The Stepford Wives (1975 film)

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The Stepford Wives

DVD cover
Directed by Bryan Forbes
Produced by Gustave M. Berne (exec.)
Edgar J. Scherick
Written by Novel:
Ira Levin
Screenplay:
William Goldman
Starring Katharine Ross
Paula Prentiss
Peter Masterson
Nanette Newman
Tina Louise
Music by Michael Small
Cinematography Enrique Bravo
Owen Roizman
Editing by Timothy Gee
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Paramount Pictures (2004 DVD)
Release date(s) 12 February 1975 (USA)
Running time 115 min.
Country United States
Language English
IMDb profile

The Stepford Wives is a 1975 sci-fi/horror film based on the Ira Levin novel The Stepford Wives. It was directed by Bryan Forbes with a screenplay by William Goldman. Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson and Tina Louise all starred in the film. It was remade in 2004.


Contents

[edit] Plot

Joanna and Bobbie investigate Stepford
Joanna and Bobbie investigate Stepford

Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross) is a young wife who moves with her husband Walter (Peter Masterson) and two children from New York City to the idyllic Connecticut suburb of Stepford. Loneliness quickly sets in as Joanna, a mildly rebellious aspiring photographer, finds the women in town obsessed with housework and looking great, but with few intellectual interests. The men all belong to the clubish Stepford Men's Association, which Walter joins to Joanna's dismay. Witnessing neighbor Carol Van Sant's (Nanette Newman) sexually submissive behavior to her husband Ted, as well as her odd, repetitive behavior after a car accident also strike Joanna as unusual.

Things start to look up when she makes friends with another newcomer to town, irrepressible Bobbie Markowe (Paula Prentiss). Along with trophy wife Charmaine Wimperis (Tina Louise), they organize a women's liberation consciousness raising session, but the meeting is a failure when the other wives hijack the meeting with cleaning concerns. Joanna is also unimpressed by the boorish Men's Club members, including intimidating president Dale "Diz" Coba (Patrick O'Neal), who stealthily collect information on Joanna including her picture, her voice, and other personal details. When Charmaine turns overnight from a languid, self-concerned tennis fan into an industrious, devoted wife, Joanna and Bobbie start investigating, with ever-increasing concern, the reason behind the submissive and bland behavior of the other wives, especially when they learn they were once quite supportive of liberal social policies.

Spooked, Bobbie and Joanna start househunting in other towns, and later, Joanna wins a prestigious contract with a photo gallery with some photographs of their respective children. When she excitedly tells Bobbie her good news, Joanna is shocked to find her freewheeling and liberal friend has abruptly changed into another clean, presumably conservative housewife, with no intention to move from town.

Joanna panics and at the insistence of Walter, visits a psychiatrist who recommends she leave town until she feels safe. When Joanna returns home, the children are missing; Joanna and Walter get in to a physical scuffle. In an attempt to find her children, she hypothesizes Bobbie may be caring for them. When a desperate Joanna stabs Bobbie with a kitchen knife, Bobbie "breaks down" instead of dying, confirming her worst fears.

Feeling she might be the next victim, Joanna sneaks into the mansion which houses the Men's Association to find her children. There, Diz shows her graphic confirmation that the women have all been replaced with robot duplicates. The Joanna-duplicate uses a stocking to strangle the real Joanna; the duplicate is then seen placidly purchasing groceries at the local supermarket, along with the rest of the "wives."

[edit] Cast


Cast notes

[edit] Production

The film was shot in a variety of towns in Western Connecticut, primarily in Westport and Fairfield. Tension developed between director Forbes and screenwriter Goldman over the casting of Nanette Newman (Forbes's wife) as one of the wives. Goldman had wanted the wives to be depicted as model-like women who dressed provocatively. But after casting Newman this was not to be, as Goldman stated he felt that Newman's physical appearance did not match the type of woman he imagined, and as a result this caused a change in appearance in costuming for all of the other wives. Goldman has said that he found Newman to be a perfectly good actress, however. Goldman was also unhappy with some rewrites that Forbes contributed. In particular, Forbes toned down Goldman's "horrorific" ending. Actor Masterson, who was friends with Goldman, would secretly call Goldman for his input on scenes creating additional stresses.

Forbes purposefully chose white and bright colors for the setting of the film, attempting to make a "thriller in sunlight". With the exception of the stormy night finale, the film is almost oversaturated with bright light and cheery settings. All the locations were actual places; no sets were built for the film. The film's tone is reminiscent of Levin's earlier work Rosemary's Baby, where it is unclear whether or not the film's protagonist is truly threatened or merely paranoid; in both cases, the films make the threat more concrete.

[edit] Casting

Initially, Joanna Cassidy was cast as Bobbie. When she left after a few weeks into production, her scenes were reshot. Diane Keaton initially accepted the role of Joanna, but cancelled before filming began.

[edit] Reception

The Stepford Wives has a 67% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.com. Some critics deride its leisurely pace. Most applaud the "quiet, domestic" thrills the film delivers in the final third.

[edit] Sequels

Many sequels have been produced over the years including:

[edit] Parodies and References

  • Married with Children - Season 11, Episode 10 was titled, "The Stepford Peg", where Peg (Katey Sagal) bumps her head on the coffee table after slipping on a candy wrapper and becomes a stereotypical housewife thanks to Al (Ed O'Neill) implanting suggestions that she does do housework.
  • The Chronicle - Season 1, Episode 18 was titled, "The Stepford Cheerleaders."
  • Homeboys in Outer Space - Season 1, Episode 10 was titled, "A Man's Place is in the Homey, or The Stepford Guys"
  • Desperate Housewives - In Season 1, Bree Van de Kamp is said to be running for the "mayor of Stepford" because of her perfection.
  • Newhart - Season 2, Episode 4 was titled, "The Stratford Wives."

Note: The BBC movie soundalike The Stretford Wives (2002) is not related.

[edit] External links