Joan Crawford as housewife from hell, "Harriet Craig!" 1950

Available on Tubi...

Fun movie, I kept hoping Joan would haul off & slap the old, biddy housekeeper.

Remake of Craig's Wife, no?

An awesome film with great performances and a subject matter that was ahead of the time.

JC made some great films in the 1950s

Harriet Craig, a devoted wife and accomplished homemaker deliberately and willfully sabotages her husbands career.

Her face and head say evil woman

It was indeed deadly serious, I wanted Joan to hurry up and get these people out of her house since you could see the ending from Mars. But I appreciated the earnestness.

Chrystal Herne...the *first* Harriet Craig

[quote]Remake of Craig's Wife, no?

Yes, r3.

Here's a copy of "Harriet Craig" from YouTube.

Played in the 1947 revival by Judith (Miss Lonely-Hearts/The Tingler/Martha Mason) Evelyn.

One of my favorite Joan vehicles. Needs a Blu-ray release along with Autumn Leaves

I actually really like the film of "Craig's Wife" with Rosalind Russell. It's much more plausible (and chilling) than "Harriet Craig," which is only really plausible as camp.

Pauline Kael thought "Ordinary People" was a kind of remake of both films.

[quote]Pauline Kael thought "Ordinary People" was a kind of remake of both films.

Hah! I was about to mention that in my post. Kael said the ending was so false, Beth would NEVER leave that house.

No one else before or since has worn that bizarre hairdo.

Wrong, r15.

Anyone here seen Female on the Beach? My ex liked it.

That same 'do did wonders for Bob's Big Boy!

Thanks for posting about this movie. I just watched it for the first time. What a movie! They don't make them like this anymore.

One of several really cool older films produced by Jerry Wald. Some of Joan’s most masterful bitchcraft was captured by these Wald productions. And the technology of the era is precise enough to capture the images well, so watching them is like using a Time Machine to see the style and mannerisms of that post war era.

The number of films produced by Wild is impressive. He died at only 50.

Crawford’s highly stylized “mannered” acting of this era is all pretty delicious. All “gowns and frowns” and “frank insincerity”. She renders most of the other actors basically invisible.

Gowns and frowns sums it up perfectly! "Harriet Craig" is like a time capsule of another way of life, a style of acting, etc. Though this "Harriet" was reshaped into a star vehicle for Crawford, I think the supporting cast is terrific, too. Ellen Corby as poor Lottie! Wendell Corey's genial husband, Walter. And Lucile Watson, as the boss' wife who has Harriet's number. Also love the showdown between the husband's beloved housekeeper and Mrs. Craig!

Haven't seen it in years but remember the ending falling flat.

We, the audience, are supposed to pity Harriet for driving everyone away and being alone but to thst character, that ending is pure bliss. Everyone out that damn house always causing a ruckus and such.

Wald also gave us The Best Of Everything and Joan’s character, Amanda Farrow, has it all going on except for maybe horns and a tail. I wish there was an archive of her scenes that didn’t make it into the film’s final edit.

Later, in the late 60’s, Joan still dominates the screen with as much control as she could manage. They used key lights and triangular shadows, “dairy whip” hairpieces to add height, giant chunky necklaces to camouflage her neck and frame that face and “yard wide smile” (quoted because I think I read that phrase in Movieline’s column Bad Movies We Love”).

Michael Weldon’s awesome volume, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, acknowledges Joan for “managing to out yell the other actors” in films like Berserk. Great stuff.

Not knowing Joan Crawford personally, this role didn't seem to be a stretch for her, at all. She sure had a great screen presence. Yes it was campy and fun to see what would happen next. That husband was a saint, of a sort. I thought the ending was great, nicely understated.

Thanks for the thread, OP! Love this later JC vehicle - the scene on the train where she schools her protege on how to train men is just classic Joan. Also love Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton) as the terrified maid.

Ellen Corby was a really interesting character actress. She was cast as the chirpy killer in Caged, another Jerry Wald production. These older films are full of cool characters, often females with a strong presence, portrayed by actresses like our Joan, Agnes Moorhead, and others like them. Hope Emerson was another example. Physically and psychologically “giant”.

I thought I'd seen this but would've sworn Fredric March played the husband.

R24 definitely. Wendell Corey played that character with all this warmth and sincerity, and he was so earnest as a presence on camera. His scenes are generally very touching. Watching his character being fed to Joan’s is like an early documentary on the Everglades. Joan was like an alligator, but with perfect styling and lighting.

Do we know Walter Craig's precise profession?

The best thing about the movie is the Haines' bourgeois lux decor. And 2 maids! Sheesh.

The scene where Joan's Harriet near-silently breaks hubby's best pal's ball is genuinely funny, watching Allyn Joslyn react is a hoot!

Intro and Outro to "Harriet Craig" by David Inman for TCM's dull boy, Ben M., whose uncle had a thing with Joan back at Metro!

I've seen this several times, possibly on MoviesTV. It's one of those films, for me, that when I catch it while channel surfing, I can't stop watching.

I love the boss's wife Celia Fenwick, played by Lucille Watson, who correctly gets Harriet's number from the very beginning, and is savvy enough to see through HC's attempt to torpedo HC's husband's career.

And all the stuff with the sofa and THE VASE.

Here's Joan as Harriet with a rationale for her harridan ways that seems like a page out of Crawford's own life story, which happened often in JC movies!

[quote]And all the stuff with the sofa and THE VASE.

Right? Why would the precious symbolic VASE always be in the wrong place, too close to the edge of the mantel? Passive aggressive maid?

R33 When she calls her father a "fat old fool" the way she spits out 'fat' is priceless. I bet Joan hated fat.

Love your reviews, Rick

R33, what a perfect clip! Crawford's depth of anger, its sheer ferocity, is almost palpable. Then the quick shift to sadness; I suspect this was very close to the real Crawford.

(37) I think so, too!

Female on the Beach is my favorite JC film. I dislike Mildred Pierce.

Next, on "I Married Joan," a little lesson in marriage as a transaction!

I watched it. Her character was a master manipulator, able to spin in a different direction on a dime.