Film Review - The Stepford Wives dir. Bryan Forbes

As well as reacting to the growth of new feminism in the mid-seventies, the Stepford Wives became a coined phrase for any figure of female domestic perfection. The book by Ira Levin was initially regarded as a satirical work, poking fun at the fact that men were becoming less and less able to control their wives' actions and ambition.

In brief, the plot concerns an upwardly mobile couple, the Eberhearts, with two young children, who move from the bustling sprawl of New York City to the polished suburbia of Stepford. Upon arrival, the couple notice that their near neighbours the Van Sants are somehow different to them. Walter Eberhart reacts to Carol Van Sant's domesticity and Doris Day style with admiration, while his wife Joanna pities her.

After being in Stepford for only a day, Walter is invited to join the Men's Association which he claims is simply a social club where the town's most important men can meet for a brandy and discuss community projects. Before long the new projects committee are meeting in the Eberhart's living room, and Joanna is being unknowingly studied to perfect her "transformation".

Unfortunately, the real suspense and horror of the Stepford Wives is crammed into the last 20 minutes, with the rest of the movie set aside for exposition which can drag appallingly.

The strength of the novel is it's ability to string you along almost from the word go, leaving subtle clues and involving the reader in Joanna's investigation into the real activities of the Men's Association. By the final chapter when Joanna must run for her life from what seems like the whole of the townspeople, we know that the Men's Association have been murdering their wives, dumping their corpses in the reservoir and replacing them with animatronics which are programmed to be the perfect domestic goddesses. By the end of the Stepford Wives movie, we have only a vague idea of the full horror of the situation, and a rather frustrating end sequence which tells us what we already know; that our heroine Joanna has been assimilated, and that a new couple have arrived in Stepford.

The direction (Bryan Forbes) is disappointing, ruining potentially suspenseful moments by using long shots which tell the full story of every scene. The usually sparkling Owen Roizman must have been on a tea break every time important photography decisions were made, as this shows none of the suspense of The Exorcist, or the sharp realism of The Taking Of Pelham 123.

Katherine Ross and Paula Prentiss are effective as the two best friends who are "changed" within days of each other. Peter Masterson however , is unconvincing in the role of Walter, not seeming brave enough to choose his own tie, let alone have his own wife murdered.

This movie holds no great appeal for women, Joanna is portrayed as ultimately helpless, unable to fight off either an old man with a fire iron, or a robot version of herself armed with an organza scarf. Particularly unbelievable is the notion that the gorgeous Katherine Ross would marry a balding bore like Peter Masterson, or that a woman who thought she was about to murdered by a Men's Association would go to their headquarters.

In the current climate of remakes and rehashes, perhaps Hollywood should set it's sights on those pictures which were adequate in their time, but could do with some modernisation. The Stepford Wives is a prime candidate.