Search - Strait-Jacket on DVD

You go, Joan!

JGC | 02/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a long-time Joan Crawford fan, I used to stay away from the films she made in the 1960s and onward because I tended to think of them as "embarrassments to a brilliant career" (to quote Crawford's daughter Christina in Mommie Dearest). However, I've come to revise my opinion of at least one of those films: Strait-Jacket.The plot is a simple one. It begins in the 1940s when Joan's character Lucy Harbin (who, we're supposed to assume, is a woman in her 30s at the time) axe-murders her philandering younger husband and his girlfriend. What's really incredible about the opening murder scene is the fact that Joan, who was about 60 at the time, actually plays herself as a younger woman, and a trampy younger woman at that, complete with a cheap floral print dress, jet-black wig and very JANGLY bangle bracelets. Incredible! Only Joan Crawford could've pulled this off and made it believable. And what's more, in this scene and throughout the movie, she really makes you feel sympathy for Lucy, and that proves what a great actress she is. Over and over again, you get the sense that Lucy is more victim than victimizer - she's been knocked around by life and just couldn't take it anymore.Murder completed, Lucy's then clapped into an insane asylum. After 20 years she is released and goes to live with her brother (played by Leif Ericson), his wife (played by Rochelle Hudson) and her own estranged daughter (played by Diane Baker) on the family farm. And - surprise! Joanie comes home, and people start losing their heads - literally. Whodunnit, might you ask? Is it perhaps Joan who, unable to stand the pressures of the outside world, has started to go off her nut again. Maybe...or maybe not. To quote Rod Serling, therein hangs the tale.This film is chock full of great stuff. Besides the opening murder scene already described, there are plenty others to wow and amaze you. Such as when Joan's daughter buys her an outfit that's just like the tartwear she used to have 20 years ago: yet another cheap floral print dress, yet another jet-black wig and yet more very JANGLY bangle bracelets. With this get-up on, she looks like nothing so much as an old whore (or in today's politically correct parlance, perhaps the term is..."old sex worker"). But you can't help but love her and feel sorry for her, despite the outfit and pathetic attempts to act young. This is because you know she's suffering, dressing in a way she really doesn't want to dress anymore. She's only doing it in order to please her daughter, who wants to make Joan look the way she remembers her from 20 years ago.Then of course there's the classic scene when daughter Diane Baker brings her fiance home to meet momma Joan. Joan, who is terribly nervous about making a good impression, gets smashed on bourbon and then proceeds to flirt outrageously with this man who is easily 30 years younger than she. Pure camp, complete with Joan purring in his ear and putting her fingers in his mouth! All this while attired in her ridiculous dress, bracelets and wig. Watching that scene is like watching an auto accident - morbidly fascinating. You don't want to look, yet you can't tear yourself away. And here again, Joan generates sympathy. These are the biggies. There are of course many other great scenes, such as when Joan tells off her daughter's bitchy mother-in-law-to-be (played by Edith Atwater), confessing that she's spent 20 years in an asylum. She tops it off by screaming, "AND IT WAS HELL! TWENTY YEARS OF PURE HELL!" But then Joanie regains her groove and says with dignity "But I'm not ashamed." Beautiful!Other gems in this film: Leif Ericson's performance as Joan's sympathetic brother, and George Kennedy as the wonderfully creepy farmhand. And of course, last but not least, is the tour de force performance of Diane Baker as Carol Harbin, Joan's daughter. So...long story short, buy this. You won't regret it. You'll probably be able to guess about 20 minutes into the movie whether Joan's started killing again or whether someone's trying to frame her, but no matter. Joan gives it her usual 110%, and you won't be disappointed."

Joan really knows how to swing

JGC | 04/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""This is Joan Crawford, I urge you to see my new motion picture Strait-Jacket, from the beginning."



...Lucy Harbin took an axe

She gave her husband 40 whacks

And when she saw what he had done

She gave his girlfriend 41





This movie is so incredibly over-the-top. I love how, in the beginning they just have to say that Lucy is "7 years older than her husband."



