Woman Against Woman

Standard drama of the kind that the studios churned out to fill the bottom half of a double bill back in Hollywood's Golden Age.

Herbert Marshall is torn between the covert scheming of first wife Mary Astor who has no compunction using their child as a weapon to try and get him back and his much more compatible second wife Virginia Bruce.

Since the situations are pat with many of these programmers it falls to the players to make something out of what they are handed.

Mary Astor comes out the victor in that department. Playing another in a long line of vengeful women she makes the small, selfish Cynthia far more interesting than the minor film deserves. A truly versatile actress she could play a poison pill of a creature in one film and turn right around in the next and play a homey, warm character such as Marmee in Little Woman with equal skill.

The usually highly enjoyable Herbert Marshall doesn't fare as well coming across as stiff and disengaged. He always had a reserve which was frequently put to good use but not here, he seems uncomfortable.

Virginia Bruce isn't given much of a role to play but she does get a few zingers in towards the end which she handles well.

Also adding nice little bits are Janet Beecher as Marshall's mother and Marjorie Rambeau as an old rum-pot friend of the couple, she in particular adds a bit of spice to the film whenever she shows up.

Directed economically but with no distinction by Sinclair, Mary still makes it short running time worth the while.

Cynthia Holland (Mary Astor) controls her husband Stephen Holland (Herbert Marshall) in underhanded ways. She gets his trusted longtime nanny to quit. She even manipulates his own mother to be on her side. Despite his family and young daughter, he decides to get a divorce. He falls for Maris Kent (Virginia Bruce) and gets remarried. Cynthia starts targeting his new wife.

This is a fine evil-woman movie. Maybe Cynthia should be the sole lead of the movie or add a boiled bunny. She is the more compelling character study. Stephen and Maris are rather bland by comparison. Mary Astor has the juiciest role and she can fill it effectively. This is fine for an old movie.

Herbert Marshall, Mary Astor, and Virginia Bruce star in "Woman Against Woman," a 1938 short film.

Marshall and Astor play a Stephen and Cynthia, a married couple; she is manipulative and wears the pants in the family, and he just goes along with whatever she wants. When his daughter's nurse leaves, she warns him, after some prodding, that his wife isn't a very nice woman. That makes him more aware of her behavior, and they end up divorcing.

Eventually he remarries the lovely Maris (Bruce), and Maris runs into problems being shut out of social situations or experiencing awkwardness due to Cynthia's machinations.

For instance, she and Stephen will enter a party where Cynthia is in attendance; Cynthia will suddenly announce she's leaving, even though she knew darn well they'd be there. She also uses her daughter with Stephen as a weapon.

Very good cast in a very ordinary movie. Well-directed by Robert Sinclair in his first film; he had a long career in both films and television.

I love the script of Woman Against Woman! It's fresh, smart, and above all, realistic. Villains aren't villains, everyone has her point of view, and no one does anything that she wouldn't do in real life. This is not a cutesy, cavity-inducing flick that gives a happy ending to all. It's a realistic look at marriage in the 1930s when divorce wasn't unheard of, but wasn't common either.

Herbert Marshall is unhappily married to Mary Astor. She wears the pants and keeps him on a very tight leash. When Herbie falls in love with Virginia Bruce, Mary declares a hissing, spitting catfight to hold onto her man. I don't want to tell you any more of the plot, because it's a very fun film to watch as it naturally unfolds, but I will say that it very nearly won a Rag Award for Edward Chodorov's screenplay. All three leads hold their own and bounce off each other with the practiced professionality of a stage performance, so if you like good dialogue and good acting, check out this catfight-I mean film.

A real MGM shortie, at only 61 minutes. The story revolves around Stephen Holland (Herb Marshall), the ex wife Cynthia (played by Mary Astor), and the new wife (Virginia Bruce). Playing referee is Mrs. Kingsley, who is friend to both the old and the new wives, as well as the all-knowing socialite matriarch of the town. Also poking her nose in here and there is Holland's mother, played by Janet Beecher. Acc to IMDb, this was Robert Sinclair's very first directing project, and he did quite well. Since they were a couple years into the movie code by 1938, everyone is quite civil, and we know things can't get TOO out of control. Written by Margaret Culkin Banning, who had been married twice herself, making us wonder if this is based on her own life, at least partially... it's also interesting that M. Astor had been married three times herself when this was made. Herb Marshall would be married FIVE times, and Virginia Bruce FOUR... wow, they sure had the right cast making this one about divorce and marriage.