Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
February 2, 2025 7:27 PM - Subscribe
Tina Balser (Carrie Snodgress) finds herself increasingly frustrated with her inconsiderate social climbing lawyer husband (Richard Benjamin) and rotten kids, seeks solace in the arms of inconsiderate asshole lover (Frank Langella), to little avail in this dark drama/comedy.
Adapted from the 1967 novel Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman. Features cameos by the Alice Cooper band and an uncredited Peter Boyle. Usually available on DVD, but was difficult to find for years and largely neglected. Thankfully, there are a couple good copies of the theatrical cut uploaded on youtube by private individuals for free streaming. There was a TV edit with the boobies and cussing cut out, which apparently had footage that wasn't included in the theatrical cut, that's also floating around.
Adapted from the 1967 novel Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman. Features cameos by the Alice Cooper band and an uncredited Peter Boyle. Usually available on DVD, but was difficult to find for years and largely neglected. Thankfully, there are a couple good copies of the theatrical cut uploaded on youtube by private individuals for free streaming. There was a TV edit with the boobies and cussing cut out, which apparently had footage that wasn't included in the theatrical cut, that's also floating around.
I took a peek at this, mostly curious about the appearance of Alice Cooper; I think that this was shot probably when they still had the reputation of being the worst band in Los Angeles, before producer Bob Ezrin cleaned up their act and made them superstars. I might take a crack at the film itself if I have time. From your description, it sounds like an examination of the so-called sexual revolution of the sixties and how a lot of dudes exploited women as a result of that.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:45 AM on February 4
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:45 AM on February 4
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Tina Balser has made some regrettable, though what would be plainly commendable, decisions in her life. As a result, her picture perfect well-educated homemaker life, lawyer husband, two kids, great Manhattan apartment, are also perfectly horrifying. She's quite the trooper, though, and it's amazing how much of the derision dumped on her seems to roll off her back.
Snodgress plays the part wonderfully, a doormat with aplomb and grace. It makes one wonder how Tina's held out for so long. Her husky voice displays a level of sophistication/breeding that makes me wonder if she was a stepping stone for her amazingly dickheaded husband, Jonathan (Richard Benjamin).
Johnathan needs to be punched in the dick within the first minute on screen. While apparently a success as a lawyer, he has the maturity and expectation of a 7th grade boy, and has no fear of displaying like one.He's hungrily ambitious to be a part of the NY scene, knows enough to know who to woo, but not enough to know he's not ready for prime time. Maybe he get a sense once it all comes crashing down, but his confession comes across like that of a 7th grade boy, too.
George Prager (Frank Langella) is the accomplished writer/womanizer, who seems to hate women as much as he needs their sexual accommodation. Cold, and brutally cruel when he's not actively seducing, (and sometimes when he is), Tina goes along with his hostility far longer than should be expected of anyone, but she does get what she needs for a time. The final straw in the relationship comes as Tina's revelation that she can be as brutally truthful right back, making George for gay. Which may not even be true, but the mere accusation seems to cut to the bone enough that he can't do anything more than lash out. Which marks the end of things, though it had already for Tina.
Langella does his job exceedingly well in this flick. I wonder how much of his character is reflected in the real Langella.
Tina gets no happy resolution. We see in the previous 90 minutes that she's subject to her husband's expectations, derision, and desires, her lover's, and even her children's. She has to live up to what they all demand from her. But as the film closes out, as she's gotten rid of her lover, and seen the collapse of her husbands ambitions, we see she was not only subject to their demands, as worthwhile as they may or may not be, but also that of strangers in her therapy group. For everything and anything, that have nothing to do with Tina, and everything to do with whatever they may decide is their right to demand of her.
Snodgress even got third billing in the movie, behind Richard Benjamin and Frank Langella. I wonder if there was a hidden meaning to this?
Yes, this is a pretty dark comedy.
posted by 2N2222 at 4:15 PM on February 3