Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) thinks
she’s made it to the top of her world.
The youngest president in the history of
the EBS television network, she also has an attentive husband
and two beautiful children. On the surface, Joanna’s
life appears to be, well, perfect… until one catastrophic
day when it all comes crashing down around her. Fired from
her job, her perfect marriage in trouble, unable to remember
where her kids go to school, Joanna is starting to look like
a candidate for electroshock therapy.
Yes, there’s nothing like a nervous
breakdown to make Joanna and her husband Walter (Matthew
Broderick) reexamine their priorities, pack up the family
and make a fresh start in the idyllic suburban paradise of
Stepford, Connecticut.
But something strange is happening in the
quaint little town of Stepford, and Joanna is suspicious.
So is Bobbie Markowitz (Bette Midler), who recently moved
to town with her irascible frat-boyish husband Dave (Jon
Lovitz). And Roger Bannister (Roger Bart), an architect who
came to Stepford hoping to save his rocky relationship with
his conservative partner Jerry (David Marshall Grant), is
wondering what’s going on, too.
It’s the wives. They’re all
like Claire Wellington (Glenn Close) – beautiful, happy
and unusually creative with crafts. They can bake a cake,
paint the house, mow the lawn, play with the kids and still
greet their husbands in lacy lingerie at the end of a busy
day.
Disturbed by the stunning but subservient
women she meets in Stepford, Joanna grows increasingly uneasy.
On the other hand, Walter couldn’t be happier. He’s
especially impressed by the Stepford Men’s Association,
a fortress-like mansion in the center of town.
“ This town, and the houses, and this place – it’s like a dream,” enthuses
Walter. “Like the way life should be.”
Until Joanna Eberhart gets in the way.
Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures
present A Scott Rudin/De Line Pictures Production, A Frank
Oz film starring Nicole Kidman, “The Stepford Wives.” Directed
by Frank Oz from a screenplay by Paul Rudnick, based upon
the book by Ira Levin, the comedy also stars Matthew Broderick,
Bette Midler, Christopher Walken, Faith Hill and Glenn Close.
Produced by Scott Rudin, Donald De Line, Edgar J. Scherick
and Gabriel Grunfeld, the film is executive-produced by Ron
Bozman and Keri Lyn Selig. Rob Hahn, ASC, is the director
of photography. Ann Roth is the film’s costume designer,
Jackson De Govia is the production designer and Jay Rabinowitz,
A.C.E., is the editor.
Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment
operations of Viacom Inc., one of the world’s largest
entertainment and media companies and a leader in the production,
promotion and distribution of entertainment, news, sports
and music.
This film has been rated PG-13 for sexual content, thematic material & language.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
While there is no real town of Stepford in the state of Connecticut, there
are indications that Ira Levin, the novel’s author, was inspired by
the small towns of Fairfield County, beautiful suburban communities with
enormous homes and manicured lawns. To bring this fictional town to life,
director Frank Oz reunited with Rob Hahn, his cinematographer from “The
Score” and “In & Out”; production designer Jackson
De Govia, who worked with him on “The Score” and “Bowfinger”;
and Academy Awardâ-winning costume designer Ann Roth, his collaborator
on “In & Out.”
Production designer De Govia understood
exactly what the filmmakers were looking for – a wealthy
suburb of New York City where people come to relax and to
enjoy their gains, whether ill-gotten or not.
“People in Stepford are living at
the height of stylish luxury and they make no apologies for
their lifestyle,” says De Govia. “No one questions
whether they deserve the opulence. They simply have it and
intend to take full advantage of it.”
To contrast the idyllic Stepford from the “real
world,” director Oz begins the film in New York, concentrating
on stark shots of steel, glass and concrete. “It’s
a little harsh, and we meant it to be that way,” explains
Oz. “That way, when we get to Stepford, everything
looks that much more lovely and soft, including the women.”
Scouting dozens of communities in Connecticut
as well as New Jersey, the filmmakers looked for homes and
neighborhoods that reflected the stylistically idealized
town the script called for.
“The look of Stepford is defined
by new money,” says Oz. “It’s money made
by computer people, electronics people and dot-coms. Their
homes are new and gorgeous and there’s no real history
or texture to this town.”
Paul Rudnick compares Stepford to a Martha
Stewart/Ralph Lauren style of living. “It’s very
centered on a kind of sentimental Norman Rockwell vision
of the world, a lifestyle that, in reality, you couldn’t
achieve without an enormous staff and plenty of servants,” explains
Rudnick. “The ideal for the female side of Stepford
involves a lot of baking, doilies and difficult-to-iron linen
tablecloths. As for the male influence, it’s all mahogany
and suede, a kind of post-college frat house feel.”
