Lotta lotta women

The Women (1939) is one of my all-time favorites. Delightful dialogue, amazing cast, and a technicolor fashion show. Yup, you read me right. I had the luck of seeing this movie in about 1988 or so, when it ran at The Ken (San Diego's artsy-fartsy movie house) in a double feature with Mommie Dearest. Me, a couple of friends, and seemingly the entire contingent of San Diego gays turned out for the showing -- can you blame them/us? Wicked fun.

Well, according to imdb, the long-threatened remake of The Women is to be foisted upon us this year. I still hold out hope that it will be delightful and worth the effort. Does anyone know if they're still using the Clare Boothe Luce script/dialogue? From the stills, it seems to be in color, which means no technicolor fashion show, so it already suffers by comparison, IMHO. I am a little concerned about Meg Ryan's now-terrifying mug bringing life to the Mary Haines character. I like Eva Mendes, so I'm okay with her as Crystal Allen, but I don't know if she can be wicked enough. I am outright worried about Bette Midler as the Countess DeLave -- Mary Boland hit all the right notes in the original, retaining a sense of realism in her portrayal of such and absurd and over-the-top character, with a certain wisdom in her foolishness. With Bette, there's a risk she'll make the character too much of a caricature. I'm no Rue McClanahan fan, but she did a better job in the PBS broadcast of the 2002 stage version than I think Bette will do.

Then there's the poster art. The original properly conveys the arch playfulness of the film, and is a nice match for the dialogue. The remake is too Sex & The City to me. It actually looks like it could be a poster for some '60s sex farce -- soooo NOT Clare Boothe Luce.

Concerned, worried, cautious. But I will be there in theatres opening weekend to see it.