Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

mark.waltz The comparisons to Crawford's previous other women role in 1939's "The Women" will be many, but her character of Mary is as far from Crystal Allen as Green Garson's Claire is from Norma Shearer's overly noble Mary Haines. Novelist Crawford is in love with her publisher (Herbert Marshall) who is married to Garson, a witty woman who doesn't give any indication of why any man would cheat on her. Delightfully pleasant without being overly grand, Garson is an ideal wife, while Crawford incorrectly believes the wife she's never met (and knows nothing about) isn't exciting enough to care about. Thanks to Crawford's nosy admirer (Robert Taylor in a performance I found truly annoying), everybody ends up together at the country home of their dizzy friend, Spring Byington, where a friendly conversation between the two women brings everything out even though they have no idea of who the other one really is.It is the long conversation between Crawford and Garson that stands out in this light-hearted romantic drama with definite comic overtones where wife and girlfriend (Crawford is certainly more important to Marshall than just a mistress) bond, discover the truth and come to some conclusions. The men too learn a thing or two about the women they love, loathe or cheat on, so everybody manages to grow up a little.Rather dicey in the exploration of Byington's seemingly live-in relationship with a man she isn't married to. This is a rare example of how writers managed to get away with certain details that were overlooked by the very tough production code. Byington's dizzy Dora can be quite annoying at times, but ultimately you like her as well because she means well. Taylor, though, plays a truly meddlesome Lothario and the result, at least for me, was that I didn't want to see his character end up with anyone when everything comes out. It is Crawford and Garson who shine the most, their pairing obviously more congenial off-screen than Crawford's was with Shearer during the making of "The Women". The respect their characters have for each other during their introductory scenes shines through their admiration for each other personally.A bit livelier than the original 1933 version, it focuses more on the light-heartedness here than the Ann Harding/Myrna Loy pairing did with that version's Noel Coward like drawing room comedy. That version featured a more memorable performance by the hostess character (Faye Bainter) who didn't play her like a dumbbell. The country setting of Byington's old barn turned into a country home is the visual highlight of the film, with a huge waterwheel churning water into the man-made pool, shrubbery surrounding the house and pond, and a quaint interior which is truly a delight to explore. This weekend in the country would be a delight just for that.

rbrb Entertaining flick, taken from a stage play.Writer is in love with her womanizer publisher who is already married.The writer's boy friend for his own motives sets the writer up to meet the publishers' wife with interesting consequences.The picture starts slowly but gets a up a head of steam and:I expected an explosive climax, but this is not that kind of film, nevertheless a clever story with an intelligent script.In my opinion the 2 male leads ought to have switched roles.In any event an enjoyable and watchable movie deserving:7/10

todlane04 Romance novelist Joan Crawford falls in love with married publisher Herbert Marshall. Crawford meets his wife, Greer Garson, at the home of loopy blabbermouth Spring Byington. Hard to say which is sillier, the acting, the plot, the dialog, the furniture or the clothes. Bad beyond belief. Hollywood at its phoniest. Reissued with the title "Strange Skirts," this has to be a drag queen's dream come true and a feminist's worst nightmare. A women's picture in the worst sense of the phrase. At one point, Greer Garson says "I've discovered it doesn't pay to be capable. Husbands don't approve." Herbert Marshall, supposedly a Don Juan, acts more like an undertaker. Points of interest: the producer's name is Dull, Joan Crawford and Greer Garson duet on a tune that's possibly the worst movie song ever, Robert Taylor and Herbert Marshall drive the exact same car, Spring Byington's rather effeminate male escort is her "decorator," and Joan Crawford's spacious Manhattan apartment is in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge but she blithely leaves her front door unlocked while she gardens and sprays DDT wearing white elbow length gloves that match her dress and hat. Unintentional laughs galore.

doc_brown Simple story, but some of the acting is marvelous, especially Greer Garson, who literally steals the movie. It was almost embarrassing to watch Joan Crawford try to act next to her. The difference of talent between the two women is unmistakable---Garson is leagues ahead.Robert Taylor was also excellent, playing the mischievous suitor, comically bent on winning Joan Crawford's Mary Howard. I had previously only seen him melodrama, so watching him play a comedic role was very refreshing.The story is a bit slow, but it picks up when Crawford and Garson meet towards the end of the picture. The dialog there is smart and thought provoking, and the talent of Garson really shines through.Not a great movie, but worth a rental to catch some good acting from two of the studio era's greatest stars.