May 19th    
The Stepford Wives*    

(US 1974)                    

An aspiring photographer moves from New York with her family to the mysteriously serene town of Stepford, where all the other glamorous women are being replaced by submissive robot duplicates.
Unsettling in a vintage 1970s paranoia style, much akin to a feminist variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but deadeningly slow to get going with characters not sharply enough drawn, despite some intermittently strong performances. Interestingly, Forbes takes a detached male perspective on both the men and the women of Stepford. A comedy remake 30 years later only served to make the original look better than it was.

Written by: William Goldman (and Bryan Forbes), from the novel by Ira Levin.
Producer: Edgar J. Sherick.
Director: Bryan Forbes.
Starring: Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Patrick O'Neal, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman, Tina Louise, William Prince, Carol Rossen.
Photography: Owen Roizman.
Music: Michael Small.

+ Mary Stuart Masterson and Emma Forbes play young children of their real life parents (Peter Masterson and Nanette Newman respectively)