Katharine Ross | Scott's Film Reviews-1,425 + Reviews posted so far!!!

The Stepford Wives-1975

Director Bryan Forbes

Starring Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss

Scott’s Review #1,395

Reviewed September 4, 2023

Grade: A

The Stepford Wives (1975) is a film that has deservedly achieved cult status over the years and its title became iconic in meaning.

Everyone knows what a ‘Stepford wife’ is and what it depicts. Usually, a tall, leggy, brainless rich white woman from Connecticut is a sufficient enough image.

The film is a personal treasure to me since I am a resident of said state. The fact that ‘Stepford’ sounds like ‘Stamford’ where I live is uncanny and ironic. The film was shot in various areas of Connecticut so it’s fun to see the towns, grocery stores, and houses in the mid-1970s.

It also resonates quite well with my husband who lived in Manhattan for many years and then transplanted to nearby Connecticut just like the main characters do.

Besides my fondness, it’s a damned good thriller. It paces nicely and takes its time getting to the stunning conclusion.

The film was written by William Goldman (All the Presidents Men-1976), who based his screenplay on Ira Levin’s 1972 novel of the same name. Levin also wrote Rosemary’s Baby which was turned into a 1968 film.

The Stepford Wives and Rosemary’s Baby would make an outstanding double feature.

Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross) moves to the quiet town of Stepford, Connecticut, with her husband Walter (Peter Masterson) and children. The town seems idyllic and maybe just a little too perfect for her tastes.

Along with best friend and fellow Stepford resident Bobby (Paula Prentiss), the women notice that the other housewives are not quite ‘normal’. They obsess over housework and are willingly subservient to their husbands.

Joanna and Bobby are determined to solve the mystery especially when they realize there used to be a large women’s liberation group in Stepford.

In a lesser film, the final product could dive headfirst into campy horror. A tepid remake made in 2004 and starring Nicole Kidman did. But the original version stays the course and provides thrills and psychological facets.

The audience knows pretty soon that the men have a secret club that women are not permitted to attend. Named the Men’s Association, a major clue surfaces when Walter invites the men over to his house and they secretly look Joanna up and down.

What we don’t know is the how. Joanna, Bobby, and another neighbor Charmaine Wimperis (brilliantly played by Tina Louise) are the only ‘normal’ wives. Realizing which one of them is the next intended victim is part of the fun.

The women’s portraits are drawn by one of the men and we learn that the previous women have ‘turned’ after going away on a romantic weekend with their husbands.

What’s inside the creepy mansion that holds the Men’s Association meetings? Will Joanna sneak inside? What will happen next?

Delicious sequences occur that reveal that housewives are robots. After a minor fender bender in the local shopping center parking lot, Carol (Nanette Newman) begins acting strangely at an outdoor cocktail party. She repeatedly frets and repeats the same line over and over again.

Her husband blames her odd behavior on alcohol but the audience knows better.

Unforgettable is the stellar grocery store finale when the women are dressed to the nines and robotically shuffle through the aisles. They absent-mindedly take items off the shelves and place them into their carts while acknowledging each other with a pleasant ‘Hello, Charmaine”, or “Hello, Carol”.

My favorite scene is close to the finale between Bobby and Joanna. Horrified at Bobby’s transition to an uptight, well-dressed housewife obsessed with a clean kitchen, Joanna impulsively plunges a butcher knife into Bobby’s midsection.

With no bloodshed proving Bobby is a robot, Bobby calmly scolds Joanna by saying over and over again, “Now why would you do a thing like that?”

The scene is creepy, startling, and powerful given the close relationship between the women.

These scenes and others make The Stepford Wives (1975) part of pop culture and a reason I can watch the film several times over.

Featuring a cast of good actors led by Ross who successfully provides Joanna with both likability and sensibility the film is never over the top or ridiculous.

The Graduate-1967

Director Mike Nichols

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft

Top 100 Films #48

Scott’s Review #335

Reviewed January 9, 2016

Grade: A

The Graduate is an immeasurable success and highly influential comedy from 1967- a time when films were gaining creative freedoms and pushing the envelope in new, edgy ideas and risqué subject matters.

Almost scandalous at the time of release, the film holds up exceptionally well after all these years and remains fresh and cutting edge.

It is slick, sophisticated, and quite funny, though peppered with dark humor.

Thanks to Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, the film works and is among my favorites of all time.

Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock, a nervous, insecure recent college graduate, who returns home to sunny California unsure of what his future will hold.

His overbearing parents throw a lavish celebration at their home where Benjamin is flocked by well-wishers, most of whom have a materialistic edge to them. His parents live in a very affluent community where wealth and items are of great importance.

All Benjamin wants to do is be by himself. At the party, Benjamin is pursued by the much older and glamorous Mrs. Robinson (Bancroft), who lives nearby and asks Benjamin for a ride home.

Her attempted seduction of him kicks off the meat of the film and how their relationship progresses, especially when Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross), enters the picture and steals Benjamin’s heart.

Director Mike Nichols successfully sets the right tone for the film and we see the style and the sophistication of wealthy California in the 1960s.

Fashion, style, and glamour are prevalent, but they go against what Benjamin and Elaine, stand for.

The film is also an exploration of generations. Benjamin’s parents and all of their friends are into material things cars, houses, and parties.

The triangle between Benjamin, Mrs. Robinson, and Elaine is the heart of the film. At first, we find ourselves rooting for Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson. There is a sweet nature to their romance. She is the aggressor- mature, in control, and confident whereas Benjamin is insecure and shy, yet enamored with Mrs. Robinson.

Their awkward exchange in the hotel bar and their liaison in the hotel room are fantastic scenes.

Slowly, once Elaine emerges, Mrs. Robinson becomes manipulative, more of a villain-type character, as the youngster’s love blooms and we begin to root for their happiness.

A fantastic aspect of The Graduate is its musical soundtrack- completely done by Simon and Garfunkel, a major musical duo of the late 1960s. From the opening chords of ‘The Sound of Silence’, to the appropriate ‘Mrs. Robinson’, music adds much life and energy to the film and was successful at attracting young viewers at the time.

The featured soundtrack was highly influential to other films released after The Graduate.

Still fresh today, The Graduate (1967) launched the very successful career of Dustin Hoffman and emerged as an inspirational film that, controversial in its day, seems tame now, but the writing is as crisp as it ever was.

A film to watch over and over again.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win– Best Picture, Best Director-Mike Nichols (won), Best Actor-Dustin Hoffman, Best Actress-Anne Bancroft, Best Supporting Actress-Katharine Ross, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Cinematography