The Stepford Wives (1975)

Joanna Eberhart has come to the quaint little town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.

Director:

Bryan Forbes

Writers:

Ira Levin (novel), William Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Katharine Ross	...	Joanna Eberhart
Paula Prentiss	...	Bobbie Markowe
Peter Masterson	...	Walter Eberhart
Nanette Newman	...	Carol Van Sant
Tina Louise	...	Charmaine Wimpiris
Carol Eve Rossen	...	Dr. Fancher (as Carol Rossen)
William Prince	...	Ike Mazzard
Carole Mallory	...	Kit Sunderson
Toni Reid	...	Marie Axhelm
Judith Baldwin	...	Patricia Cornell
Barbara Rucker	...	Mary Ann Stravros
George Coe	...	Claude Axhelm
Franklin Cover	...	Ed Wimpiris
Robert Fields	...	Raymond Chandler
Michael Higgins	...	Frank Cornell

Storyline

The Stepford Wives is about a small suburb where the women happily go about their housework - cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking gourmet meals - to please their husbands. Unfortunately, Bobbie and Joanna discover that the village's wives have been replaced with robots, and Joanna's husband wants in on the action.

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Plot Keywords:

robot | female protagonist | women's liberation | social commentary | feminism | 

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Taglines:

Something strange is happening in the town of Stepford.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joanna Cassidy was cast in the role of Bobbie by producer Edgar J. Scherick, and actually shot a few scenes, but was abruptly fired and replaced by Paula Prentiss, who had recently given birth to her first child.

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Goofs

When Joanna discovers her "replacement," the "replacement" Joanna has significantly larger breasts than the "original" Joanna, and the camera dwells on her chest to emphasize this fact. In the subsequent supermarket scene, the "replacement" Joanna is back to having small breasts.

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Quotes

Bobbie Markowe: [after being stabbed] Joanna! How could you do a thing like that? How could you do a thing like that? How could you do a thing like that? When I was just going to give you coffee. When I was just going to give you coffee! When I was just going to give you coffee! I thought we were friends! I thought we were friends! I was just going to give you coffee! I was just going to give you coffee! I thought we were friends... I thought we were friends... I thought we were friends. How could you *do* a ...

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Connections

Referenced in Big Time Rush: Bel Air Rush (2012)

User Reviews

Mysterious and intriguing flick in which a family moves to supposedly idyllic Conneticut town where find weird and suspicious people

Classy adaptation from Ira Levin's best seller with script by prestigious William Goldman and stars beauty Katharina Ross . This very thrilling and suspense story from the author of Rosemary's Baby deals with the charming Joanna (Katharine Ross) along with her hubby Walker (Peter Masterson) and children tired of the rat race move from bustling Manhattan towards the quaint little town of Stepford (Conneticut) , a really modern and upper class location . She doesn't like the bizarre neighborhood with attractive and perfect but unintelligent housewives . She gets suspects and is concerned when many wives spend their lives in domestic slavery , as they seem to delight in moronic conversation and are strangely content and subservient to their hubbies . Joanna early befriends a pair good friends (Paula Prentiss , Tina Louise) . Meanwhile , her husband joins the mysterious Stepford Men's club (run by a powerful Patrick O'Neal and married another too perfect wife ) which takes place in an old Manor house . Joanna soon discovers there lies a dark truth about the strange and servitude behavior in the all female residents and the sinister secrets hidden in the Stepford town . As the truth about the wives is more terrifying and shocking that their lives . ¨Something strange is happening in the town of Stepford. Where the men spend their nights doing something secret . And every woman acts like every man's dream of the "perfect" wife. Where a young woman watches the dream become a nightmare. And sees the nightmare engulf her best friend. And realizes that any moment, any second - her turn is coming¨.

This enjoyable film is a sci-fi/thriller with a twsted plot , intriguing and suspenseful elements and a little bit of drama . Being almost a classic film , faithfully based on an Ira Levin novel , retelling several creepy and eerie events when a newcomer woman arriving in Stepford decides to investigate the rare happenings occurring in the rare , sleepy little town . A nice and original idea given light touch with a neat twist at the final . Although , it's a shame that first hour or so of this film is so slow , resulting to be in some moments briefly dull . The casting is frankly well as the fine trio of protagonists : Katharine Ross , Peter Masterson and Paula Prentiss , all of them giving terrific performances . As well as an excellent support cast , such as : Nanette Newman , Patrick O'Neal , William Prince , Carol Rossen, George Coe , Dee Wallace Stone , Michael Higgins , Josef Sommer and seven-year-old Mary Stuart Masterson, who is daughter of the starring , in her first film role . Special mention for atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Owen Roitzman who photographed The Exorcist . As well as moving and thrilling musical score by Michael Small . This is the classic rendition , this is the old version well directed by expert filmmaker Brian Forbes resulting in a splendid chiller and considered to be very superior to remake ¨The Stepford wives¨ 2004 that was preferably an amiable comedy regularly directed by Frank Oz with Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick , Bette Midler and John Lovitz ; this latter being heavily re-edited and re-written following test screenings , with new scenes shot and others deleted . This¨Stepford wives¨ 1975 was followed three inferior sequels : ¨Revenge Stepford wives ¨, ¨Stepford children¨, ¨Stepford husbands¨ . The picture will appeal to thriller fans . Rating : Notable 7/10 . Better than average.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Stepford Wives

Filming Locations:

325 West End Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$8,720,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palomar Pictures International, Fadsin Cinema Associates

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 100 min (DVD) 110 min (2001 DVD release)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (TVC)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1