''Woman's World'' (also known as ''A Woman's World'') is a 1954 American

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

and print by

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

about corporate America directed by

Jean Negulesco Jean Negulesco (born Ioan Negulescu; – 18 July 1993) was a Romanian Americans, Romanian-American film director and screenwriter.Oliver, Myrna"Jean Negulesco 1900–1993 ''The Los Angeles Times'', 22 July 1993. He first gained notice for his Fi ...

and starring Clifton Webb,

June Allyson June Allyson (born Eleanor Geisman; October 7, 1917 – July 8, 2006) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Allyson began her career in 1937 as a dancer in short subject films and on Broadway in 1938. She signed with MGM in 1943 ...

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio, and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. ...

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

, Arlene Dahl and

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...

. The screenplay concerns three men who compete for the top job at a large company.

Plot

When the general manager of Gifford Motors dies, company owner Ernest Gifford ( Clifton Webb) invites the three candidates for the position to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

so he can personally evaluate them and their wives. Bill and Katie Baxter (

and

) are a loving couple from

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. Elizabeth Burns (

) is becoming estranged from her driven husband Sidney (

) because his work is consuming him and undermining his health; she fears a promotion would eventually kill him. Jerry Talbot (

), who has a sexy, ambitious wife, Carol ( Arlene Dahl), rounds out the trio. As time goes by, Katie is shown to be a bit of a klutz, both physically and socially. On the other hand, Elizabeth is both poised and gracious. Despite their differences, she and Katie get along well. When the couples are unexpectedly invited to spend the weekend at the estate of Gifford's sister Evelyn Andrews, ( Margalo Gillmore), Elizabeth generously helps Katie buy appropriate clothing on a limited budget. Meanwhile, Carol does her best to "help" her husband by playing up to a seemingly appreciative Gifford at every opportunity, despite Jerry's demands that she stop interfering. It becomes clear to Gifford that the best candidate and the most suitable wife are unfortunately not married to each other. He announces that he will reveal his decision after dinner. Carol makes one last brazen attempt to influence his choice and is surprised to learn that, while Jerry is Gifford's favorite, he will not get the job because of a fatal handicap. When she informs her husband and also how she helped him in the past, Jerry proves that he got at least one big promotion on his own merits, not because of her charms. He then says to her that they are through and tells her to pack and leave. When Gifford finds out, he is pleased. He had hoped that Jerry would see his wife for what she was. Gifford congratulates his new general manager for passing the test. The other two couples are relieved.

Cast

* Clifton Webb as Ernest Gifford *

as Katie Baxter *

as Jerry Talbot *

as Elizabeth Burns *

as Sidney Burns * Arlene Dahl as Carol Talbot *

as Bill Baxter *

Elliott Reid Edgeworth Blair "Elliott" Reid (January 16, 1920 – June 21, 2013) was an American actor. Early life Reid was born in Manhattan, the son of artist Christine Challenger Reid and banker Blair Reid. He attended the Professional Children's Sc ...

as Tony Andrews, Gifford's nephew * Margalo Gillmore as Evelyn Andrews, Gifford's sister

Production

The film was based on a magazine story ''May the Best Wife Win''.

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

bought the film rights, intending to make a movie along the lines of ''A Letter to Three Wives'' and ''All About Eve''. In January 1952 Julian Blaustein was to produce and the film was going to star

Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in ''Pinky (film), Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films ''In the Meantime, Da ...

Corinne Calvet Corinne Calvet (April 30, 1925 – June 23, 2001), born Corinne Dibos, was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films. According to one obituary, she was promoted "as a combination of Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth", but he ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

and

Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', '' She Wore a Yellow Ribb ...

. In April 1953

Claude Binyon Claude Binyon (October 17, 1905 Chicago, Illinois – February 14, 1978 Glendale, California) was a screenwriter and director. His genres were comedy, musicals, and romances. As a Chicago-based journalist for the ''Examiner'' newspaper, he bec ...

was going to direct and Raymond Klune produce with

and possibly

Gloria Grahame Gloria Grahame (born Gloria Penelope Hallward; November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an American actress. She began her acting career in theater, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Many biographies indicate she was born Gloria Graham ...

to star. Other castings mentioned included

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrener; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Clarence Thornton, Walt ...

and Michael Rennie. By December 1953 Binyon had finished the script. In January 1954 producer Charles Brackett announced the team of Lindsay and Crouse would write the script. Brackett wanted to cast six stars and aimed to start filming in April. Location filming started in New York in February while the script was being written. By this stage the director was

and the stars were intended to be Clifton Webb,

Eleanor Parker Eleanor Jean Parker (June 26, 1922 – December 9, 2013) was an American actress. She was nominated for three Academy Awards for her roles in the films ''Caged (1950 film), Caged'' (1950), ''Detective Story (1951 film), Detective Story'' (1951 ...

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006), known as Glenn Ford, was a Canadian-born American actor. He was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of th ...

and

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

. There was also a car, the "Ford of Tomorrow", built by Ford at a cost of $180,000. There were three weeks location filming, then some location work at a Detroit auto plant, before filming was to start at a studio later. By April the stars signed were Clifton Webb, Jean Peters,

, June Allyson and

. Wilde did the film as the last movie under an old commitment with Fox. Eventually Van Heflin and Fred MacMurray joined the cast, and Lauren Bacall replaced Grahame and Arlene Dahl replaced Peters. Filming started 3 May."Drama: Luella Gear Quitting 'Sabrinia' for 'Phffft'; Simmons Tuning Voice" Schallert, Edwin. ''Los Angeles Times'' 17 Apr 1954: 15.

References

External links

* * * {{Jean Negulesco 1954 films 1954 drama films American business films Films directed by Jean Negulesco Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge Films set in New York City Films produced by Charles Brackett 20th Century Fox films 1950s business films CinemaScope films American drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links