Okay I'll probably get booed for this, but I love the movie, despite Norma Shearer's overacting. I've noticed this when I see her in a movie. I don't think she's at all as attractive as she thinks she is, and I believe she, as an actress, has been highly over-rated. Sorry, just my honest opinion. :)
shareI don't think you'll get booed at all. I think it's generally known that Shearer was a notorious "scenery chewer." Mary Haines is such a morally good character, that Shearer's schmaltz emphasized that quality. Her marriage to Irving Thalberg gave her first crack at scripts and, "sleeping with the boss" in this case really had a big payday, LOL.
Take for example, her playing Marie Antoinette. She was obviously too old for the role yet that didn't stop her; she wanted that part and she got it.
Having read the actual play, I find Mary Haines' lines to be a bit schmaltzy and preachy at times.
"...truth against the world..." - attributed to Boudicca of the Iceni
The funny thing is that Norma didn't even want the role of Mary Haines cause she felt it was too vanilla. Hunt Stromberg had coax her into doing it.
"You're nothing but a carnie girl."
I'll be the first to boo, I love Norma so much.
sharePersonally, what with the huge amount of talent on parade, and the fact that they are playing a very energetic play script for film, I thought that there was a lot of over-acting in the film and due to the variety of talent, it was interesting to see how it manifested itself.
I'm not a huge fan of Norma Shearer either, but I will say that even though some of her acting in this is a bit much, I thought that she did do an admirable job of grounding the whole thing and keeping at least some focus on the believable with her portrayal of a woman going through great emotional duress. I really felt for her, while the other performances made their points, often with very broad characterizations and big laughs.
When Russell and Crawford and the rest are going way over the top on "11" on everything they do, and the witty machine gun dialogue is firing away, I actually appreciated Norma Shearer's fairly performance portraying a woman who loves her husband and who is going through great stress as her marriage disintegrates.
I agree, I absolutely adore Norma Shearer, and Ill boo too. Not a loud boo just a little boo of horror :)
sharePoor Norma. So misunderstood after all these years.
I can't imagine another actress of her time doing a better job in such a thankless role as Mary Haines. It's tough to play noble when everyone else is sharp and funny. But Shearer brings so much grace and warmth to the role that we can ignore that her character is a bit dull and misguided.
As for the other poster's remark about sleeping with the boss -- You should know that Shearer was already a star before she married Irving Thalberg. She won coveted roles at MGM because she delivered the audiences and box office, the studio wouldn't have chanced millions on her if she hadn't. Anyway, Thalberg had been dead for almost 3 years by the time Shearer did The Women.
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Oh what unbelievable good luck filmnoirgirl!! Thanks for sharing that story!
shareMr. Vajda had a collection of photographs of many famous actors taken in the 30's. There was one of Norma with a coffee ring stain over her face! Thought that was very funny that her face was used as a coaster! Someone back then obviously didn't like her!That ring stain was from Joan Crawford's coffee cup! share
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Though Thalberg died, he left Shearer his voting stock at MGM enabling her to cause a great deal of trouble if displeased. "Christ," said Joan Crawford, "she really rode through this studio on his balls, didn't she?"
shareCrawford really knew how to hold a grudge. She was still griping about Shearer in the 1970s.
It's true Norma became powerful in her own right after Irving's death. She was using her MGM stock to wield clout at the studio long after she retired. For example, she discovered Janet Leigh's photo on display in a Northern California hotel and sent her to Hollywood to become a star.
Janet Leigh in a hotel? <shiver>
shareI think Shearer's scenes with Virgina Weidler as little Mary are the best part of the movie.
shareI love Norma Shearer's acting in this film and most of her other movies. I think she is very underrated by many latter-day historians and fans. I don't see any "overacting" by her at all in this movie (I mean are you kidding with Russell, Crawford, Boland, all going deliciously over the top, you think Norma is the one who is a bit much??)
share<< I don't see any "overacting" by her at all in this movie (I mean are you kidding with Russell, Crawford, Boland, all going deliciously over the top, you think Norma is the one who is a bit much??)>>
I gotta agree with this one! While of course Russell, Crawford, and Boland are all camping it up purposefully, I think Shearer did an excellent job with the thankless role (as someone else put it) of Mary Haines. I'm actually really impressed with her performance. Just as a small example, she does a great job of making you believe there's someone else on the phone when she's talking- in a lot of old movies, actors just say their lines one after the other, giving two seconds tops to the "other person" who should be at the other end of the line. Excepting perhaps a few parts, I find Shearer's performance to be very realistic, especially considering how old this movie is.
~I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship~ LMA
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I adore Norma -- so glad to see postings here that show people realize she was a silent film actress first, and transferred some of her elaborate, yet enduring gestures to the talkies.
This lady had a rough go of it where her career was concerned. If you look at her closely, she has the look of a Siamese cat -- she had an eye that turned in -- so did I. Like her, I was born with it, but it was for the most part corrected with glasses. From what I've read about her, she sought the help of a doctor for her eye problem and was taught some excercises to help turn the eye out and would practice these for hours on end. Also, she had blue eyes which, at the time, didn't film well, but careful lighting took care of that. Thank goodness her brother, Douglas Shearer was around to help with that. Lucky for me, I had an eye doctor who corrected my eye with glasses. Like Norma, I still, depending on what direction I happen to be looking, have the look of a Siamese cat.
