MovieChat Forums > The Stepford Wives (1975) Discussion > The Ending....

The Ending....

posted 9 years ago by oprlvr33
5 replies | jump to latest

WTF...

No closing interlude or tableau?
We never discover what the piggish chauvinistic husbands did with their human wives...
Were they murdered? Drugged and imprisoned in a cellar? Sent away somewhere?

We are sorely left with an awful dangling participle; even for an iconic 70s TV movie. Too many loose ends. While indeed I realize this was the exuberant post-sexual revolution 60s... overall, its quality almost equates to that of Parts: The Clonus Horror - minus the overt sexism. I wished I could have been 'freaked out' by the suddenly 'robotic' behavior of the effervescent 'changed' wives. However, we were given almost nothing to freak out about. This thing either fell to bad editing or just poor storytelling.

And thank goodness stereotype male chauvinism did not exist in all parts of the world, nor in all male minds then. And I feel that Ross' character Joanna should have been portrayed as a more liberal, stronger or tougher woman, than this post-60s non-sexualized 'housewife'. At least Bobbie was spunky and strong... until she suddenly turned up robotic, like the other wives. The original ending I heard, was that Joanna is suddenly surrounded by all of the men at the league building, and then the screen fades as we hear a woman scream.

Peanutlee33

[–] Daazza1 9 years ago

WTF...

No closing interlude or tableau?
We never discover what the piggish chauvinistic husbands did with their human wives...
Were they murdered? Drugged and imprisoned in a cellar? Sent away somewhere?

Are you kidding? How obvious do you need it to be? It's absolutely clear in the penultimate scene that Joanna's own robot is going to murder her by strangling her with a pair of stockings (or a stocking, at least).
Also, that buzzing sound we hear as the robot approaches is reminiscent of the sort of sound we experience when our adrenalin is pumping and the blood is pumping in our ears, and it just abruptly stops as the screen goes black leaving us in no doubt that the real Joanna has been snuffed out. I think it's safe to assume, therefore, that all the women are murdered by their robot counterparts.

[–] oprlvr33 9 years ago

Sorry...but the version I watched obviously is not the same video or DVD release you may have in collection. I got stuck with a YouTube copy release...a tad fuzzy in the corners, and the audio/music choppy at times etc. Instead of a real, director's cut, which doesn't seem to be available [already tried Netflix. Was unavailable]

The whole ending obviously got cut or what, because the YouTube ended with Joanna walking around that place...to a black out, and the a slight credits roll. Disappointing.

Peanutlee33

[–] Daazza1 9 years ago

Sorry...but the version I watched obviously is not the same video or DVD release you may have in collection. I got stuck with a YouTube copy release...a tad fuzzy in the corners, and the audio/music choppy at times etc. Instead of a real, director's cut, which doesn't seem to be available [already tried Netflix. Was unavailable]

The whole ending obviously got cut or what, because the YouTube ended with Joanna walking around that place...to a black out, and the a slight credits roll. Disappointing.

I bought it on VHS around 15 years ago, and I will upgrade to DVD eventually. Obviously I would encourage anyone who enjoys the film to buy a copy, but in the meantime you can see the end here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyGyBf3Ji7w

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

This is a classic and worth buying on DVD. When we canceled cable I knew I had to stock up on my favorite movies. This was one of my first buys. This is a must see every Halloween for me.

I admit I watch some favorites onYouTube. Thankfully I haven't run into any cut off at the end like you did. I'd suggest like a comments to see if it is a good version to watch but I did that once and there were spoilers in the comments.