There's been a discussion going on about the disappearance of catfights in mainstream movies. I agree. There are definitely more fights between women in movies, but few authentic catfights.
The reason for this is pretty simple. Karate style choppy socky fistfights are so much easier to choreograph and film. The disorganized uncontrolled anarchic nature of a catfight is much harder to film. That is why when you do see an actual female catfight in a motion picture you will have many cutaways to those watching (oh how I hate those) and film edits.
From Russia With Love has probably the most beloved catfight in movie history, and yet in a minute and ten seconds of fighting there are 22 edits. In other words the director was calling "cut" every 3 seconds to set up and start again.
And so you may ask, what in my opinion is the greatest mainstream movie catfight? I'm glad you asked. I've got one that is over 4 minutes long and has exactly 2 edits. That's right 2. After you watch this, give the actresses your appreciation because the fight is as realistic as you might imagine and they go at it hard for a very very long time. I can only wonder how many times they did the whole thing over and over before the director said they had a keeper.
THE GEISHA (and when her bare leg come out from her kimono and wraps around her rival....gulp!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW17FJVIfgY&t=7s
P.S. And be sure to read my stories!!!! They are linked in my profile (adv).
My favorites have always been Roberta Collins and Pam Grier in The Big Dollhouse, and Destry Rides Again, From Russia with Love (of course), and there's also a fight from a movie that took place back in the wild west where two women got into a fight over a guy that started upstairs in a bedroom they fought all the way down the stairs and one of the women was thrown through a glass window and the fight continued outside all the while the guy they were fighting over was laughing hysterically still in the bed. I don't know the name of the movie but that fight is also really good.
I seem to recall that the director of The Geisha made another movie with a rather spirited catfish in it as well.
My pick would be the 1969 movie Eye of the Cat. The two women, in short dresses, fight all over the ladies room.
Quote from: Scandic Cats on February 05, 2022, 09:50:03 AM
I seem to recall that the director of The Geisha made another movie with a rather spirited catfish in it as well.
My pick would be the 1969 movie Eye of the Cat. The two women, in short dresses, fight all over the ladies room.
Nice pick! The full movie is on YouTube and the fight starts around the 1hr 5min mark.
Quote from: jaybee on February 05, 2022, 04:43:58 AM
My favorites have always been Roberta Collins and Pam Grier in The Big Dollhouse, and Destry Rides Again, From Russia with Love (of course), and there's also a fight from a movie that took place back in the wild west where two women got into a fight over a guy that started upstairs in a bedroom they fought all the way down the stairs and one of the women was thrown through a glass window and the fight continued outside all the while the guy they were fighting over was laughing hysterically still in the bed. I don't know the name of the movie but that fight is also really good.
I am not certain if this is the title of the movie but here is the fight...........https://youtu.be/7QlNn4L0Jms
Quote from: Led2 on February 05, 2022, 11:36:26 AM
Quote from: jaybee on February 05, 2022, 04:43:58 AM
My favorites have always been Roberta Collins and Pam Grier in The Big Dollhouse, and Destry Rides Again, From Russia with Love (of course), and there's also a fight from a movie that took place back in the wild west where two women got into a fight over a guy that started upstairs in a bedroom they fought all the way down the stairs and one of the women was thrown through a glass window and the fight continued outside all the while the guy they were fighting over was laughing hysterically still in the bed. I don't know the name of the movie but that fight is also really good.
I am not certain if this is the title of the movie but here is the fight...........https://youtu.be/7QlNn4L0Jms
Thanks a lot! This is a well known fight but most don't know the name of the film it's from. It's funny that as soon as you mention the guy laughing throughout the entire fight living the dream EVERY catfight fan knows the fight you're talking about. ;D
Raze (2013) and Bitch Slap (2010) both are outstanding examples of amazingly realistic fights without incorporation of very much in the way of martial arts. Of course, both have Zoe Bell in common.
Whether acting, fight choreographing or as stunt woman, she is the very best that Hollywood has ever seen in bringing realistic female fights to the big screen.
Quote from: sinclairfan on February 05, 2022, 12:13:56 PM
I think that because of the star power of the women, it's hard to ignore:
Faye Dunaway vs Alice Krige (1987)
Charlize Theron vs Teri Hatcher (1996)
Uma Thurman vs Vivica A. Fox (2010)
Sharon Stone vs Rachel Ticoten (1990)
The second one is possibly the best Big Screen superstar vs Small Screen A-lister ever.
And Faye Dunaway and Sharon Stone have particularly eclectic niches--from the open legs interrogation scene to Sharon's role in Casino to Faye's opposite Warren Beatty.
The 1973 Faye Dunaway Raquel Welch fight in The Three Musketeers was a let-down but when it comes to star-power....
