{"id":2360,"date":"2007-02-21T15:10:40","date_gmt":"2007-02-21T22:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2360"},"modified":"2022-12-21T22:49:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T05:49:29","slug":"chapman-report-the-1962","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2360","title":{"rendered":"Chapman Report, The (1962)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Help me &#8212; I don&#8217;t want to be half a woman!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Poster-300x235.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"235\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-31613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Poster-300x235.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Poster-128x100.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Poster-1024x804.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nFour suburban women &#8212; a frigid widow (Jane Fonda), a sexually active divorcee (Claire Bloom), an aspiring sculptress (Glynis Johns), and an adulterous housewife (Shelley Winters) &#8212; find themselves questioning their sexual practices when they participate in a Kinsey-esque survey.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claire Bloom Films<\/li>\n<li>Cloris Leachman Films<\/li>\n<li>Ensemble Cast<\/li>\n<li>George Cukor Films<\/li>\n<li>Glynis Johns Films<\/li>\n<li>Housewives<\/li>\n<li>Jane Fonda Films<\/li>\n<li>Sexuality<\/li>\n<li>Shelley Winters Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nLambasted by most reviewers as &#8220;unforgivably cheap and trashy&#8221;, this star-studded melodrama &#8212; based on a novel by Irving Wallace &#8212; is actually a tame, thinly veiled attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Dr. Kinsey&#8217;s infamous sex reports. Ironically, despite Kinsey&#8217;s valiant attempt to make &#8220;sex&#8221; a household term, the word itself is rarely used in this film; characters instead refer to sex as &#8220;the physical act&#8221;, as when interviewer Efren Zimbalist Jr. says to Fonda&#8217;s character: &#8220;You&#8217;re not the first woman to be afraid &#8212; to find <em>the physical act<\/em> repellent.&#8221; Unfortunately, director George Cukor&#8217;s choice to cover the gamut of possible sexual issues facing &#8220;average&#8221; American women makes it difficult for us to care very much about any one of them. Yet the actresses do their best with the screenplay&#8217;s limited material: young Jane Fonda isn&#8217;t nearly as bad here as most seem to think:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3-1024x606.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"379\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3-1024x606.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3-128x76.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3-768x454.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3-1536x909.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3-456x270.png 456w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda3.png 1709w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Claire Bloom (always the consummate actress) gives a nuanced performance with hints of unrevealed depth:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3-1024x621.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"388\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62094\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3-1024x621.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3-768x466.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3-1536x931.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3-445x270.png 445w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom3.png 1717w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>and Glynis Johns provides welcome comedic relief. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2-1024x606.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"379\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62093\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2-1024x606.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2-128x76.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2-768x454.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2-1536x909.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2-456x270.png 456w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns2.png 1716w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Winters&#8217; performance alone is rather half-hearted, but this seems to be primarily a function of her under-written character. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters-1024x620.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"388\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62087\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters-1024x620.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters-768x465.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters-1536x931.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters-446x270.png 446w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Winters.png 1705w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the film&#8217;s worst scenes are those when the women aren&#8217;t present &#8212; nearly every interaction between the researchers themselves, for instance, comes across as dry and stiffly written. <\/p>\n<p>At first glance, <em>The Chapman Report<\/em> appears to be preaching heavy-handedly against sex surveys in general &#8212; since, rather than remaining a &#8220;neutral&#8221; collection of data, Dr. Chapman&#8217;s work (as predicted by a concerned &#8220;member of society&#8221;) stirs up deeply uncomfortable feelings in each of its leading participants. Yet this moral attitude gradually shifts, once we realize that participating in the interviews simply pushed these women to confront what was buried not-so-deeply inside of themselves all along. By the end &#8212; in typical mid-century fashion &#8212; the ideal of marriage in America prevails, with sex put in its &#8220;rightful&#8221; place as an act of love between man and wife.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jane Fonda&#8217;s unfairly maligned performance as the &#8220;frigid&#8221; widow<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda-1024x618.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda-1024x618.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda-768x463.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda-1536x926.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda-448x270.png 448w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Fonda.png 1703w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Claire Bloom as the sultry, suicidal divorcee<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2-1024x613.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"383\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62090\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2-1024x613.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2-1536x919.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2-451x270.png 451w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Bloom2.png 1713w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Glynis Johns in the film&#8217;s &#8220;comic relief&#8221; role<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns-1024x613.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"383\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-62088\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns-1024x613.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns-1536x920.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns-451x270.png 451w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Chapman-Report-Johns.png 1715w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo. This &#8220;infamously bad&#8221; melodrama now holds curiosity appeal, but is ultimately not must-see viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0055841\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1962\/10\/18\/archives\/screen-chapman-reportadaptation-of-wallace-novel-opens-here.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/69071.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Help me &#8212; I don&#8217;t want to be half a woman!&#8221; Synopsis: Four suburban women &#8212; a frigid widow (Jane Fonda), a sexually active divorcee (Claire Bloom), an aspiring sculptress (Glynis Johns), and an adulterous housewife (Shelley Winters) &#8212; find themselves questioning their sexual practices when they participate in a Kinsey-esque survey. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Claire Bloom Films Cloris Leachman Films Ensemble Cast George Cukor Films Glynis Johns Films Housewives Jane Fonda Films Sexuality Shelley Winters Films Review:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2360\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2360"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88985,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions\/88985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}