The Stepford Wives/Trivia


 * Ability Over Appearance: The wives in the original screenplay were written to be dressed provocatively - presumably this counted for Carol too. Nanette Newman was thought to not have the right look to match this idea. However her "I'll just die if I don't get this recipe" scene is one of the more iconic parts of the film.
 * Creator Backlash: Levin and screenwriter William Goldman were upset that instead of the sexy women of the novel, they were replaced by homemakers (see Real Life Writes the Plot below). Goldman raged, "If you're going to fuck a toaster, it'd better be a sexy toaster."
 * Old Shame: Frank Oz, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick and producer Scott Rudin take this view regarding the remake.
 * The Other Marty: Joanna Cassidy was cast as Bobbie and shot a few scenes before being fired and replaced with Paula Prentiss.
 * Reality Subtext: Joanna's anxiety at having to was genuine - as Katherine Ross and Paula Prentiss had become good friends.
 * Real Life Relative: For the 1975 film, Mary Stuart Masterson and her father Peter play father and daughter Walter and Kim Eberhart.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: The original vision of the first movie had the Wives all dressed like "Playboy Bunnies sans ears and tail". Then director Bryan Forbes cast his actress wife Nanette Newman as one of the Wives, and whatever talents as a thespian she possessed, her physique wasn't remotely up to it, and so all the Wives ended up in long flowing dresses that made them look like '50s housewives. This may have been for the better, as one of the book's key themes was how the women were unwillingly pressed into domestic servitude and forced to give up their ambitions, and the housewife outfits highlight that much better than the skimpier outfits originally planned would have.
 * The remake goes both ways with this, giving the robot wives short, form-fitting sun dresses that highlight their figures.