Renowned costume designer Ann Roth adds
that the male side is filled with saturated colors and heavy
with pigment, while the female side is enhanced by floral
colors. “Martha Stewart’s colors come from nature
and spring,” explains Roth. “That’s why
you see all these peaches and aquas and greens and yellows
in the homes and why you see all these purples and reds and
mahoganies on the men’s side. It sort of begs the question:
How can a guy like this get a girl like that? And the answer
is they made them – all beautiful, all with high perfect
bust lines, all with 25-inch-or-less waists and all perky
as hell!”
When production commenced at Kaufman Astoria
studios, the company began with the interior scenes in Bobbie
Markowitz’ (Bette Midler) kitchen, a huge, modern layout
combining a kitchen and great room. Set decorator Debra Schutt
established the gilded lifestyle with high-end appliances
and designer furniture, and florist Christopher Bassett played
a pivotal role throughout the shoot, using elaborate and
exotic flowers to further illustrate the luxurious Stepford
home.
“There’s something about the
metaphor of those flowers, perfectly arranged, which is really
powerful,” suggests Bassett. “Flowers are a very
effective way of bringing the outside world in and transforming
a home into a dream house.”
As for the set decoration, Schutt had a
fantastic time creating all the homes, but Bobbie Markowitz’ was
probably one of the most radical.
“Bobbie’s home is transformed
from a rat’s nest of magazines, newspapers, frozen
food containers and dirty clothes to a sumptuous and spotless
home that you might find in the pages of Architectural Digest,” explains
Schutt. “It is something of a metaphor for the Stepford
wives who are transformed into architectural perfection,
as well.”
As the company moved back to the stages
at Kaufman Astoria, the scenes shifted to an old-fashioned
square dance held inside a picturesque barn. Choreographer
Patricia Birch stepped up to the challenge of teaching the
film’s principals and almost one hundred Stepford extras
to square dance.
“Glenn Close, as Stepford’s
ambassador extraordinaire Claire Wellington, was up on stage
calling the dance and everyone was really getting into it,” remembers
Birch. “It was quite a spectacle!”
Also at the Kaufman Studios were two complex
sets: the Hunt Room, an elegant, wood-paneled room that is
home to the infamous Stepford Men’s Association; and
an enormous ballroom in a garden setting that is the site
of Stepford’s glamorous Midsummer’s Dinner Dance.
Roger Bart describes the Hunt Room by quoting
from some of his character’s dialogue, “It’s
as if Ralph Lauren meets Sherlock Holmes at a kegger,” laughs
Bart. “The place has miles of corduroy and Corinthian
leather all whooshed up in a yummy testosterone cocktail.”
As for the magnificent ballroom, production
designer Jackson De Govia describes it as “an imaginary
wing of a nineteenth century mansion and what happens when
you have a lot of money and very, very good taste.”
Enhancing the elegant Midsummer Dinner
Dance were literally thousands of flowers, including exotic
orchids imported from New Zealand, gigantic hydrangeas and
multicolored roses. Classical columns and tables full of
crystal made the scene as chic as the champagne that flowed
throughout.
“The ballroom set, in particular,
is a perfect symbol for the Stepford world,” says De
Govia. “It’s also a very good paradigm for the
wives themselves. They’re beautiful, they smell good,
they taste good and they’re expensive. But they’re
plants.”
The ballroom sequences brought choreographer
Pat Birch back to the set once again, this time to teach
the principals how to waltz and to find fifty Stepford couples
who could glide across the floor in ball gowns and tuxes.
One of the dolled-up wives was Bobbie Markowitz, portrayed
to a “T” by “The Divine Ms. M.”
“I really love the ballroom scene
because the first movie I ever saw when I was a child was ‘The
Merry Widow,’ starring Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas,” remembers
Bette Midler. “It made such an impression on me – the
color and the swirling dresses and the music and the beautiful
people. So I told Scott Rudin that I hadn’t seen beautiful
waltzing in a film for forty years and he suggested I see ‘The
Merry Widow’ again. Of course I ran out and got it,
and there it was – even the lighting is similar!”
Midler was not alone in enjoying the ballroom
scenes. “How many times do you get to see a group of
actors of this caliber together in one room?” asks
Paul Rudnick. “Chris Walken, Matthew Broderick, Faith
Hill, Glenn Close, Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler… I’d
go see these people if they were in a car commercial.”
In addition to being an opportunity for
Walken to demonstrate his enviable prowess on the dance floor,
the Midsummer’s Dinner Dance is also the occasion for
the Stepford wives to dress up in all their finery. Glamorous
ball gowns, upswept hair, and even tiaras were de rigueur
for the town’s biggest party of the year, and therefore,
one of the movie’s biggest sequences.
Going all out in her costume design for
the event in the film that defines the decadence and the
unworldliness of Stepford, Ann Roth dressed Nicole Kidman
in a gossamer gown that gives her character Joanna a Barbie
doll and Cinderella look rolled into one.