Quote from: Led2 on February 05, 2022, 11:36:26 AM
Quote from: jaybee on February 05, 2022, 04:43:58 AM
My favorites have always been Roberta Collins and Pam Grier in The Big Dollhouse, and Destry Rides Again, From Russia with Love (of course), and there's also a fight from a movie that took place back in the wild west where two women got into a fight over a guy that started upstairs in a bedroom they fought all the way down the stairs and one of the women was thrown through a glass window and the fight continued outside all the while the guy they were fighting over was laughing hysterically still in the bed. I don't know the name of the movie but that fight is also really good.
I am not certain if this is the title of the movie but here is the fight...........https://youtu.be/7QlNn4L0Jms
I remember seeing that film many, many years ago. Probably before I was a teenager & was certainly memorable. I did have a search over the years and seemed to recall "Man of the West" or "Gone with the West" as the title possibly. Possibly a similar era to "Destry Rides Again" and why couldn't the scriptwriters write a better ending for "Johhny Guitar" as in a bare knuckle fist fight between Joan Crawford & Mercedes McCambridge. As they didn't like each other much it could have been interesting !!
You're right on both counts. The title of the movie in question was "Gone With the West." The man over whom the women were fighting (the guy laughing hysterically) was actor Aldo Ray.
I couldn't agree more about the ending to the movie "Johnny Guitar." 90+ minutes of build-up between the two rival women and their "showdown" amounts to a lame shoot out. IMO it goes down as the biggest letdown in the history of potential catfights that never happened.
Quote from: Bear on February 08, 2022, 08:06:10 AM
You're right on both counts. The title of the movie in question was "Gone With the West." The man over whom the women were fighting (the guy laughing hysterically) was actor Aldo Ray.
I couldn't agree more about the ending to the movie "Johnny Guitar." 90+ minutes of build-up between the two rival women and their "showdown" amounts to a lame shoot out. IMO it goes down as the biggest letdown in the history of potential catfights that never happened.
Thanks for the info, and you can find "Gone with the West" on Tubi and YouTube free! For those interested the fight starts around the 41min mark.
Well there was a straight up no messing around catfight on the TV show Yellowstone at the end of this season. It was surprising and really fantastically done. Looked like they were really fighting. Over Jimmy of all things. lol
From Russia with Love I'd like to think exemplifies the fetish to its maximum effect to the widest audience.
Then there's the Amazon film from the 70's but only the first wrestling scene to me is great.
Other than that honestly most of the "great" fights to me via mainstream film studios are all mostly duds. They're often stereotyped into hard high-kicking martial arts, or too close to what a real fight looks like (which is great sometimes but often not in a sexual fantasy way.).
Now give me some of the oil wrestling/mud wrestling tid bits from the late 80s-early 2000s because in those short bits we got:
1) Women barefoot typically in bikinis.
2) Clear defined match between Rival A and the reigning local strip club champ
3) Signs of back and forth and clear dislike for one another
4) clear winner and humiliated loser
(Bonus: Sometimes we see how the match ended with the winners final move and that's even better)
Quote from: lumberjack66 on February 10, 2022, 01:53:27 AM
Well there was a straight up no messing around catfight on the TV show Yellowstone at the end of this season. It was surprising and really fantastically done. Looked like they were really fighting. Over Jimmy of all things. lol
Don't Mess With Texas!
What a tough question. There have been a lot of great movie catfights over the years, and many of them have been mentioned here in this thread. One more movie I'll ad is Angles With Golden Guns. It's a mass girl fight, but I think it's the best mass girl fight I've ever seen. There are many good catball type fights. Here's the link to the fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBmHXow-RSg
But as for the best, if I was forced to name my favorite, I would have to agree with rin753....the fight in The Geisha is simply amazing. I think it is extremely realistic. The girls look like they are really slapping each other in the bathroom. The fight is extremely arousing, and as is pointed out, when they get into the other room, and they continue to fight although exhausted, when the one girl pins her rival on the table, and the one on bottom wraps her bare leg and thigh around the other girl, it's simply breathtaking.
Thanks for an amazing post.
One of my Favorites
Saloon fight from The Harvey Girls
https://youtu.be/DChvlZYVdQw
The 1983 remake of The Wicked Lady with Faye Dunaway has a good fight when the Highwayman is to be hung. A woman attacks Faye and pulls her from her fancy carriage. They start fighting and end up rolling down a hill. There is a huge crowd there to watch the hanging and they turn their attention to the catfight. Someone throws out a bullwhip which Faye uses to tear up her lovely opponent for a bit. Then another "good Samaritan" tosses her a carriage whip and she goes to town on Faye. Their dresses get shredded!