The Relaxed Wife (1957) User Reviews

So You Want to Relax

[boblipton · 6/10 · 25 September 2010]

In many ways, this looks like a surrealistic version of one of the Richard Bare-George O'Hanlon 'Joe McDoakes' shorts that flourished in the 1940s and early 1950s at Warner Brothers -- although instead of being from Warner Brothers in Hollywood, it's from 'A Relaxed Organization' in Princeton.

The fact that it seems to be serious about its issues, that it is in color and the neutral-voiced narrator speaks in rhyming couplets renders it a bit pompous and dull, but it does try to take its message lightly, and for a ten-minute short is not too onerous for the viewer. The serious film buff might enjoy the use of modernistic set dressing.

"The trouble is, you've been reading the wrong book."

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 18 May 2014]

At roughly thirteen minutes, this is probably way too long for anyone with attention deficit problems. Someone, somewhere at some time must have thought this was a good idea, and to consider that that someone was from Princeton might have cost the University a fair share of applicants back in the day. Perhaps if they had gotten an actor who wasn't so disturbingly awful with his mugging and facial expressions, the effort might have had more impact. The whole idea was to introduce the viewer to relaxation techniques to help take the edge off a stressful day of work and outside events one has no control over. OK, fair enough, but the way they went about it here was stress inducing in itself. Not to mention that separate beds in the Fifties didn't help one overcome those other frustrations, if you know what I mean. Well that's about it, not much more to say, other than I'm out of here in search of a little ataraxia.

Watch it for the history, not the entertainment value

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 8 December 2018]

This short is basically one of the first pharmaceutical commercials - a long one. In it there is the narrative of the tense husband plagued by insomnia and his "relaxed wife" who tries to teach him how to let go of his mental and emotional nervousness so he can sleep. She has good basic information - relaxation exercises, a warm drink, a hot bath, basically a summing up of "let the day's own troubles be sufficient". In other words, don't worry about what hasn't happened yet.

What is buried among all of the practical natural information is a statement that some people STILL can't relax using these techniques and so doctors have started prescribing "ataraxic" medicine to such people so that they can relax and thus think. It is amusing to view such an infomercial 60 years after the fact since people now know that such medicines are very addictive. At the time this was made these drugs were considered a great step forward in medicine!

Plus, have you ever seen people so overdressed for bedtime? The husband is trying to sleep in his robe and the wife's robe was actually what I thought was a rather fancy dress, complete with the poodle skirt of the time. Worth it for the history of it all, not for what it was intended to be in 1957.

Filled with sumptuous sets, great acting and subtlety.....NOT!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 2 February 2011]

This is an amazingly cheesy public service short from the folks in Princeton and its purpose is to educate us about stress and tension--its effects and how to alleviate its effects. It does so in the best way a budget of $32.89 can manage! Despite the color film stock, it's obvious that the entire film was made with a bare-bones production. The acting is pretty bad--particularly the husband who acts with not even a trace of subtlety. He's supposed to be comic relief, but comes off more like a jerk in a local talent show who thinks he's hilarious. As for the loving wife, she is mechanical but semi-competent. The narration is pretty dull also--much like an extended 1960s No-Doze commercial. As for the sets and props, it is the sort of thing you'd expect from an 8mm film made by the local PTA.

So is it worth seeing? Well, despite being 100% cheese, there is a certain kitschy charm that might make you laugh and I could imagine watching it with friends--very, very, very patient and bizarre friends.

Lame Educational Short

[Michael_Elliott · 1 May 2011]

Relaxed Wife, The (1957)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Ultra low-budget "educational" film about a husband who comes home to a noisy house and nothing puts his mind to rest. He's constantly worried about one thing or another so finally his lovely wife makes him get into bed and she reads him a book about stress. These type of educational films were clearly made with good intentions but I often wonder if the people making them realized how silly they were and that no one, except for a complete idiot, would take them serious and follow the advice being given. This one here has a really silly plot because the husband is such an idiot that you can't help but not take him or anything else serious. I'm going to guess he's meant to be some sort of comic relief but his eye-rolling and awful facial gestures just make you want to punch him and nothing else. The film has a few funny bits including one early on when the husband is trying to relax in his chair but the site of his pink pants were just too much. The amazing thing is that this short was made by the fine folks at Princeton and I can't help but think this thing is a part of their history that they'd like to forget.

Mother's Little Helper?

[baritonevoiceguy · 2/10 · 25 April 2020]

Interesting to note that this anti-stress "educational" short from the late 1950s was funded by Pfizer. Are they pushing diazepam (Valium)? Just wondering . . . Yes, the production is cheap and the acting is atrocious, but consider the time when it was made.

Anti stress training in the 50s

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 14 December 2018]

"The Relaxed Wife" is an American 13.5-minute live action short film from 1957, so this one is already over 60 years old and I am kinda baffled by the amount of writers working on this one apparently. So many for such a short film. Anyway, this is a color film which made it a slightly better watch and should not be taken for granted for non-animation in the 50s. It is a two-person piece basically. We have the husband come home from work being totally stressed and with the help of his wife and himself he tries to find ways to find piece again. But the wife's drink is not really helping and the mosquito next to his head all the time is a nuisance as well. So maybe a good book can help? Only if it does not bring shadow boxers knocking our main character to the ground. Oh well, I think it was an okay watch most of the time, but at the end it gets just a bit too much off-topic and honestly this is not a film you should appreciate for really giving you advice on how to avoid stress, even if some of it is true and could actually work, but really go see it for the comedy aspect and the over-top-ness of it all that was intended and therefore should be appreciated as it is not just weird, but sometimes funny. I thought the male lead actor did a decent job, shame there are no credits here, the wife was pretty forgettable in my opinion. Overall, still it was too forgettable for my liking and not good enough a watch to let me recommend to others checking this one out. Go see something else instead.

The 3-Stooges Get a 4th

[dougdoepke · 17 August 2017]

I was relaxed when I started watching. But ten minutes later, I was ready to throttle Mr. Rubberface and his wife Mrs. Knowitall. Oh sure, the producers made the results goofy so that they could talk about a serious subject—stress. But someone should have cautioned about the pitfall of turning misery into a comedy-short. Looks like somebody got carried away. Anyway, I guess I'm just not ready to lie on the floor, as the short advises, while the wife reads a splatter book on wife killers. But then this mess was sponsored by a division of Pfizer, (IMDB Trivia). So I guess you could say they've got an investment in stress, whatever the source. At least I now know how to pronounce the scary word "ataraxia", and that Pfizer made a fix-it pill called "Atarax". So I guess not all commercials are useless, even one like this. Now where the heck did I leave my joint!