Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)

A housewife with an abusive husband has an affair with a writer.

Director:

Frank Perry

Writers:

Sue Kaufman (novel), Eleanor Perry

Stars:

Richard Benjamin, Frank Langella, Carrie Snodgress

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Richard Benjamin	...	Jonathan Balser
Frank Langella	...	George Prager
Carrie Snodgress	...	Tina Balser
Lorraine Cullen	...	Sylvie Balser
Frannie Michel	...	Liz Balser
Lee Addoms	...	Mrs. Prinz
Peter Dohanos	...	Samuel Keefer
Katherine Meskill	...	Charlotte Rady
Leonard Elliott	...	M. Henri
Valma	...	Margo
Hilda Haynes	...	Lottie
Donald Symington	...	Pediatrician (as Don Symington)
Alley Mills	...	Women's lib girl (as Allison Mills)
Alice Cooper	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Bruce	...	Himself... guitarist for the Alice Cooper band

Storyline

Tina Balser is a bored New York housewife-mother married to Jonathan, a pompous, social-climbing lawyer who ridicules her in front of their children, criticizing everything she does or wears. She begins an affair with George Prager, a dashing, successful and blatantly sadistic writer. Finally after George has tormented Tina in much the same manner Jonathan has, and has been unfaithful to boot, she goes back to her husband and begins group therapy.

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Plot Keywords:

writer | lawyer | abusive husband | housewife | group therapy | 

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Taglines:

I, Tina Balser, Housewife, Did Not Do My Chores Today. I Did...Something Else!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Diario de una esposa desesperada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Frank Perry Films Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 104 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Jonathan Balser: How about a little roll in the hay?

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Diatribe of a Mad Housewife (2004)

User Reviews

Glimpse of a New York of not so long ago that now exists only in memory

This highly entertaining and memorable film provides a glimpse into a New York of not so long ago that now exists only in memory. But Diary of a Mad Housewife ultimately succeeds on the strength of its actors, particularly Snodgress, who plays a Smith graduate-turned prisoner of a Central Park West apartment inhabited by her overbearing, pitifully ambitious husband and spoiled daughters. Her performance is somehow flat and anemic but compelling at the same time--a combination that seems to have been consciously emulated by Chloe Sevigny in The Last Days of Disco.

Bejamin is perfectly cast as the insufferable husband, adenoidally petulant and demanding. When Snodgress's patience is finally exhausted, she takes up with Langella, a glowering animal presence as a bad-boy writer whose selfishness, it turns out, rivals and even exceeds Benjamin's.

The husband and wife represent two people whose lack of use for their education has led them astray: Snodgress finds herself in a state of frustration with the humiliations of her housewifely duties, and Benjamin, unappreciated in his office, comes up with ill-fated schemes for self-expression and social advancement.

All in all, the film brings The Feminine Mystique to life in unexpectedly original and diverting ways.