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Your Learning Zone - Diary of a Mad Housewife
![Diary of a Mad Housewife]()
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Our Price: $149.99
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Manufacturer: Goodtimes Home Video
Starring: Richard Benjamin, Frank Langella, Carrie Snodgress, Lorraine Cullen, Frannie Michel
Directed By: Frank Perry
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 0025192660481
Format: NTSC
Label: Goodtimes Home Video
Manufacturer: Goodtimes Home Video
Publisher: Goodtimes Home Video
Studio: Goodtimes Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1970-08-10
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!
Comment: I just love the sound of Carrie's voice! OK Where is the DVD???? I agree with all the previous comments.Just an adorable film. AND Alice Cooper plays at a party!! Now where is the audio of that scene?
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Read the Book, never saw the entire movie
Comment: I have an old copy of this book (it was my 70 y.o. mother's). I have read it numerous times, and enjoyed it. I love how the book depicts life in Manhattan (I am a native NYer). They never show this movie on cable (I look for it). I saw part of it once on late nite t.v. years ago. I would like to see the entire film, I was a small child when it came out, so I did not get to see it in the theatre. Hopefully they will put it out on a DVD version soon.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Man Needs A Maid--A Cook, Nanny and Trophy Wife
Comment: There aren't all that many false notes in the film DIARY OF A MAD HOUSE WIFE, but the ones that do occur are telling. When an egocentric, extemely misogynistic young writer insults a woman at a party (not the main character, although he insults HER plenty too), she responds, "I'm going to report you to Women's Lib." Now, I won't say that nobody EVER used such an insipid line back then. In fact, if it were intended as a mildly sassy bit of teasing repartee (i.e. had it been laced with a trace of irony), it might have passed as a kinda-sorta witty comeback (at least in some circles). But the actress whose line it is gives it a whiny, petulant reading that makes it just plain silly. It comes off as a particularly dumb and desperate attempt at social relevance. The screenwriting and directing duo of Eleanor and Frank Perry were not always known for their subtlety, but in this case, the heavyhanded nod to an emerging social movment seems particularly unnecessary. This movie embodied feminist concerns more successfully than any other film of its immediate era and would have even if the "feminism" or "women's lib" were never mentioned.
In fact, there will be those who will find the film's unforgiving portrayals of its male characters to be similarly over-the-top, but as a previous reviewer perceptively noted, the film is one Mad Housewife's "Diary" and it therefore, by definition, subjective. The fact that Richard Benjamin and Frank Langella are able to give some human dimension to their otherwise monstrous characters is a saving grace. Had they been played strictly as written, the film (and its audience) would have suffered for it.
Viewed more than 35 years after its breakthrough release, the film seems particularly prescient. It addressed Yuppie materialism and shallowness before the term even existed. There may have been college-aged viewers at the time of the film's 1970 release who might have thought the film was beating a dead horse, that the acquisative and careerist Jonathan Balsers of the world were a dying breed anyway and that "come the revolution" their ilk would be long gone. Little did they realize that by the 1980s they themselves would be outdoing their older brothers and sisters in terms of blind ambition and downright greed.
At the film's close, Jonathan and Tina Balser reflect on their early Kennedy era idealism and wonder just what went wrong. Their more radically inclined Viet Nam era siblings were likely wondering the same thing by the mid-80s. In fact, a double bill consisting of HOUSEWIFE and, say, WALL STREET might make for an interesting evening's entertainment.
There was certainly some irony in the fact that the film's much lauded star, Carrie Snodgress, was never able to successfully follow up on this her breaktrhough role. What happened is subject to some dispute, but by her own admission, she pretty much opted out of a bigtime Hollywood career of her own accord, took up with Neil Young (willingly becoming the "maid" that man needed--at least for a time), and pretty much dropped out. She came back as a character actress in films and on TV, but once commented that the studios weren't willing to bank on her in a lead role after her return from voluntary exile, since by then she was considered too much of a flake. Hmmm, that would seem to be exactly the same kind of condescension the men in Tina Balser's life showed toward her.