Also, Norma didn't have the typical figure for a "star" but it didn't deter her. I find her being short-waisted, and slightly more stocky than actresses of her time not a problem at all. She moves gracefully, and has a wonderful air of confidence in her bearing.
She loved Irving Thalberg, and it was publicly known he wouldn't live long due to a heart defect. I'm sure the fact he was a studio head didn't hurt either, but it's said she called for him on her deathbed, many, many years later.
Norma never fails to break my heart in the closing scenes of Marie Antoinette, especially when she asks her jailers not to take her little boy. Her tears never fail to convince.
Norma was unique, not only in her appearance, but in her determination to rise from abject proverty as a child, to one of the most successful actresses of her time. By the way -- she was considered for "Scarlett" in GWTW, but didn't want the role. I can't think of anyone else other than Vivien Leigh as Scarlett, but the fact Norma was considered for the role is a feather in her cap.
I like Norma, but much of her corny acting style hasn't aged well. Even today, Crawford seems very modern in most of her thirties movies, but Norma is strictly of her era. Her exaggerated take at the end of the movie always generates laughs from audiences, but I do think she was warm and engaging in most of the film-- particularly in scenes with her daughter and mother. She was well cast I think, though Ann Harding or Kay Francis might have been interesting in the role too.
shareI really like her in "The Women". Almost all of the actors hammed it up; Cukor let them, I guess. I love her in "Marie Antionette"
She's a beautiful woman, but not in the same league as Crawford.
"I love corn!"
Compared to some of her other films,I always thought that Shearer was rather low key in The Women,but yet she still doesn't get lost among the other performers,even Crawford and Russell and that takes real star power.I also thought she was pretty natural in her scenes with her daughter.
shareOveracting was sort of the style back the, wasn't it? I think Norma always has a schmaltzy quality, but she certainly wasn't the only one. If anyone overacts in this film, it's Joan Fontaine. I cringe every time I see the scene where she's telling her husband she's having a baby.
shareI've seen a lot of Norma's films including some of her pre-codes, The Women, Romeo and Juliet and Marie-Antoinette- I really feel that while the role is one of her most thankless, it is one of her best inhabited.
Still, my favourite Shearer film is undoubtedly "The Divorcee"!
Is was not overacting then. What we have today is people thinking this is overacting because of the method style being brought to the craft. I for one, miss more potent acting. The use of subtlety all the time is getting boring.
As for Shearer's looks...she was kind of attractive and odd looking at the same time. I find Crawford's looks to be vastly overrated. She is so ugly to me. Both have odd shaped faces while Joan Fontaine looked striking in this film as did Goddard.
The woman (Phyllis Povah) who played Edith Potter seemed way too old for this baby producing character.
I so agree with you, netshopper-2 - acting today is dreadfully dull compared to older films.
I thought Shearer (in a few instances) is obviously doing silent-screen WAY over-the-top exaggerated gestures, like the ending scene. But during most of the movie, I thought she was completely believable. She portrayed her extreme pain, longing for her husband & and yearning for the restoration of her family in a wonderful way that really touched me. I think Norma's beauty was of a kind that is not in vogue now - sort of old Grecian (or Roman?). Anyway, her slightly crossed-eyes don't bother me at all, they give her a unique, endearing look.
She was offered & declined starring roles - Mrs. Miniver, Scarlett O'Hara, Sunset Boulevard, then retired in 1942 and stayed out of the limelight. I don't think she was the scheming, clawing-her-way-to-the-top-by-any-means-possible screen actress many seem to think.
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Remember though that Edith is on her 8th kid and has at least one teenager. Many women have babies over more than a 20 year span. And nowadays Edith wouldn't be too old to be expecting her first child!
shareMuch of Hollywood's talent came from the stage, especially after the movies got sound. They needed trained voices. And stage acting is exaggerated, which is why so many film actors seem so theatrical. They literally were!
And I agree about Joan Fontaine; exquisite face, but she single-handedly wrecks several of the scenes she's in. It's embarrassing. But I blame Cukor; he should have done something about it. Joan was very young at that time, and I suspect she lacked the experience to realize what she was doing (It seems like she was trying to play the phone call scene up for laughs, which reminds us that comedy is the most difficult thing of all).
Joan was infinitely better in her next movie, Rebecca. Hitchcock's influence? Or was it the simple fact that she wasn't trying to do comedy?
She isn't my favorite either, but I think this movie with her in it is wonderful. She had to be the good one and even thought she did overact I don't think it was bad.
shareShe did come off schmaltzy, but then you have to blame the style of direction back then too. Close-ups of her face and music swelling - if she ever overacted for the medium of film, it didn't help that the camera was so in-her-face.
shareI had never seen a Norma Shearer film before watching this. I liked her immediately. She is the reason I keep watching it. The other women are wonderful actresses, but Norma just has a special way about her.
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