"Woman's World" Review

 

by Daniel White

Glossy, kitschy, too bad it wasn't more campy, Woman's World (1954) is a Twentieth Century Fox All-Star vehicle presented in Cinemascope and Technicolor.

Directed by Jean Negulesco, it's the story of three men who come to New York City to jockey for the job of general manager of Gifford Motors. Accompanying the men are their wives, for as the fabulous title song tells us, "his, hopes, his dreams, and his ambitions, are the ups and downs she'll gladly share."

Mildly entertaining but vapid, Woman's World, to quote Woody Allen (if we can still do that), "is as shallow as a Chinese serving dish." It has some beautiful on-location shots of a sparkling, magical Manhattan at the peak of it's glamour and sophistication. And the outfits that our wives wear are gorgeous ("Wardrobe direction by Charles LeMaire," whatever that means), but scenery and costumes cannot make a movie great, only divert us from the fact that it isn't.

Of the three wives, Lauren Bacall comes out best. Her throaty deadpan delivery makes the dialogue sound wittier than it is. And she looks delicious, this would be one of the last films where she still looks young and sexy (being married to Bogey might have been thrilling but it must have been taxing as well).

Man-trap Arlene Dahl has too little to do. As a wife who trades sexual favors to advance her husband's (Van Heflin) career, her story line could have brought this film to a level of camp that would have made it a near classic. Instead, the movie chooses to focus on June Allyson, a Mid-Western mouse whose social faux pas embarrass her husband (hunky Cornel Wide) and jeopardize his chances at advancement. Miss Allyson's charms as an actress elude me, she is a clever little show-off, but offers little true emotion.

And then there is Clifton Webb. Webb shot to fame in the film industry as Waldo Lydecker in 1944's, Laura (studio head Darryl Zanuck didn't want him for the role, fearing he was too effeminate, but director Otto Preminger insisted). Here he plays Ernest Gifford, the head of the motor company. Smooth, cynical, and smarmy, I love Clifton Webb, but can't watch him in any role without thinking "Big Lady". It's a case of knowing too much about the actor's personal life and allowing it to spill over into his celluloid one. Which is not a bad thing, actually it's kind of fun. When sex pot Dahl plants an amorous smooch on Webb's lips and he recoils by grabbing for the back of the chair, it's a wonderful moment. "Honey, you're wasting your time!"

Maybe Zanuck was right, but I'm glad Otto Preminger prevailed. Webb is a welcome asset to any film he graces, forever reminding us that at the heart of Hollywood in the Golden Age, illusion and artifice were essential qualities that went into moviemaking. Woman's World may not be great cinema but it is gaudy cinema, and sometimes that's (almost) just as good.

With Fred MacMurray, Elliott Reid, and Broadway veteran Margalo Gillmore, Woman's World is available on YouTube.