Actors: Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman, Tina Louise, Patrick O'Neal
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Stepford Wives (1975)
Based in the early 1970's, the Eberhardts are moved to the quiet village of Stepford from the hustling bustle of NYC. Joanna Eberhardt, a modern 70's woman, is uncertain of Stepford's women. They seem to be on a completely different wave length, obsessed with cleaning house and pleasing their husbands, Joanna finds little in common with these women. Joanna runs into Bobbie Markowe, who had moved to Stepford just 1 month previously, and normal, not obsessed with squeezing the Charmin. Joanna and Bobbie make one more acquaintance, Charmaine, who moved to Stepford 3 months prior. After unsuccessfully calling a women's consciousness raising meeting with the women of Stepford, Charmaine leaves on a weekend with her husband and returns a meely-mouthed hausfrau. Within 2 months, Bobbie follows suit and Joanna is afraid that she will be next.
--Emily , Resident Scholar
Shot by british director Bryan Forbes in 1975, THE STEPFORD WIVES are an adaptation of the Ira Levin novel. It has become a cult classic over the years.
The Eberharts have just moved from New-York to Stepford, in the NY suburbs with their two little girls. Walter joins the Men's Club of the town while Joanna makes the acquaintance of Bobbie, a young woman who's also just arrived in Stepford. Both women soon remark that most of the Stepford housewives pass their time at home, cleaning, cooking and pleasing their husbands. Walter now joins every evening the Men's Club where women are not allowed. The headquarters of the club are also guarded by the local police.
When one of their friends, Charmaine, a sexy and wild young woman, returns home completely psychologically changed after a week-end with her husband, Joanna and Bobbie suspect that something is wrong in Stepford. They first ask for a chemical analysis of the drinking water that reveals nothing special. One night, Walter asks Joanna to meet some of the members of the Men's Club at home. While one of them draws sketches of Joanna's face, the others examine closely the couple's sleeping-room. Feeling paranoid, Joanna goes to a psychiatrist who advises her to leave Stepford with her children. In the meantime, her last friend, Bobbie, after a New-York trip in the company of her husband, returns home also changed. Bobbie now prefers cooking gourmet meals for his man rather than discuss with Joanna the strange attitude of the Stepford Wives. But is she really the same Bobbie ?
Witty and disturbing.
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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Analysis of The Stepford Wives (1975)
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie Actual chase scenes or violence - 10% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 20% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 70%
**Fantasy or Science Fiction?**
- science fiction story
Repressive Society
Yes
Clones/duplicates?
- bad clones/duplicates
Clones/Duplicates?
Yes
Who's being repressed/enslaved?
- women are slaves
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- homemaker/wife
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlng, straight
Body type
- skinny (woman)
Unclothed?
- Chest
- Slightly see-through clothes
Events of movie makes character more...
- introspective
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
- bald
Hair style
- bald (man)
- (woman) short/butch/lez
Body type
- average build (man)
- ample chest & buttocks (female)
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
- Jewish
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
- an organization
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- scientist
- business executive
Eccentric:
Yes
- deluded
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
- 80%
Hair color
- white/grey
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average (man)
Ethnicity
- White
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physical condition
- average physique
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century (1970's to Present)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Misc settings
- mansion
Small town?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- explicit references to deaths
Tone of movie
- spiritual
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vauge references only
- seeing breasts
- major character becomes a sex slave
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
Is this movie based on a
- book
