What Every Woman Knows

This film preserves Helen Hayes in one of her most celebrated roles, and Brian Aherne and the rest of the cast are quite fine as well. Indeed, Lucile Watson is a particular delight as the Comtesse de la Briere. The first half of the film hews closely to J. M. Barrie's play, yet it never feels "stage-bound" in the least. It has been opened up for the film quite effectively and none of Barrie's humor or clear-eyed sentiment have been lost. However, in an apparent attempt to simplify some of Barrie's plot devices, the last half of the film has been changed considerably from the play; and not to its benefit. Indeed, the rest of the script is pretty much a mess and makes nonsense of Barrie without improving the story in the least, as well as vitiating the entire thrust of the drama. Still, the film is worth seeing for Miss Hayes' excellent performance and Mr. Aherne's very capable one.

In this unusual comedy, Helen Hayes (reprising her Broadway role) plays an old maid who takes care of everyone in her family. She's a running joke to never get married, and Dudley Digges, Donald Crisp, and David Torrence ridicule her. When a young, handsome newcomer arrives in town, he immediately gets invited over for dinner, with hopes by her brothers that he'll marry the spinster. Helen is taken with him, but what does she have to offer? Her brains and her money. He's an ambitious fellow, but she's got what it takes to be the woman behind the man. So, she makes him an offer of marriage in exchange for a humungous dowry and strategy for his career.

Why would she do all this? Because he's Brian Aherne! Six feet, four inches of ridiculously handsome, Irish, curly-haired, passionately tempered Brian Aherne! Brian has to think about her offer, and since Helen is smarter than him, she lays out her argument in such a subtly cunning way, he eventually sees the wisdom in it.

This is a very clever, timeless movie. It's funny and smart, and as the title implies, will make every woman in the audience chuckle. Brian may be gorgeous, but he's not too bright. Helen knows how to get around him, and she's perfectly willing to teach the audience, too!

Helen Hayes never had great success in the movies, but this is the best of her film performances that I've seen so far. Her Scottish accent is convincing, she's charming, and she conveys Maggie's underlying strength with great subtlety.

Brian Aherne is charismatic as the young politician Maggie is attracted to; he allows us to see through his egotism to the vulnerability and insecurity just below the surface.

The beautiful and talented Madge Evans is fine in the "other woman" role. Supporting stalwarts Lucile Watson, Donald Crisp, Dudley Digges, David Torrence, and Henry Stephenson are all well-cast, and turn in wonderful performances.

I had no idea what to expect from this film, but I found it highly enjoyable, with gentle humor, light drama, and romance that won't send your blood sugar into orbit.

The moral of this story originally from J.M. Barrie is supposed to be that what every woman knows is that a man only thinks he makes it to the top on his own, whereas she's always helping behind the scenes, which sounds sweet enough. However, the message that came across all these years later is pretty odious; it's that what every woman knows is her place, subordinate to a man in literally every respect.

God love Helen Hayes, she's so adorable and does everything she can here, but it's crazy just how much her character idolizes her husband (Brian Aherne) and stands by him even when he strays. He's only married her as part of a deal, you see, despite her clearly being beneath him and lacking in looks and charm (she herself says this several times, argh...!). What every woman knows, the film tells us, is that men are the driven ones in life, and if their passion also leads them to other women, well, you need to simply accept this and keep on loving them for the gods they are. Even the other woman (Madge Evans) acts ridiculously. Aside from everything else, I almost lost it when Aherne's character had the gall to pluck a cigarette out of Hayes's mouth after they were separated, without a peep from her or any real awareness on the part of the film.

It's really too bad too, because the pair made a cute couple, with him towering over her (6'2" and 5') and she in her little curls. The character of a common guy rising to be a Member of Parliament debating issues of class and things like the gold standard along with his plucky and intelligent wife could have been far more interesting and endearing. The film is not helped by the comic relief of her family either, including a clod of a brother, though the wise middle-aged woman (Lucile Watson) provides moments of relief. A star each for Hayes and Watson, and that's about it.

Brilliantly constructed movie and the casting is spot on. Intriguing plot - this movie is one that needs to be watched at least twice to pick up the details missed the first time around - maybe the Scottish accents need some adjusting to - If you know the perception of Scottish frugality (especially by those south of the border) the movie really has some hugely comical moments, such as the taxi scene, the newspaper that was never purchased and the expensive shawl moment. Helen Hayes plays the adoring wife of a young politician precisely and the plot has a very positive and surprising ending to what seems like an impossible situation. They just don't make 'em like this any more. I watched this movie for the first time this year (2005) and my only regret is not having seen it years ago - get a copy is my advice and enjoy!