Plot
Three women in Florida have husbands serving in Vietnam who are reported missing in action.
Mary Kay Beull (played by Kathleen Nolan) has four children, the eldest of whom treats her with increasing hostility as she develops a friendship with Phil Garrett, a school teacher. Sharon Dornbeck (played by Katherine Justice) is married to a pilot in the Air Force and has received a telegram reporting that he has been killed. Sandy Lawton (played by Kate Jackson) was wed just two weeks before her lieutenant husband went off to Vietnam.
The three women travel to Paris together to attend a Vietnam peace conference. To their shock, a film is shown there depicting the atrocities committed by American soldiers against Vietnamese civilians. A horrified Mary Kay becomes an anti-war advocate, even testifying before a committee in Washington, D.C.
Mary Kay and Sharon's husbands are ultimately confirmed to be dead. Sandy's, however, is released in a weakened condition from a prisoner-of-war camp and she eagerly awaits his return home.
Lucy Kate Jackson is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series Charlie's Angels (1976–1979) and Amanda King in the series Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–1987). Her film roles include Making Love (1982) and Loverboy (1989). She is a three-time Emmy Award nominee and four-time Golden Globe Award nominee.
Richard Arnold Roundtree was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft and four of its sequels, Shaft's Big Score! (1972), Shaft in Africa (1973), its 2000 sequel and its 2019 sequel, as well as the eponymous television series (1973–1974). He was also known for his features in several TV series, including Roots, Generations, and Desperate Housewives.
Mary Fickett was an American actress with roles in the American television dramas The Nurses, The Edge of Night as Sally Smith (1961) and Dr. Katherine Lovell (1967–68), and as Ruth Parker Brent Martin #1 on All My Children.
The Exterminator is a 1980 American vigilante action film written and directed by James Glickenhaus. It stars Robert Ginty as Vietnam War veteran John Eastland, also known as "The Exterminator". When a group of thugs paralyze his friend, Eastland becomes a vigilante, embarking on a mission to cleanse New York of organized crime. The film also stars Samantha Eggar, Christopher George and Steve James. It has gained a cult following since its release.
The Stepford Wives is a 1975 American satirical psychological thriller film directed by Bryan Forbes. It was written by William Goldman, who based his screenplay on Ira Levin's 1972 novel of the same name. The film stars Katharine Ross as a woman who relocates with her husband and children from New York City to the Connecticut community of Stepford, where she comes to find that the women live unwaveringly subservient lives to their husbands.
Jeanette Nolan was an American actress. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she had roles in the television series The Virginian (1962–1971) and Dirty Sally (1974), and in films such as Macbeth (1948).
Joan Micklin Silver was an American director of films and plays. Born in Omaha, Silver moved to New York City in 1967 where she began writing and directing films. She is best known for Hester Street (1975), her first feature, and Crossing Delancey (1988).
Katherine Justice is an American actress with many television guest star roles in the 1960s on through the 1980s and a few major film roles.
Pierre Lynn de Lappe, also known as Peter Brown, was an American actor. He portrayed Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop in the 1958 to 1962 ABC-Warner Brothers western television series Lawman and Texas Ranger Chad Cooper on NBC's Laredo from 1965 to 1967.
The Midnight Hour is a 1985 American made-for-television comedy horror film directed by Jack Bender and starring Shari Belafonte-Harper, LeVar Burton, Peter DeLuise, and Dedee Pfeiffer. Its plot focuses on a small New England town that becomes overrun with zombies, witches, vampires, and all the other demons of hell after a group of teenagers unlocks a centuries-old curse on Halloween.
The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, commonly known as the National League of POW/MIA Families or the League, is an American 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization that is concerned with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. According to the group's web site, its sole purpose is "to obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving our nation during the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia." The League's most prominent symbol is its famous flag.
Kathleen Nolan is an American actress and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. From 1957 to 1962, she played Kate McCoy, a housewife, on the television series The Real McCoys.
The Stepford Children is a 1987 American made-for-television horror science fiction thriller film inspired by the Ira Levin novel The Stepford Wives. It was directed by Alan J. Levi with a screenplay by Bill Bleich and starring Barbara Eden, Don Murray, Tammy Lauren, Randall Batinkoff and Pat Corley. It is the second in a series of sequels inspired by the 1972 novel and the original 1975 film The Stepford Wives.
Revenge of the Stepford Wives is a 1980 American made-for-television science-fiction thriller film inspired by the Ira Levin novel The Stepford Wives. It was directed by Robert Fuest with a screenplay by David Wiltse and starring Sharon Gless, Julie Kavner, Don Johnson, Arthur Hill, and Audra Lindley. It is the first in a series of sequels inspired by the 1972 novel and the original 1975 film The Stepford Wives.
Mary Katherine Linaker was an American actress and screenwriter who appeared in many B movies during the 1930s and 1940s, most notably Kitty Foyle (1940) starring Ginger Rogers. Linaker used her married name, Kate Phillips, as a screenwriter, notably for the cult movie hit The Blob (1958). She is credited with coining the name "The Blob" for the movie, which was originally titled "The Molten Meteor".
Sleepers West is a 1941 American mystery drama film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Lloyd Nolan, Lynn Bari and Mary Beth Hughes.
Miss World USA 1977 was the 16th edition of the Miss World USA pageant, held in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The title was won by Cindy Darlene Miller of Virginia. She was crowned by outgoing titleholder, Kimberly Marre Foley of Michigan. Miller went on to represent the United States at the Miss World 1977 Pageant in London later that year. She finished as 4th runner-up at Miss World.
The Women's Home Internationals were an amateur team golf championship for women contested between the four Home Nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, where Ireland was represented by the whole island of Ireland on an All-Ireland basis. After the Ladies' Golf Union, the former governing body for women's golf in Great Britain and Ireland, merged into The R&A in 2016, The R&A took over organisation of the event. The match was played annually and the venue cycled between the four nations. In 2022 the match was replaced by a combined Women's and Men's Home Internationals.
The League of Wives of American Vietnam Prisoners of War was an organization founded in 1967 initially intended for sharing information and support among the wives of POW and MIA soldiers during the Vietnam War. The league was founded by Sybil Stockdale, the wife of detained American soldier James (Jim) Stockdale. Although its initial aim of the league was to provide support for its members, the league's wives were inspired to take action to ensure the safe return of POW and MIA Americans in Vietnam after being left discontented by the US military when it could not effectively provide families with the statuses or conditions of their relatives. The letters sent and meetings held by the league with military officials throughout the latter half of the Vietnam War attracted some animosity and significant media attention.