If the fictional Tina Balser was punished for not being a good little wife, it seems the real-life Carrie Snodgress had to pay a price for not being a good little Hollywood actress.
Plus ca change.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "You're thawing....and you're just beginning to vibrate..."
Comment: "Diary of a Mad Housewife" seems, on its surface, to be a character study of stereotypes. Richard Benjamin completely over the top as social climbing, acquisitive lawyer Jonathan Balser, who mercilessly criticizes and belittles his wife. Carrie Snodgress totally passive and reactive as the put-upon, poor little harrassed housewife Tina (albeit in a REALLY spectacular apartment). Frank Langella a cardboard cutout of a sadistic misogynist. And yet....and yet. Thanks to the exquisite talents of the three leads, this film rises above the character-development limits of its script to become a fascinating study of its era (just barely pre-feminist) and of the anatomy of an extramarital affair. Richard Benjamin IS over the top as Jonathan, but since the story is told from Tina's diary entries and from her viewpoint as his desperately unhappy wife, she would naturally portray him as almost a caricature, his faults magnified to an epic degree. Viewed from that perspective, his performance is funny, sad, pathetic, and outstanding. One of his earliest scenes, in which he methodically recites to his wife what she is to pack for his business trip, specifying brand names, colors, and exact amounts, is beautifully done and shows Jonathan at his most jaw-droppingly irritating. Carrie Snodgress brings dignity and a touch of pathos to Tina, and communicates volumes with those gorgeous, expressive eyes of hers. The changes Tina experiences as the affair progresses are both wonderful and painful to behold because there is so much truth and naturalness in Ms. Snodgress's performance. Ah, and Frank Langella....I was only eight years old when this movie came out and didn't see it until many years later, but I can imagine the impact he must have had on female moviegoers at the time -- somewhat equal to the effect he has on ME every time I watch him! It's easy to call George Prager a classic woman-hating jerk, but like the other two lead characters, that's much too simple. Frank gives the most complex performance of the entire film, and it's an emotional tour de force, thrilling to watch. From George's very first appearance at a loud cocktail party where he treats Tina to several nasty criticisms of her appearance, to his first moment of seduction when they meet again weeks later (the quote in this review's title - a truly wonderful line, perfectly delivered in that hushed, velvet voiced way in which Frank Langella has no equal), to the gentle, almost-tenderness of Tina and George's first encounter, to their final, harrowing scene, he dominates the screen with effortless and confident sensuality. There is a moment, just after the first encounter, where George tells Tina that she'll be like all those other females who think that "sex -- particularly great sex -- has to be love." Tina replies, "I could never love you...ever," and a look crosses his face for a split second that wholly captures the complicated essence of George. Blink and you'll miss it, but it's a marvelous piece of acting by Frank. George is an arrogant, self-absorbed, ambitious, sadistic pig, but he's way more than that. He's also full of self-loathing (surprising at first, but his final scene reveals why), longing (for love and connection, even as he relentlessly drives it away), fear (also revealed in his final scene), and anger (hints at a bad childhood, more fully revealed in the book). It's a tribute to Frank Langella's talent that he developed George to this extent in view of the script's limits. "Diary of a Mad Housewife" is quite of its era on the surface, especially evident in the subplot which culminates in the painfully funny fiasco of the cocktail and cigarette-drenched "omelette party". But the characters, and the wonderfully talented actors who potray them, are timeless, and because of this, it's a marvelous film that transcends its time to become a classic, and one that deserves a wide audience. Highly recommended!
Customer Rating:
Summary: It deserves a Criterion treatment!
Comment: I have just finished watching this movie on tv and immediately wanted to purchase its dvd, however, there was none released! How can not this movie be on dvd while there are too many awful films with special edition dvds? It does deserves a 2 disc remastered criterion treatment! It is a shame it is only available on VHS....I really enjoyed watching this film and higly recommend it to anyone who is interested in films off the mainstream
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