Antidotes requested

[laughingrat]

So a friend of mine is watching "How to Marry a Millionaire," and is waffling between amused and horrified (landing finally on "amused," by choice, but it was a close thing). I told her that "Desk Set" is a great classic movie that she could watch as an antidote to "How to Marry a Millionaire," if she wanted one. I'm sure there's more awesome feisty-lady classic movies out there that I'm just not remembering. Any suggestions?

Comments

[senmut]

I'd probably recommend the Doris Day romantic comedies, even if they do end with her and the guy together, just because she usually trumps her lead in feisty.

[laughingrat]

Ending up with the guy is nice too, especially if you can do that while being feisty!

[my_daroga]

Maybe All About Eve, as it actually addresses gender issues in relationships, or other Tracey/Hepburn comedies like Adam's Rib.

[laughingrat]

Yeaaaaah, there's some creepy stuff in "All About Eve," isn't there? I saw a short bit of it not that long ago where some dude was literally asserting ownership over a gal. It's really unusual for movies (even now) to talk about stuff like that so directly! I should go back and watch that one again.

[my_daroga]

He is, and it's reprehensible, but it also has Bette Davis at her MOST feisty, struggling with what it means to her relationships and her career not to be "young" anymore. Not a comedy, but I do think that it carries some interesting questions--and characters--inside the sexist assumptions.

Which is not at all to say that the characters are not sexist.

[laughingrat]

Well, we just get that, don't we? The sexism, I mean. I can really appreciate it when a movie gives us something to sink our teeth into, social commentary-wise, or when it tries to take on the big issues. Mind you, I also really appreciate it when Keaton falls off a roof, so, you know, I've got diverse tastes.

[mecca]

I'm thinking anything with Barbara Stanwyck in it would be cool. I can't think of a particular title at the moment, but she's definitely in control most of the time in her films.

[laughingrat]

Haha, like the newly-restored "Baby Face"? :-D

[mecca]

I hadn't heard of that movie before, but after taking a look at the synopsis on imdb, I would say yes. lol

[laughingrat]

It's pretty sweet. Even though it was a pre-Code, it was still censored by the studio before it was released. Not that long ago, a bunch of librarians (W00t librarians!) found random footage in an archive and realized that, holy crap, it was the pre-release, pre-censorship footage, which everyone thought had been destroyed 70 years ago. So the version that TCM has now on the "Forbidden Hollywood" set is this restored ed, which is even more racy and dark than the first version released.

I got to see it in a local theater and it was amazing. :-D

[mecca]

You've piqued my interest. I'll have to get my hands on a copy to watch. I've been curious to see some pre-code movies. Part of the reason why I like Mae West so much is because of how raunchy she could get. It didn't fit the image Hollywood was trying to project. It would be both strange and fascinating to see stars that I'm used to seeing one way, play a different type.

[laughingrat]

Oh, Mae West is so interesting. Don't get me started on Mae West! Hey, if you're interested, Simon Louvish has a really thorough biography of her wherein he talked about the Hays Office's response to her (their hatred was almost personal, it was insane). It was pretty interesting, not as fun as his Marx Bros. bio but definitely well researched.

[mecca]

Thank you for the recommendation. :]