Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

The story of psychologist William Moulton Marston, and his polyamorous relationship with his wife and their mistress who would inspire his creation of the superheroine, Wonder Woman.

Director:

Angela Robinson

Writer:

Angela Robinson

Stars:

Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote

8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Evans	...	William Moulton Marston
Rebecca Hall	...	Elizabeth Marston
Bella Heathcote	...	Olive Byrne
Connie Britton	...	Josette Frank
Monica Giordano	...	Mary
JJ Feild	...	Charles Guyette
Chris Conroy	...	Brant Gregory
Oliver Platt	...	M.C. Gaines
Maggie Castle	...	Dorothy Roubicek
Alexa Havins	...	Molly Stewart
Sharon Kubo	...	Kate
Allie Gallerani	...	Sara
Christopher Jon Gombos	...	Fred Stewart (as Chris Gombos)
Forry Buckingham	...	Doctor
Stacy Fischer	...	Linda

Storyline

Details the unconventional life of Dr. William Marston, the Harvard psychologist and inventor who helped invent the modern lie detector test and created Wonder Woman in 1941. Marston was in a polyamorous relationship with his wife Elizabeth, a psychologist and inventor in her own right, and Olive Byrne, a former student who became an academic. This relationship was key to the creation of Wonder Woman, as Elizabeth and Olive's feminist ideals were ingrained in the character from her creation. Marston died of skin cancer in 1947, but Elizabeth and Olive remained a couple and raised their and Marston's children together. The film is said to focus on how Marston dealt with the controversy surrounding Wonder Woman's creation.

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Plot Keywords:

comic book writer | taboo | wonder woman | sadomasochism | college professor | 

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Taglines:

Meet the women behind the man behind the woman.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

R for strong sexual content including brief graphic images, and language.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

El profesor Marston y la Mujer Maravilla

Filming Locations:

Lowell, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$736,883, 15 October 2017, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$1,584,759, 20 November 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Opposite Field Pictures, Boxspring Entertainment, Stage 6 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though promoted as "the true story" of William Moulton Marston, Elizabeth Marston and Olive Byrne, most of this film is speculative as the Marstons never accounted their intimate life. At the 2017 New York Comic Con, Angela Robinson was asked by Travis Langley, a friend of the Marston family, and said that she "talked to a source who said that that was her interpretation, who had studied them, chose to tell the story as my interpretation of the story, and I think that there's a lot of facts that are indisputable about the Marstons and I feel that there's a lot that's open to interpretation. So as a filmmaker, this was my interpretation of their story."

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Goofs

A major scene early in the movie takes place in a Radcliffe College sorority. Radcliffe, which was later absorbed into Harvard University, never had sororities. Harvard has had fraternities. Theodore Roosevelt, for one, was in a fraternity at Harvard. Also, in, e.g., The Social Network, they discuss a Jewish fraternity at Harvard.

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Quotes

William Moulton Marston: We did it! The link to the lie-detector test was there the whole time. It doesn't matter what you say or what you think. Your body will always betray you. Your heart pumps a record of the truth.

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Crazy Credits

Photos of real-life William Marston, his wife Elizabeth, and Olive Byrne are shown at the end of the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

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Soundtracks

Feeling Good
Written by Anthony Newley & Leslie Bricusse
Performed by Nina Simone
Courtesy of The Verve Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

The got me in the seats because of Wonder Woman, but I stayed because it was a unique movie about love.

I had a feeling that the title was propaganda to get me into the seats. After all, Wonder Woman was one of 2017's best pictures, so I figure the title of this movie (as well as the well done poster) was a way to get butts into the seats. Not that I want my money back, cause it was an excellent movie. It was lots of fun and it made me chuckle a lot of times, but if your here because you want to learn more about Wonder Woman, the movie is not designed like that specifically.

What I knew about William Marston before was that he created Wonder Woman (right!), the same guy who created Wonder Woman created the lie detector test (But the movie does point out how much his wife contributed to this) and that the original Wonder Woman comics was filled with images of bonding and S&M (Which according to the movie visualized Marston's theories on human behavior) . What I did not know is that this guy was in a three way relationship with his wife and one of his students. This part of the movie seems to take center stage above anything else.

Once again ,I'm not complaining, cause it made for one of the most interesting love stories I've ever seen. Not really into romance movies, and you can make an argument that it's not, but what stands out for me in this film is a story about three people trying to be in a loving relationship with one another in a world that's still not really ready for what is going on here. So, it was a romance film done differently, under a mask of  the drama and the biography( How very Superhero-like of them).

http://cinemagardens.com/?p=1732