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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

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?

---

Connections

Referenced in Empty Nest: Diary of a Mad Housewife (1993)

User Reviews

A Great Film!!

"Mad Housewife" is a great satire on the state of male female relationships in the late 60's.

Carrie Snodgrass plays a educated yuppie who enters into an affair with novelist Frank Langella as an escape from her infantile husband, played by Dick Benjamin.

Snodgrass trades her dud for a stud but never gets the love and respect she really craves.

Suffice to say she is just as unhappy by the end of the film as she was at its beginning.

See it if you can but it is hard to find.