A Doll's House (1973)

Nora Helmer has years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald. Now she is being blackmailed lives in fear of her husband's finding out and... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Henrik Ibsen (play), David Mercer (screenplay)

Stars:

Jane Fonda, Edward Fox, Trevor Howard

Cast

Credited cast:
Jane Fonda	...	Nora
Edward Fox	...	Krogstad
Trevor Howard	...	Dr. Rank
Delphine Seyrig	...	Kristine
David Warner	...	Torvald
Pierre Oudrey	...	Olssen
Anna Wing	...	Anne Marie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Freda Krogh	...	Helmer's Maid

Storyline

Nora Helmer has years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald. Now she is being blackmailed lives in fear of her husband's finding out and of the shame such a revelation would bring to his career. But when the truth comes out, Nora is shocked to learn where she really stands in her husband's esteem.

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Plot Keywords:

women's rights | friendship | friend | doctor | norway | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 1973 (France)

Also Known As:

Nora

Filming Locations:

Røros, Norway

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

World Film Services, Les Films de la Boétie

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edward Fox and Delphine Seyrig would Co-star again directly after "A Doll's House," the next time in "The Day Of the Jackal" (1973).

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Crazy Credits

None of the following members of the crew have job-titles assigned to them in the on-screen credits: David Allen; Frank Batt; David Bishop; Ron Downing; Helle Engelstad; Robert Fennell; Eileen Fletcher; Barbara Gillett; Lasse Glomm; David Goode; Barrie Payne; Tommy Raeburn; Mike Rutter; Laurie Shane; Pat Sims; Stephen Smith; Lasse Soether; David Stephenson; and John Wall.

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Connections

Version of Performance: A Doll's House (1992)

User Reviews

Fine performances but flawed adaptation

"A Doll's House" is a film based on the play by Henrik Ibsen. The story focuses on the lives of Nora and Torvald Helmer and those around them and challenges the norms of marriage in the Victorian era.

This adaptation features a notable cast. Jane Fonda effectively captured the fluttery yet ultimately strong character of Nora. David Warner was appropriate to play the villain role as he often does. Trevor Howard is excellent as Dr. Rank and likewise Edward Fox and Delphine Seyrig were solid as Krogstad and Kristine.

As an adaptation of a great play, though, this film leaves something to be desired. Many unnecessary scenes were added that were not in the play, which led to problems. In added scenes, information is revealed at the start of the film which is not normally learned until later in the play. Ibsen wrote the play in such a way that the history of the characters is ambiguous and slowly revealed. Providing background information on the characters before the main events of the play dampened the element of surprise that adds a lot of interest to the play.

Another problem was that adding scenes or drawing out sequences lowered the tension compared to Ibsen's play, particularly toward the end. Also unfortunate was the fact that they unnecessarily added a handful of extra locations not seen in the play and modified a lot of the dialogue. The original structure and dialogue of the play is already perfect, so any changes only made this film worse. It would have been nice to see the cast of this film with a script that closely followed Ibsen's original work. Despite these flaws the main ideas of the story were intact and this is a watchable adaptation, but disappointing given its deviations from the original play.