

Alison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world of business until she meets an independent design engineer.
Acting
Ruth Chatterton's steel spine and smoky confidence. Absolutely owns every frame.
Direction
Curtiz crams a feature's worth of scandal into one tight hour.
Writing
Dialogue so suggestive you'll need to fan yourself. 1933 was WILD.

Director
Michael Curtiz
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made just before the Hays Code crackdown, 'Female' is a time capsule of Depression-era anxieties about women in power. Audiences loved Alison's independence even as the ending 'corrects' her.
Ruth Chatterton was Hollywood's highest-paid actress when she made this. She and George Brent were married in real life — their chemistry wasn't acting.