Sinister suburbia
Joanna (Katharine Ross) is a housewife and aspiring photographer who moves from Manhattan to the Stepford suburb.
Columbia Pictures
When Bobbie also suddenly transforms, Joanna discovers that her best friend has been replaced by a robot—along with all the other wives—and realizes the sinister forces at work in Stepford are coming for her next. And her loving husband, Walter, is a willing part of the conspiracy.
The men prevent Joanna from fleeing by taking her children to lure her to the Men’s Association headquarters, where she encounters her own dead-eyed robotic doppelgänger. Robo-Joanna advances holding a pair of nylons to strangle the horrified real Joanna. Cut to black. The final scene shows Robo-Joanna shopping at the supermarket with all the other Stepford Wives. We even see a black couple, new to Stepford, arguing in one of the aisles, hinting that there will soon be another addition to their ranks.
Reviews were mixed upon the film’s release. It’s certainly not without its flaws, particularly when viewed through a 21st century lens; this is very much a period piece, complete with those ubiquitous 1970s station wagons with wood paneling. At one point, Joanna insists she’s only dabbled in scary feminism and wouldn’t partake in a “Maidenform bonfire” or anything, but gosh darn it, these Stepford wives are just so weird—a cringe-inducing reminder of just how far we’ve come as a culture.
Some of those flaws no doubt stemmed from the fact that director Bryan Forbes and screenwriter William Goldman famously clashed over Forbes’ unwelcome rewrites and decision to cast his own wife as Carol. Forbes also chose the prairie-style dresses and frilly aprons the Robo-Wives wore, a stark contrast to the more provocative Playboy Bunny aesthetic Goldman called for in his original script. Goldman particularly disliked the film’s revised ending, featuring Diz chasing Joanna through dimly lit hallways on a stormy night. Even Katharine Ross disliked the ending because she thought Joanna should have fought much harder against her eventual fate.
Joanna and Bobbie are dismayed at the sudden transformation of their friend Charmaine (Tina Louise)
Columbia Pictures
Yet somehow the film still mostly works. There are some fine satirical moments, and Joanna and Bobbie are both likable and sympathetic characters, particularly Bobbie’s sardonic humor (“I don’t wanna squeeze the goddamned Charmin!”). The pacing is admittedly slow but it’s atmospheric and effectively builds suspense. And while the film is hardly a deep character study, there are scattered nuances. For instance, while Walter is ultimately a villain, we do get to see fleeting moments of genuine love for Joanna and a moral struggle with what will be required of him to truly belong in Stepford (i.e., murdering his wife). There’s even a bittersweet moment where Joanna briefly encounters her first love from college, both clearly regretting their subsequent life choices.