"Strait-Jacket " was one of the very first movies that I ever saw with Joan so there's a special place in my heart for it. When I first saw this movie I knew very little about Joan and just assumed that it was one of her movies from her MGM days. And of course it didn't help that the picture on the DVD was one of Joan's Lucy Harbin dressed up with that "Mildred Pierce" looking wig. I also loved that bangle bracelet that Joan wore. Didn't she look like such a sexy mama? It totally reminded me of the way Joan looked as Sadie Thompson. Although, I don't think Lucy had any tricks up her sleeve!



I still love this movie though. Much like the ever-strong and powerful Joan, "Strait-Jacket" has totally withstood the test of time. Yes, it's a ludicrous story that would never have seen the light of day if Joan weren't in it but I can't get enough of it. The story is so dramatic and theatrical, not to mention over-the-top and incredibly foolish.



The tagline for this movie was: HER HUSBAND...HER ROOM... ......AND ANOTHER WOMAN. That really describes the beginning but it also leaves a lot to be desired because this is not a love story, at all. Joan plays Lucy Harbin, an axe murderer, who paid her dues and is now released in the care of her brother. Unfortunately once Lucy gets out murder still seems to follow her! This certainly isn't an Alfred Hitchcock type of suspense (maybe "Murder She Wrote?") But that doesn't matter because all of the performers give strong support to Joan.



Some of Joan's costars include:

Diane Baker (who was also in "Della" and "The Best of Everything" with Joan) played Carol (Lucy's daughter)

Leif Erickson played Bill Cutler (Lucy's brother)

Rochelle Hudson played Emily Cutler (Lucy's sister-in-law)



This black and white movie was released by Columbia on January 19, 1964 and is a total of 89 minutes long. It was actually filmed the prior year and Joan started promoting it from the following spring when she appeared on "I've Got A Secret" with Betsy Palmer (her costar from, "Queen Bee.") I enjoy this movie very much because it's a fine example of a 60's horror movie. There's no blood or violence but that didn't stop the producers from claiming that: Strait-Jacket vividly depicts axe murders! It certainly wasn't done vividly, it looked more like Barbie's head getting popped off.



Joan made "Strait-Jacket" right after her 1963 picture "The Caretakers." She also appeared in a slew of other fine suspense and horror projects throughout the 60s and into the 70s which are pretty good. Joan enjoyed acting in movies and later on television. But I think she also chose this particular genre because she always enjoyed science fiction and the supernatural. In 1972 during one of her final interviews Joan said, "it's interesting how many people have had experiences they're convinced are ESP." If you're interested in some more of Joan's later projects, I recommend both I Saw What You Did and "Dear Joan: We're Going To Scare you to Death."



I found Joan's performance in this movie (like all of her films) to be perfect. Incidentally, many years later, when asked about this movie Joan refused to comment. Only saying, "they were all terrible [referring to all of the movies she made after What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? ], even the few that I thought might be good. I made them because I needed the money or because I was bored or both. I hope they have been exhibited and are never heard from again. If I weren't a Christian Scientist, and I saw Trog advertised on a marquee across the street, I think I'd contemplate suicide."



Joan was a perfectionist who was always a constant professional that never gave anyone anything less than all of herself. Joan must have had a natural ability to act because she is one of the most compelling actresses of the twentieth century, however she received no formal training or education in this field. Joan always knew how to make lemonade out of lemons. There are 2 qualities about her that I really respect. First, she always played such versatile roles, running the gambit of high society to street walker. From westerns to comedy to silents to musicals and horror. But what I also appreciate about Joan is that she knew how to bring an otherwise dead script to life. Let's see Bette Davis do that! Sure, Bette Davis and Greta Garbo are much more respected. But they always got the best scripts and best directors and best of everything else. Poor Joan had to make due with what she had. And I think she did pretty well.



If you haven't seen this movie yet, what are you waiting for? Go out and get the DVD or wait for it to come on TCM. Remember, don't reveal the surprise shock ending. Don't reveal the surprise shock ending. Don't reveal the surprise shock ending...







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