Theme Song: “Lay Down and Die, Goodbye” by Alice Cooper is featured in a party scene that features the actual Alice Cooper Band on stage.
Interesting Dated References: Early-1970s satire culture.
Best Line: The incessant whining of Richard Benjamin (Catch-22, The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker, Westworld) as nagging husband Jonathan is extremely dated, but has moments of humor.
Social Context: Frank Perry and his wife Eleanor adapted a book by Sue Kaufman and turned it into Oscar-bait, which rode the wave of leftover ‘60s feminism. Unfortunately age has not been kind to this one, as the overly ham-fisted nature of the dialogue now comes off as slapstick nonsense. That said, a great cast delivers some nice performances.
Summary: Carrie Snodgress (The Fury) stars as Tina, a put-upon housewife who is slowly being emotionally dismantled by her ungrateful family.
In particular, her husband, Benjamin, delivers nonstop verbal assaults and criticisms quickly veering into the absurd. To escape the assault at home, Tina has a brief affair with George, played by Frank Langella (Masters of the Universe).
But because there’s a heavy anti-male vibe going on throughout the film, George is shown to be equally as shallow as Tina’s husband. Her solution? Get group counselling and return to family life.
I theorize that after directing The Swimmer, Frank Perry was salty about its poor reception and decided to do something a little more pandering and less abstract. This was first a play and was also filmed with a different cast as a teleplay. Perry’s direction is a bit clunky and at times it feels like he had trouble deciding on the tone (see Benjamin’s over-the-top performance).
Worth Mentioning:
– Snodgress was nominated for an Academy Award for this film.
– This is the film that inspired Neil Young to write “A Man Needs A Maid,” which resulted in Snodgress’ departure from acting for a few years because she fell in love and raised a child with him.
– Peter Boyle appears briefly as a member of the group therapy session.
– There’s a detailed list of the difference between the TV-edited version and theatrical release found here.
– Yes, Carrie Snodgress shows her boobs, if that’s all you care about.
Poster and Box Art: The MCA videocassette artwork is terrible.
The theatrical poster is nice and of the time, especially since Snodgress is billed third.
This alternate poster is very nice, as well.
Availability: Like many of Perry’s great films, Diary of a Mad Housewife has been ignored for reissue. With The Swimmer finally getting remastered and released on Blu-ray in 2014, and David and Lisa in 2015, this and Last Summer may not be far behind. Used VHS is your safest bet for now.