“I wanted Joanna to be ethereal and
not quite earthbound,” says Roth. “The ivory
color of her dress is meant to blend in with her skin, making
her that much more unreal looking.”
For Kidman, the costume designs were pure
genius. “We were very lucky to have Ann Roth on this
film because she’s very bold in her vision,” says
the actress. “She takes her designs right to the edge,
and as far as I’m concerned, I’d do every film
with her!”
As for the colorful pants and wild tuxedo
jackets on the men, Roth says she was inspired by Lily Pulitzer
fabrics and madras plaids that you might see at a country
club party, and in the end, the best word for the whole scene
was simply extravagant. In fact, from the magnificent set
decorations to the fanciful costumes to the elegant choreography,
the scene embodied the community and ideals of Stepford.
The Stepford homes were key to defining
the idyllic community as well, and various locations in Connecticut
turned out to be, well, perfect. A super-sized home in Darien
that was on the real estate market became the interior for
the Herb and Sarah Sunderson (Matt Malloy and Faith Hill)
house, while a multi-million dollar home in the exclusive
community of New Canaan served as Joanna and Walter’s
(Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick) new Stepford abode.
Later, New Canaan’s beautiful Town Hall, built in 1909,
served as the backdrop for the big political rally scene,
complete with thousands of balloons and lots of stylish Stepford
fanfare.
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in
Norwalk, Connecticut became the center of all Stepford wives
activity. The museum, which had housed the Stepford Men’s
Organization in the original 1975 film, was the only former
location site revisited by the current production.
Built in the 1860s by financier LeGrand
Lockwood, the 62-room mansion is one of the finest Second
Empire-style country houses surviving today and was one of
the grandest houses in the country during the seventeenth
century. It was said to have cost $1,500,000 to build, but
sold for a mere $90,000 when Lockwood died three years after
moving in. The city of Norwalk bought the home in 1941 and
it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.
As part of the arrangement to close the
museum and film inside, the production team agreed to do
extensive renovation work on the 140-year old building.
“ For several months prior to the actual shoot, our art department worked
diligently to restore and renovate the home’s opulent entry and rotunda,” remembers
production designer Jackson De Govia. “After carefully researching the
original building, artists and craftsmen repaired the wood floors, filled cracks,
stained the woodwork on a magnificent stairway and painted the walls with colors
appropriate to the time. They even painted replicas of enormous Hudson River
School paintings, which had once hung in the home, so what you see in the film
is a pretty good take on the original structure.”
De Govia also supervised the design and
construction of Joanna and Walter’s lavish house. Built
at the Hudson River Stages in Yonkers, New York, the enormous
3500 sq. ft. interior was constructed on the same stage that
a month before had been dressed as a full-size supermarket,
and later became the site of a top secret laboratory run
by the Men’s Association.
When principal photography ended, a new phase of the production began involving
visual effects supervisors Scott Souter and Frank Petzold. Together, with their
team, they conceived and coordinated the special effects that illustrate the
Stepford wives.
Souter, who works for Tippett Studio in Berkeley, California, a company regarded
as one of the world’s leading character animation and visual effects
houses, met with director Frank Oz and his production team to brainstorm about
ways to heighten the film’s comedic elements through imaginative visuals.
“The visual humor and timing had
to be very precise,” explains Souter. “There
was no room for error. Fortunately, Frank was wonderful about
getting us where we want to be. He’s a great judge
of what’s funny.”
Faith Hill, who portrays Stepford wife
Sarah Sunderson, received a crash course in visual effects
technology from the Tippett team.
“During the Stepford square dance,
Sarah short-circuits and begins spinning,” explains
Souter. “Faith helped us create the effect by working
in front of a green screen and it came out perfect.”
In another sequence, Sarah descends the
stairs of her home at the same time that Roger Bannister
(Roger Bart) picks up a remote control with her name on it.
“He’s taking inventory of Sarah’s
functions by pushing various buttons,” says Souter. “To
achieve what we were looking for, we extracted Faith Hill
against the green screen to add certain robotic effects that
correspond to each button press, and once again, her functions
and malfunctions were perfect.”
Among the team’s favorite assignments
was the creation of Rover, a robotic dog that greets Joanna
and Walter when they first arrive in Stepford.
“Rover is a terrier-like dog based
on a design by Jackson De Govia that was very graphic, simplistic
and elegant all at the same time,” says Souter. “The
dog needed to be special because he is very important to
the plot in that he becomes Joanna’s ally, alerting
her to the fact that plans are in the works for her to become
a robot, too.”
Both Souter and Petzold agree that working
on “The Stepford Wives” was a challenge, but
a lot of fun. “This has been a great project because
comedy is so different when it comes to creating special
effects,” suggests Souter. “Scary monsters and
aliens are one thing, but being funny is a whole other game.”
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