Strait-Jacket
Encyclopedia
Strait-Jacket is a 1964 American thriller film starring Joan Crawford
and Diane Baker
in a macabre mother and daughter tale about a series of axe-murders. Released by Columbia Pictures
, the film was directed
and produced
by William Castle
, and co-produced by Dona Holloway. The screenplay was the first of two written for Castle by Robert Bloch
, the second being The Night Walker (1964). Strait-Jacket marks the first big-screen appearance of Lee Majors
in the uncredited role of Crawford's husband.
(1962), Joan Crawford and other actresses, including Bette Davis
and Barbara Stanwyck
, made numerous horror movies throughout the 1960s. Strait-Jacket is one of the more notable examples of the genre
sometimes referred to as psycho-biddy
or Grande Dame Guignol. During the film's original release, moviegoers were given little cardboard axes as they entered the theater.
for the decapitation axe-murder of her husband (Lee Majors) and his mistress, after catching him cheating on her. After she is released, she takes up residence at the farm of her brother Bill Cutler and sister-in-law Emily.
Lucy's adult daughter Carol (Diane Baker
), an artist and sculptress, also lives on the Cutler farm and is seemingly unaffected by the grisly murders she witnessed many years in the past as a three year-old child. Carol encourages her mother to dress and act the way she did in the past. Lucy begins playing the vamp and makes passes at her daughter's fiance Michael Fields. She then shocks his parents with a sudden tantrum when they consider their son's marriage to Carol out of the question.
A series of brutal axe-murders begin with Lucy's doctor, who is found in the freezer & the shady hired man Leo. All signs point to Lucy as the murderer and some believe she is still insane, and should be returned to the hospital. However, the climax of the film reveals that the axe-murderer is Carol, who has gone to great lengths to portray her mother as a still-active murderer by duplicating her mother's appearance when she kills (even to copying her mother's head and face with a mask she fashioned herself). As the film ends, Lucy calmly accepts her responsibility for her daughter's illness and hatred and announces that she is going to Carol in the hospital where she is now confined.
in the role of Lucy Harbin after Blondell was injured at home prior to shooting and could not fulfill her commitment. Crawford's negotiations included script and cast approval, a $50,000 salary, and 15 percent of the profits.
Anne Helm
, who was originally cast in the role as Carol, was replaced by Diane Baker, reportedly at Crawford's insistence. Baker and Crawford had appeared together in the film The Best of Everything
(1959). Despite Baker's assertion (on the featurette accompanying the DVD for "Strait-Jacket") that she replaced Anne Helm in the role of Carol Harbin due to Helm's alleged inexperience and incompetence, Anne Helm was, in actuality, a more seasoned actress than Baker at that time.
The role of Lucy's doctor was played by vice-president of PepsiCo
, Mitchell Cox, as Crawford was on the Board of Directors of the soft drink firm. Pepsi-Cola product placements include a scene in the kitchen with a carton of the soft drink displayed prominently on a counter.
A variant of the Columbia Pictures
logo appears at the end of the film, showing a decapitated Torch Lady, her severed head resting at her feet. Her torch does not shine.
Judith Crist commented in the New York Herald Tribune, "...it's time to get Joan Crawford out of those housedress horror B movies and back into haute couture...this madness-and-murder tale...might have been a thriller, given Class A treatment."
Elaine Rothschild in Films in Review wrote, "...I am full of admiration for Joan Crawford, for even in drek like this she gives a performance."
Bosley Crowther
, never a fan of Crawford's, wrote a scathing review in The New York Times
, declaring, "Joan Crawford has picked some lemons, some very sour lemons, in her day, but nigh the worst of the lot is "Strait-Jacket...", and goes on to call the film a "...disgusting piece of claptrap."
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Diane Baker
Diane Baker
Diane Carol Baker is an American actress who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.-Early life:...
in a macabre mother and daughter tale about a series of axe-murders. Released by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, the film was directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
by William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
, and co-produced by Dona Holloway. The screenplay was the first of two written for Castle by Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
, the second being The Night Walker (1964). Strait-Jacket marks the first big-screen appearance of Lee Majors
Lee Majors
Lee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....
in the uncredited role of Crawford's husband.
Background notes
After the success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (film)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the novel of the same name by Henry Farrell...
(1962), Joan Crawford and other actresses, including Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
and Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
, made numerous horror movies throughout the 1960s. Strait-Jacket is one of the more notable examples of the genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
sometimes referred to as psycho-biddy
Psycho-biddy
Psycho-biddy is a colloquial term for a sub-genre of the horror/thriller movie also known by the name Older women in peril, which was most prevalent from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s...
or Grande Dame Guignol. During the film's original release, moviegoers were given little cardboard axes as they entered the theater.
