The Opposite Sex (1956)

Set in the theatrical world of 1950s Manhattan, an ex-band singer (June Allyson, never more glamorous) discovers that her husband (Leslie Nielsen) has been having an affair with a devious showgirl (Joan Collins). Her female friends all have different opinions on what course of action she should take. This glossy CinemaScope remake of the 1939 THE WOMEN (based on the play by Clare Boothe Luce) is often maligned as inferior to its overrated predecessor but I find it much more fun. The original eschewed any male cast members but the David Miller (LONELY ARE THE BRAVE) film not only adds men to the cast but musical numbers. Allyson has the best of the lot and the others are pretty awful especially the splashy production number with Dick Shawn singing the title tune. Helen Rose did the eye popping costumes. The large cast includes Dolores Gray as the catty Sylvia, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Joan Blondell, Agnes Moorehead, Carolyn Jones, Sam Levene, Jeff Richards, Dean Jones, Barrie Chase, Charlotte Greenwood, Alice Pearce, Alan Marshal, Jim Backus, Harry James (who does Young Man With A Horn with Allyson), Barbara Jo Allen, Juanita Moore and that marvelous child actress Sandy Descher.