The Stepford Wives
The first adaptation of the novel1, made shortly after its publication. We’ve already seen2 the later film, now it’s time for the original.
This is a much more faithful adaptation of the book than its later counterpart, but while the Nicole Kidman one is far too jolly, this one might be accused of missing a bit of the black humour in the novel - it’s a tad po-faced.
The performances are much more grounded though and the relationship between Katharine Ross and Paula Prentiss is fun to watch develop. The direction is pretty solid and the film has that lovely zoom-shot cool 70s vibe. It’s very much shot from the female perspective, which the 2004 version weirdly was not.
A solid enough adaptation that stays very true to its source material, while perhaps not quite capturing the full weirdness of it.