Plot
Lucy Harbin has spent twenty years in a psychiatric hospitalPsychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
for the decapitation axe-murder of her husband (Lee Majors) and his mistress, after catching him cheating on her. After she is released, she takes up residence at the farm of her brother Bill Cutler and sister-in-law Emily.
Lucy's adult daughter Carol (Diane Baker
Diane Baker
Diane Carol Baker is an American actress who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.-Early life:...
), an artist and sculptress, also lives on the Cutler farm and is seemingly unaffected by the grisly murders she witnessed many years in the past as a three year-old child. Carol encourages her mother to dress and act the way she did in the past. Lucy begins playing the vamp and makes passes at her daughter's fiance Michael Fields. She then shocks his parents with a sudden tantrum when they consider their son's marriage to Carol out of the question.
A series of brutal axe-murders begin with Lucy's doctor, who is found in the freezer & the shady hired man Leo. All signs point to Lucy as the murderer and some believe she is still insane, and should be returned to the hospital. However, the climax of the film reveals that the axe-murderer is Carol, who has gone to great lengths to portray her mother as a still-active murderer by duplicating her mother's appearance when she kills (even to copying her mother's head and face with a mask she fashioned herself). As the film ends, Lucy calmly accepts her responsibility for her daughter's illness and hatred and announces that she is going to Carol in the hospital where she is now confined.
Cast
- Joan CrawfordJoan CrawfordJoan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
as Lucy Cutler Harbin - Diane BakerDiane BakerDiane Carol Baker is an American actress who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.-Early life:...
as Carol Harbin - Leif EricksonLeif EricksonLeif Erickson was an American film and television actor.-Background:Leif Erickson was born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California. His father was commander of a fleet of ships and his mother was a noted newspaperwoman and writer...
as Bill Cutler - George KennedyGeorge KennedyGeorge Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
as Leo - Lee MajorsLee MajorsLee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....
as Frank Harbin - Howard St. JohnHoward St. JohnHoward St. John was a Chicago-born character actor who specialized in unsympathetic roles. His work spanned Broadway, film and television...
as Raymond Fields - Edith Atwater as Mrs. Fields
- John Anthony Hayes as Michael Fields
- Rochelle Hudson as Emily Cutler
Production notes
Crawford replaced Joan BlondellJoan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
in the role of Lucy Harbin after Blondell was injured at home prior to shooting and could not fulfill her commitment. Crawford's negotiations included script and cast approval, a $50,000 salary, and 15 percent of the profits.
Anne Helm
Anne Helm
Anne Helm is a retired actress, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and currently resides in Pasadena, CA.Living in New York City, she began pursuing a career as an actress which eventually led to Hollywood. Beginning in the 1950s, she made guest appearances on different television series and made...
, who was originally cast in the role as Carol, was replaced by Diane Baker, reportedly at Crawford's insistence. Baker and Crawford had appeared together in the film The Best of Everything
The Best of Everything
The Best of Everything is the first novel by Rona Jaffe. It is the story of five young employees of a New York publishing company.-Adaptions:...
(1959). Despite Baker's assertion (on the featurette accompanying the DVD for "Strait-Jacket") that she replaced Anne Helm in the role of Carol Harbin due to Helm's alleged inexperience and incompetence, Anne Helm was, in actuality, a more seasoned actress than Baker at that time.
The role of Lucy's doctor was played by vice-president of PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
, Mitchell Cox, as Crawford was on the Board of Directors of the soft drink firm. Pepsi-Cola product placements include a scene in the kitchen with a carton of the soft drink displayed prominently on a counter.
A variant of the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
logo appears at the end of the film, showing a decapitated Torch Lady, her severed head resting at her feet. Her torch does not shine.
Reception
Variety noted, "Miss Crawford does well by her role, delivering an animated performance."Judith Crist commented in the New York Herald Tribune, "...it's time to get Joan Crawford out of those housedress horror B movies and back into haute couture...this madness-and-murder tale...might have been a thriller, given Class A treatment."
Elaine Rothschild in Films in Review wrote, "...I am full of admiration for Joan Crawford, for even in drek like this she gives a performance."
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, never a fan of Crawford's, wrote a scathing review in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, declaring, "Joan Crawford has picked some lemons, some very sour lemons, in her day, but nigh the worst of the lot is "Strait-Jacket...", and goes on to call the film a "...disgusting piece of claptrap."