For a film that's supposed to lift the lid on female promiscuity, The Chapman Report is surprisingly narrow-minded. A thinly-veiled Kinsey Report follows researchers as they interview suburban women about their sex lives, focusing on four in particular: Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda, Glynis Johns, and Claire Bloom.
Shelley is a married woman cheating on her husband with the young, handsome Ray Danton. But it's clear the film thinks she's behaving badly and should atone for the pain she's caused her family. Jane is a beautiful, young widow who's afraid to admit she never enjoyed sex. Instead of taking an accepting tone (because there other things in life), or writing a series of escapades to allow her exploration with different types of men, the film takes the stance that only true love (and another marriage) will provide an enjoyable bedroom experience. Glynis is already happily married and has a great sex life, but with all the probing questions, she fears she's missing out on an adventure. This segment is the comic relief, making fun of her attempts at infidelity and never taking seriously the option of leaving her husband. Claire is the resident nymphomaniac, and while it is interesting to see her struggle with herself when random guys show up at her door, it's clearly bad behavior. She's just "the fallen woman" and her "continued falls" are clearly shown as a cautionary tale, rather than an option of how women can be as free as men.
I'm not touting free love or feminism; I'm just commenting on the dichotomy of the film's professed and actual message. The demise of the Hays Code promised loose morals without consequence, but The Chapman Report seemed to continually preach on the wages of sin. If you do want to rent it, though, you'll get to see a soapy, scandalous movie from the 1960s. Jane Fonda looks beautiful (of course) and Shelley Winters has a very effective emotional interview. And you'll never hear "Oh, for Heaven's sake!" the same way again, thanks to Glynis Johns.
Shelley is a married woman cheating on her husband with the young, handsome Ray Danton. But it's clear the film thinks she's behaving badly and should atone for the pain she's caused her family. Jane is a beautiful, young widow who's afraid to admit she never enjoyed sex. Instead of taking an accepting tone (because there other things in life), or writing a series of escapades to allow her exploration with different types of men, the film takes the stance that only true love (and another marriage) will provide an enjoyable bedroom experience. Glynis is already happily married and has a great sex life, but with all the probing questions, she fears she's missing out on an adventure. This segment is the comic relief, making fun of her attempts at infidelity and never taking seriously the option of leaving her husband. Claire is the resident nymphomaniac, and while it is interesting to see her struggle with herself when random guys show up at her door, it's clearly bad behavior. She's just "the fallen woman" and her "continued falls" are clearly shown as a cautionary tale, rather than an option of how women can be as free as men.
I'm not touting free love or feminism; I'm just commenting on the dichotomy of the film's professed and actual message. The demise of the Hays Code promised loose morals without consequence, but The Chapman Report seemed to continually preach on the wages of sin. If you do want to rent it, though, you'll get to see a soapy, scandalous movie from the 1960s. Jane Fonda looks beautiful (of course) and Shelley Winters has a very effective emotional interview. And you'll never hear "Oh, for Heaven's sake!" the same way again, thanks to Glynis Johns.