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Before they became “Desperate,” the housewife was a staple in TV and movies. Usually she was subservient to her husband (and the plot). Other times she was the smartest and cleverest one in the room. Think Lucy on I Love Lucy, Samantha on Bewitched, or even Roseanne on…um, Roseanne. Currently we have The Hunting Wives (heavy on the lesbianism), the Real Housewives franchise (do any of them do any housework?), and everybody’s favorite, Marge Simpson of The Simpsons. On the big screen we’ve also had The Stepford Wives twice. The original, panned when it was released in 1975, is now considered a cult classic. The 2004 remake starring Nicole Kidman is better forgotten. The 1980 TV movie sequel Revenge of the Stepford Wives with Sharon Gless also tanked. With these domestic dramas in mind, today we’re looking at the plight of the housewife in two very different films.
Housewife is a trifle from 1934 starring George Brent, Ann Dvorak, and Bette Davis. Brent is Bill Reynolds, an ad agency office manager with higher aspirations and a wife named Nan (Dvorak) pushing him to succeed. They also have a young son Buddy (Ronnie Cosby). Bette Davis is Patricia Berkeley, the career woman who comes between them. When we meet the couple, they are struggling with bills, and Bill seems to be too timid when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder.
Nan encourages him to speak up at work, but that results in a dressing down by his belittling boss Sam Blake (Robert Barrat). Blake treats Bill as a big nothing and Bill seems to acquiesce to his assessment. To complicate matters, Blake has just hired Patricia as a copywriter with a big salary and a big office. She was friends with the Reynolds when they were in high school. Patricia also had a crush on Bill back then. Uh oh — you know what’s coming.
The sly (and saintly) Nan has been scrimping and saving and encourages her husband to leave the agency and open his own. Take the chance. Bill agrees but it is rough going, with only one client to show for six months of work. Nan suggests Bill approach his former firm’s big client Paul Duprey (John Halliday) with an idea to increase sales. Bill stalks Duprey and finally convinces him to sign with his agency. This catapults Nan and him into a different income bracket and a new lifestyle.
Bill also convinces Patricia to come work for him. Patricia makes no bones about wanting Bill for herself. In fact, she’s blatant about it in a charming way. Bill, who suddenly has found his voice (and his inner cad), falls easily for Patricia. They even flaunt their affair right in front of Nan (can you say “bad form”?). Duprey also sees what’s going on and has his eyes on Nan. Bill tells Nan he wants a divorce and Nan refuses. He leaves the house in a huff and accidentally hits young Buddy with his car. Buddy recuperates after a time. At the final divorce proceedings Nan testifies in a way that doesn’t completely excoriate Bill and he finally realizes what he is losing.
The film really belongs to Dvorak. She is the anchor that holds it together. Her Nan is smarter than her husband, has great organizational skills, and looks good doing it all. Brent is a walking milquetoast in his role. Once successful, his suits get better and his hair becomes slicker, and that’s about the best thing you can say about his characterization. A blonde Davis is wasted as the other woman, but she looks great and does the best she can with what’s she’s given to work with (meaning Brent). Despite him, she does show some spark. Davis’s description of the film years later is as follows: “Dear God! What a horror!”
In 1970’s Diary of a Mad Housewife, Carrie Snodgress plays Tina Balser, who is unfortunately married to supreme snot Jonathan (Richard Benjamin) and has two young daughters on the same path as their father. They live in an eight-room apartment off Central Park and are seemingly well-off. Jonathan is a successful lawyer and social climber who wants to hobnob and be accepted in the New York celebrity scene, while Tina sees the pretentiousness and absurdness of his goals. He belittles his wife constantly and barks detailed orders at her in a demeaning way. At a party Tina is forced to attend, she meets accomplished writer George (Frank Langella), whose lascivious flirting with her both intrigues and excites her. Jonathan is happy to see his wife engaging with George; for him it’s a notch on their status belt.
Tina runs into George at another party; they flirt and make tentative plans to meet (at one soirée Alice Cooper and his band are the entertainment). When they do meet at George’s apartment, their sexual chemistry is off the charts and they start an affair for sex only, no strings. George is almost sadistic in his treatment of Tina, but she seems to be game. In time, she suspects she’s just another one of George’s conquests. When he tells her they should cool it for a while, her suspicions are confirmed. She confronts him with evidence of another woman and George physically throws her out of his apartment.
Adding insult to injury, the suddenly less pompous Jonathan reveals he has lost most of their money in an unwise investment in a vineyard, is on the verge of losing his job, and has been having an affair. He tells Tina how noble she is and that he wants to rekindle their relationship. She responds she’s just human, with the camera close up on her face, and then we see her at a group therapy session with her fellow attendees yelling at her about her privileged life (one such member is an uncredited Peter Boyle). Apparently, she had been telling her whole story to them, and maybe what we were seeing was her interpretation of the truth.
With her sandpaper voice and appealing awkwardness, plus a surprising directness at times, Snodgress is exceptional. She was rightfully nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for her performance, but lost to Glenda Jackson for Women in Love. Langella gives George a dangerous and highly seductive quality, and this role and his later one in 1979’s Dracula brought him matinee idol status. As Jonathan, Benjamin elevates unlikable to an art form. The film was directed by Frank Perry (1969’s Last Summer), with a screenplay by his wife and frequent collaborator Eleanor based on Sue Kaufman’s novel. Last Summer fans take note: Warner Archive has announced plans to release the dark coming-of-age drama on Blu-ray later this year (look for updates at the Movies Unlimited website).