kapelusznik18
****SPOILERS*** In studying the lives of middle to upper class suburban women in L.A. for prominent psychologist Dr. George C. Chapman, Andrew Duggan, his horny assistant Paul Redford, Efrem Zimbelist Jr, got romantically involved with one his subjects the pretty but cool, as an iceberg, to sex Kathleen Barclay, Jane Fonda,that really screwed things up for the serious, in his work, Dr. Chapman. It was the other three subjects in Dr. Chapman's study that resulted into him re-examining his study that most women don't cheat on their husbands. The fact that Kethleen's husband Boy-not the Boy in the Tarzan movies-,John Baer, who was more interested in flying then in getting his rocks off or having sex with her was killed in a crash while flaying a fighter plane that broke up in mid-air which was a major reason her becoming celibate.There's divorcée Naomi Shields, Claire Bloom,who after making it with the water-boy, Chad Everett, delivering Poland Spring Water later hooked up with band leader Wash Dillon,Corey Allen, who in fact was married with children. After she was told by Redford to straighten out her life she got fully involved with Dillon's band of beatniks in a midnight jam and sex session and ended up being gang raped by the band members after getting her drunk on whiskey and vodka and everything else in between. Hurt & humiliated by what happened to her Naomi ended up killing herself with an overdose of sleeping pills before the booze, that helped kill her, wore off. Another victim of Dr. Chapman's meddling in people's lives was actress Tereas Harnish, Gynis Jones, who being being interviewed by one of his aids ended up getting involved with beach boy Ed Karski, Ty Hardin, who while playing touch football on the beach-stripped down to his skimpy shorts-remained her of a Greek God she saw at a local art museum. Eddie who in Teresa encouraging him to have sex with her responded by him man not woman handled her so brutally that she ended up losing all interest in sex with him or any one else. And the last of Dr. Chapman's victims middle-age Sarah Garnell, Shelly Winters, who was cheating behind her husband Frank's, Harold F. Stone, back with her acting coach Fred Linden, Ray Danton, who was also married but estranged from his wife. In that by her getting mixed signals by him in how much in love he was with her ended up leaving Frank and planning to shack up with Danton at a swingers commune. Only to later-in less the an hour-come back crawling on her hands & knees begging Frank for forgiveness and for him to take her back! That's when she found out that lover-boy Linden was planning to drop her for a much younger chick, one of his students, and check out together with her to Mexico City!Not as shocking as it was back in 1962 before the sexual revolution came into full swing and made the actions of those on the screen look like child's play in comparison.In fact the only good results out of this meaningless study by Dr. Chapman was that both Paul Redford and Kathleen Braclay the only two who seemed to be normal ended up getting married and hopefully staying together; Which is more then any of the other persons who were subjected to what turned out to be the very flawed Chapman Report, in reporting that as much as 97% of married couples in the USA didn't cheat on their spouse's, that ended up ruing their marriages and relationships as well as their very lives.
CitizenCaine
George Cukor (Golden Globe nomination) was known as a women's director in the 1930's and 1940's, so it's no small wonder he turns up here directing The Chapman Report (Golden Globe nomination as best picture). However, the hallmarks of Cukor's films were signature framing, which is apparent throughout the film, and strong female characterizations. The strong female characters are what's missing in this adaptation of Irving Wallace's book, which was influenced by the Kinsey Report at the time. Sex researchers Andrew Duggan and Efrem Zimbalist Jr come to suburban America's backyard to speak about sex at a women's club, setting four stories of different (meaning 1962 clichés) women in motion.Shelley Winters plays Sarah Garnell, married to Frank played by Howard J. Stone (Golden Globe nomination). Winters is currently involved in an affair with Ray Danton, a theater director when the film opens. Winters has little to do but play the duped woman who eventually crawls back to her husband once Danton dumps her. Jane Fonda is the frigid Kathleen Barclay taken advantage of in a 1962 way by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Zimbalist's Paul Radford is so far over the line of discretion; someone should have pulled him back by his suit coat. Then again, back then nobody knew what the line was. The Winters and Fonda segments are barely watchable. Glynis Johns (Golden Globe nomination) plays Teresa Harnish happily married to John Dehner's Geoffrey. Johns begins to question just how happily when she eyeballs a group of young men playing football on the beach. Johns takes a liking to Ed Krasky, played by the overly virile Ty Hardin, and she gets more than she bargained for when she convinces Krasky to pose for her while she sketches. The Johns segment comes off the best. Claire Bloom is Naomi Shields, an alcoholic nymphomaniac who can't control her desires as she encounters Chad Everett playing a water delivery boy and Corey Allen as Wash Dillon, an irresponsible musician of questionable upbringing. Bloom is always good and does what she can in her brief scenes. Aside from the expected clichés of the period, the film suffices as superficial, high-gloss, soapy entertainment. The film is quite long at over two hours, but I guess that gives it time to convince us that Zimbalist Jr. is on the up and up; we even get to see him meeting Fonda's father. It is a bit funny though when he lectures Fonda about leaving the role of "Daddy's girl" when he himself is old enough to be her father as well. Viewers should look fast for Richard Mulligan (of Soap fame) as one of the jazz musicians, Grady Sutton in a bit part, a young Cloris Leachman as Miss Selby, and the dour Henry Daniell as Dr. Jonas. **1/2 of 4 stars.
theeht
almost as good as Janes other 62 release, A walk on the wild side, chapman Report is what passed as an adult film in 1962. Janes storyline is as flat as her acting, and Shelleys is only fair. This is definitely the British Mssrs Bloom and Johns film. Glynis' comic take with Ty Hardin is very hilarious, while the stunningly beautiful, superbly talented Bloom rises above the material, giving an Oscar worthy memorable performance as a nymphomaniac.If you can get this on DVD, and fast forward through Jane's sequences, except for the flashback scene("I'm not! I'm not!) you will have a great picture, with equal amounts of laughter and tears.
dinky-4
This movie largely consists of four stories about four women involved in a sex survey. The stories involving Shelley Winters, Claire Bloom, and Jane Fonda aren't worth mentioning, but the episode with Glynis Johns works because it's played for comedy. Glynis is an aspiring sculptor who persuades a hunky football player to pose for her. Ty Hardin appears as the "jock" and while there's talk of him posing in the nude, nothing, alas comes of this. (Though he gets to appear bare-chested for long stretches of film and, boy, what a chest!) Glynis makes her scatterbrained character fresh and appealing and Ty shows a flair for light comedy that should have been explored in his later career.