Woman Against Woman

Herbert Marshall, Mary Astor, and Virginia Bruce star in "Woman Against Woman," a 1938 short film. Marshall and Astor play a Stephen and Cynthia, a married couple; she is manipulative and wears the pants in the family, and he just goes along with whatever she wants. When his daughter's nurse leaves, she warns him, after some prodding, that is wife isn't a very nice woman. That makes him more aware of her behavior, and they end up divorcing.

Eventually he remarries the lovely Maris (Bruce), and Maris runs into problems being shut out of social situations or experiencing awkwardness due to Cynthia's machinations. For instance, she and Stephen will enter a party where Cynthia is in attendance; Cynthia will suddenly announce she's leaving, even though she knew darn well they'd be there. She also uses her daughter with Stephen as a weapon.

Very good cast in a very ordinary movie. Well-directed by Robert Sinclair in his first film; he had a long career in both films and television.