For the Ladies Archives

For the Ladies – Maniac Cop

October 30th, 2014 | POSTED BY Adelaide Blair

I love a good exploitation movie, especially one that combines horror, action, and great stunts. What I don’t like so much is how these movies usually portray women. Now, I have a sense of perspective, and I don’t really need everything to match up with…

For the Ladies – Old Acquaintance

December 7th, 2012 | POSTED BY Adelaide Blair

One of the more prevalent subjects in the Women’s Pictures of the thirties, forties, and fifties is female friendships. Often it is relegated to subtext or incidental material, but every once in a while it takes center stage, as in the 1943 film Old Acquaintance,…

For the Ladies – I Married a Monster from Outer Space

October 26th, 2012 | POSTED BY Adelaide Blair

While not what we typically think of as a “Woman’s Picture,” I Married a Monster from Outer Space is an interesting exploration of women’s fears about marriage in 1950s America. It’s a 1958 horror/science fiction movie directed by Gene Fowler Jr., and is a great…

For the Ladies – The Hard Way (1943)

August 30th, 2012 | POSTED BY Adelaide Blair

Heterosexual romance often takes center stage in movies targeted to the ladies, but can also take a back seat to a more central female relationship. Portrayals of friendship are an important part of the women’s picture, but so are depictions of rivalry and duplicity. Add…

For the Ladies (Special Whitney Edition) – Waiting to Exhale

April 12th, 2012 | POSTED BY Adelaide Blair

With the passing of Whitney Houston, I thought we could journey back to 1995 and discuss a more modern women’s film, Waiting to Exhale. I tend to focus on women’s pictures of earlier decades simply because the films marketed towards women during the ’30s, ’40s,…

For The Ladies – A Letter to Three Wives

February 17th, 2012 | POSTED BY Adelaide Blair

A year before he directed All About Eve, Joseph L. Mankiewicz made A Letter to Three Wives, which landed him the Oscar for best director and best screenplay. It unabashedly falls within the category of Woman’s Picture, as it deals with the nature of female…

For the Ladies – All That Heaven Allows

December 30th, 2011 | POSTED BY Adelaide Blair

I’ve been a big fan of women’s pictures of the thirties, forties, and fifties since the first moment I saw The Women (1939) by George Cukor when I was a kid. Films about the lives of women appealed to me, not just because I would…