery eyes to headpieces that defy gravity, she’s the one to watch. Oddly, this black & white movie is interrupted by a long Technicolor fashion show sequence, which is jarring and fantastic all at the same time. I love the clothes, I just… don’t know what they’re doing there? I probably would have cut the scene in favor of more Reno time because Mary gains a terrific group of gal pals on the train to Nevada. I wanted more time with them, more lazy days on the ranch, more Marjorie Main as the salty boardinghouse owner- just more!

As Olga the loose-lipped manicurist will attest, Jungle Red is the color for nails. I decided to make a Spritz twist on the classic Jungle Bird cocktail because it’s appropriately named, appropriately colored, and good for those hot Reno days spent waiting for Buck Winston to call. While watching The Women, I recommend drinking a Jungle Cat.

Jungle Cat

1 ½ oz Campari

¾ oz Pineapple Gum Syrup

3 oz Sparkling Wine

1 oz Soda Water

Lime Slices

Combine Campari and pineapple syrup in a shaker without ice. Shake well to combine, then pour into a glass filled with ice. Top with sparkling wine and soda water, and garnish with lime slices.

I love that this movie includes several different reasons for the Reno Divorce because it shows how complicated marriages (and their dissolutions) can be. There’s the reluctant divorce, the resigned divorce, even the aborted divorce! But in the end, I don’t even care what happens to the men in their lives- I just want these women to get the good apartment, maybe get a new Adrian gown, and most of all, get revenge. Cheers!