Lesbian Subtext?

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Definitely. That's the answer to your LAST question. ;))

Seriously, though: I think there may be two reasons why MM gives Babs "the look".

One, Mae is introduced as a sort of a counterpart and dangerous "role model" for a girl like Peg - which is why Peg looks at her "admiringly". (Notice that, in the end, Peg succumbs to her, ehm, anti-feminist husband's charms - and Mae's role of "warning example" is reinforced.)

Second, MM was rehearsing "the" look that later made her famous (usually called "luminous" etc.). There is no doubt in my mind that she WAS trying out her future screen persona - notice, for example, that her voice is not yet the whisper that it was to become later. (And, if you ask me, its much more pleasant here - but that's a different story.)

In fact, this second reason may have been the main, or even the only one, for Peg's eyeing of Mae. Anyway, I don't think there are any hints of lesbianism here.

But I hope you enjoy it all the same. ;)

I THINK YOUR QUESTION WAS ANSWERED QUITE ADEQUATELY BUT THE LARGER ISSUE SHOULD BE YOUR GUTTER LIFE. YOU MIGHT THINK YOUR WORLD OR EVEN COUNTRY WANTS TO HEAR THIS KIND OF COMMENT IN A PUBLIC PLACE BUT YOU'RE DEAD WRONG. KEEP YOUR DIRTY HABITS TO YOURSELF NEXT TIME, PLEASE. TO THOSE IN DISAGREEMENT, GET A LIFE...I'M NO PRUDE BUT PEOPLE LET'S TRY TO SHAPE UP OUR MORALS HERE, WE'VE ALMOST HIT ROCK BOTTOM IN THAT DEPARTMENT.

... sure to much girl-on-girl porn!

are you serious?
Mae just see herlself in Peg... a 20year olg pretty girl with dreams, trapted in the small town,traped by men. feel compassion for her.feel almost pity for her...the way she says the second time that she is beautiful, is like saying "too bad...waste you youth and your beauty here"
that's all.

DON'T WANNA HEAR THE GIRL ON GIRL PORN BIT DUDE THAT'S NOT OUR BUSINESS. YOUR SINKING MORALS WILL NEVER BE THE NORM EVEN IN THIS COUNTRY SO KEEP IT TO YOURSELF NEXT TIME. LESBIAN SUBTEXT WAS ENOUGH WITHOUT THE OTHER DETAILS. AND EVEN THEN YOU'RE READING TOO MUCH INTO THIS OUTSTANDING CLASSIC FILM.

WAY too much girl-on-girl porn, dude. If you want homoerotic subtext I recommend either Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" or (in the male/male category) the hilarious "Point Break."

Frankly, this film would have been a lot better with lesbian subtext or some real motivation on the part of Barbara Stanwyck's character. This film feels way too surface and a bit superficial.

I always welcome a lez vib in movies and am usually on the look-out for it. However, I have to say that the thought that there was any such indication in this movie never even occurred to me! What dis occur to me, though, was that Barbara thought of May as a sort of little-sister or child. I got the immediate impression that Stanwyck's character felt maternal towards Monroe's. And, that impression was validated to me in one particular scene that really stood out, in which Monroe's character is talking to Stanwyck's, and Stanwyck's character starts getting philosophical, ending her words-of-wisdom with the phrase "Mama's advice."

Now, I will admit that sometimes, even the mama/papa figures in films can be both parental and romantic in nature, sort of like in the 1956 film, TEA AND SYMPATHY. But, in the case of this film, I just don't think that was what was going on.

Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!