Movies - The Stepford Wives

Home > Listing Index > Movies > The Stepford Wives

	Movies - The Stepford Wives

The Stepford Wives is the name of a 1972 novel by Ira Levin as well as two movies of the same name based upon the novel released in 1975, with a remake of the film released in June 2004. Edgar J. Scherick produced the 1975 Release (as well as all the sequels) and was posthumously credited as Producer in the 2004 remake.

Plot

The premise involves a group of men from the fictional town of Stepford, Connecticut who all seem to have eager-to-please, overly submissive, impossibly beautiful wives. Joanna Eberhart, the main character, arrives in Stepford from New York City with her husband and children, eager to start a new life. As time goes on, she becomes increasingly puzzled by the zombie-like Stepford wives, especially when she begins to see her once independent-minded friends turn into mindless, docile housewives overnight.

By the end of the story, Joanna becomes convinced the wives of Stepford are actually look-alike gynoids created by an elite group of men. The book ends before she can find the truth, leaving only one "normal" woman left.

Movie adaptations

In 1975 the book was adapted into a feminist-era science fiction thriller directed by Bryan Forbes with a screenplay by William Goldman and starring Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson and Tina Louise. The film also marked the screen debut of brat pack actress Mary Stuart Masterson. The script emphasis is on gender conflict, and the science fiction elements are never adequately explained, existing only to create the premise. Goldman's treatment of the book differed from that of Forbes with the robots closer to an idealized 'Playboy bunny'. Diane Keaton was first choice for the central role.

There was a made-for-TV sequel in 1980 entitled Revenge of the Stepford Wives. It was critically panned for poor acting and shallow writing. In this film, instead of being androids, the wives take pills that keep them hypnotized.

Yet another made-for-TV sequel was released in 1987 called The Stepford Children, wherein it was the children of the residents that were replaced by drones.

There was another 1996 TV sequel called "The Stepford Husbands."

An updated version of The Stepford Wives
was released in North America on June 11, 2004, featuring a replaced gay partner as well as the traditional wives. This film, directed by Frank Oz with a screenplay by Paul Rudnick, stars Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Faith Hill, Glenn Close and Jon Lovitz.

The 2004 remake has a large plot hole which occurs when Walter destroys the Stepford Program implanted in the wives (and Roger)'s brains. This resets them, showing it was just an implanted chip that controlled the otherwise normal people. However, the film previously shows one of the wives dispensing money from her mouth, as an ATM. Also, Bobbie's character's hair color changes after her chip is implanted, only to change back after deactivation. Another flaw is Nicole Kidman's character viewing an android version of herself, yet the men of the town never notice it is unused (also it is unneeded, as they are just chips in the head; a spare body is unnecessary).

Both the 1975 and 2004 versions of the movie were filmed in Darien, Connecticut and New Canaan, Connecticut.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Stepford Wives ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article The Stepford Wives; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay