
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Director: Bryan Forbes
Cast: Katherine Ross, Peter Masterson, Paula Prentiss, Nanette Newman, Patrick O'Neal
Memorable Line(s): "When you come back, there will be a woman with my name and my face, she'll cook and clean like crazy, but she won't take pictures and SHE WON'T BE ME! "
For some reason I skipped The Stepford Wives from 1970's and never looked back. Now that I have decided to give it a look, I can same I'm glad I took the time because there's more here than I expected
The Plot of The Stepford Wives
The Eberharts are married with two kids and they just have to get out of the rat race of the city. Joanna (Ross) is a stay-at-home mom who dabbles in photography and Walter (Masterson) is the guy who brings home the bacon. Their escape is to the bucolic and suburban Stepford, a community that is nearly perfect, without the congestion and craziness of the city.
The transition goes well and they ease into their new and comfortable suburban lives, but Joanna seems isolated because most of the other woman come at the world in a different way. Walter integrates well and becomes immediately entrenched with the local and secretive men's club where he spends many evenings meeting and drinking.
It isn't until Joanna finds a kindred spirit in her new friend Bobbie (Prentiss) that she starts to feel comfortable. But it also then that some of her subconscious suspicions are confirmed that all may not be right in Stepford. In trying to shake things up the world of the perfect wives of Stepford, they get more they have bargained for and Joanna starts to find out there is something sinister beneath the surface of Stepford. And this something just may leave her a changed woman.
The Performances, Writing, and Direction of The Stepford Wives
It takes a while to get used to and settled into The Stepford Wives. It looks and feels a lot like a many films of the 70's -- sort of natural and gritty too. While many of today's movies are heavily stylized, it finds it's own way and works for the most part.
The performances, particularily from Ross and Masterson are solid. They come across as the harried married couple ready for and embracing change, although Ross doesn't seem to have a complete handle on her character at the beginning of the movie. Paula Prentiss breathes some life into the movie just as it starts to lose a lag a bit. She brings a lot of verve to the roll and plays a great foil to Ross's Joanna.
Patrick O'Neal turns in a nice role as the city patriarch and does a great job of both hiding and revealing his sinister motives. The rest of the cast is solid, too. You also get to see Tina Louise of Gilligan's Island fame in a surprising and uncharateristic dramatic role. As an added bonus, Mary Stuart Masterson debuts as one of the Eberhart children, although the roles of the kids are cardboard thin.
The script does a good job of balancing out the drama, the suspense, and the cultural commentary. The cultural commentary is particularily handled well with exception of the few times it becomes a little preachy and overstated.
Summary Judgment on The Stepford Wives
The Stepford Wives drilled itself into the consciousness and zeigist of our culture. Many times people use the term 'Stepford Wife' and it's immediatelty known what's being communicated and for good reason. Besides being a bit worn on the edges and maybe a little too blunt in places, this is an effective film with an nice undercurrent of cultural commentary.
[NOTE: This movie was re-made in 2004 with a totally different and ineffective approach in 2004. I suggest that you skip the re-make in this instance and check out the original and you'll be rewarded.]












