Females and Films:

[Endymion1]

This thread is a place for people to post comments on female centered films and films made by women, as well as about significant women in the film industry. These films do not have to be modern they can go back to the very beginnings of movies but can also be newly released films. Just mentioning the title of such films will be fine, but more information would be appreciated. In such films it would be the female character who we would know most about, she would be portrayed as being multiple dimensional and the story would be about her thoughts and feelings – her happiness, her fears, her ambitions, her loves and her anger. This interests me as there has been and continues to be an underrepresentation of women in films both regarding the amount of female centered films and the number of women in the film industry. Those who want to see such data on this can go to the topic “Women in History and an Examination of Gender Norms” see here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/feminist_theory/3736953-Women-in-history-and-an-examination-of-gender-norms?pg=2. Here is my start:

Stage Door (1937) is a film that is not only about women but is dominated by female characters. It is one of my favorite films and was nominated for Best Picture in 1938. The female characters include:

Terry Randall, played by Katharine Hepburn b. 1907;

Jean Maitland, played by Ginger Rogers b. 1911, my favorite all around entertainer,

Judith Canfield, played by Lucille Ball b. 1911;

Eve, played by Eve Arden b. 1908, who also played “Our Miss Brooks” on TV in the mid-1950s and Principal McGee in the film Grease,

Annie played by Ann Miller b. 1923, she was 14 years old when the film was made and lied about her age and had a fake birth certificate to get the part;

Kay Hamilton, played by Andrea Leeds b. 1914, who was Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this movie in 1938;

Linda Shaw, played by Gail Patrick b. 1911;

Miss Luther, played by Constance Collier b. 1878, she was 58 years old when the film was made, started on the stage at age 3 (1881), her first film was in 1916 and her last film was in 1940;

Hattie played by Phyllis Kennedy b. 1914.

The following link goes to a video 4 minutes long showing the beginning of the movie: . The above mentioned characters as they first appear are Hattie shown sweeping up, Judith Canfield shown sitting on the couch, Linda Shaw shown walking down the stairs, Eve with the white cat over her shoulders, Jean Maitland running down the stairs to confront Linda Shaw and Miss Luther sitting in a chair knitting then talking.

Here is another clip from the movie entitled Lucille Ball & Ginger Rogers in Stage Door (1 minute). Toward the end it shows Annie (Ann Miller), with the white cap, leaving out the front door with Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers): . And here is the Official Trailer for the movie (2 minutes). Both Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds) and Terry Randall (Katherine Hepburn) can be seen in this video. See here: .

One of the great things for me about this movie is the strong comradeship shown among the women. I’m curious as to whether anyone else has seen this film. If you get Turner Classic Movies (TCM) it will be shown there on January 27, 2020 at 7:45 am, US eastern standard time.

Tom,

To be continued

not in a position to write details but these belong in such a list:

Thelma & Louise

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café

Wonder Woman

Captain Marvel

Fiddler on the Roof

Chocolat

Ellues Pichulobu, thank you for contributing to this thread. I was somewhat surprised by your listing of "Fiddler On the Roof" (1971), but thinking about it I realized it made sense with Golde played by Norma Crane and the five daughters - Tzeitel played by Rosalind Harris, Hodel played by Michele Marsh, Chava played by Neva Small, Shprintze played by Elaine Edwards and Bielke played by Candy Bonstein. While, as I remember, the daughters' emotions and ambitions are directed toward being married, these emotions and ambitions are important parts of the story and the daughters are also assertive as to who they married. Another thing I like about the story is its portraying of Jewish life along with the joys and troubles. A minority that was severely discriminated against and persecuted through much of history.

To all, the 1967 film "Wait Until Dark" is another female centered film. It stars Audrey Hepburn (b. in Brussels, Belgium in 1929) as Susy Hendrix and also has Julie Herrod (b. in NYC in 1955) as a precocious 12 year old Gloria. This is a well done thriller where female lead, Susy Hendrix acts with daring, determination and cunning acts to overcome overwhelming odds. Her young friend Gloria aids her. Here is a quote that illustrates Gloria's personality:

Susy Hendrix: Gloria?

Gloria: Yeah?

Susy Hendrix: How would you like to do something difficult and terribly dangerous?

Gloria: I'd love it!

This is a movie I would highly recommend.

Tom,

Pretty woman - gotta love a happy hooker trope
The little mermaid - gives up her voice for a man
My fair lady - romance with a misogynist

Is this what you mean?

I'm a sucker for films with strong Warrior women in them. The Amazon trope. Xena, Red Sonja and the like - the sword wielding barbarian woman who's more than a match for any man.

One film that stands out from this (admittedly small) field is a 1983 Italian America film called Hundra. It's an odd film. The story of the last survivor of an all-woman tribe trying to get pregnant and keep her pride in a world dominated by hairy macho arseholes. (The film is not very subtle in its metaphors.)

I've watched Hundra several times and I still can't make my mind up whether it is a misogynistic piece of shit, a misandrist piece of shit, a feminist classic or just another movie. I do know that's it's as entertaining as hell. With a brilliant score by Ennio Morricone which was so good he basically recycled it for Red Sonja a couple of years later.

I'm not sure what you're after, Endymion. Are you just trying to get people to recommend movies? There all kinds of things published on that. And I think if you go back into the 1930s-1940s, you'll find more women-centric films. A lot of early screenwriters were women, and there were a few early directors, like Ida Lupino.

It's not hard to find movies highlighting women, especially if you're being lenient enough to include Fiddler. But what's lacking are films that showcase women's serious problems, and women's issues without any reference to romance. (Are you familiar with the Bechdel test?)