I like "Strait-Jacket".
The Plot:
The Robert Bloch story is a spin off of his own story, "Psycho" and
the infamous Lizzie Borden murders in Fall River, Mass.: A woman returns home to find her husband in bed with another woman. The wife kills them both in grisly fashion with an axe and is sent to a sanitarium for 20 years. When she returns to her now grown up daughter and family, axe murders begin once again.
The Robert Bloch story is a spin off of his own story, "Psycho" and
the infamous Lizzie Borden murders in Fall River, Mass.: A woman returns home to find her husband in bed with another woman. The wife kills them both in grisly fashion with an axe and is sent to a sanitarium for 20 years. When she returns to her now grown up daughter and family, axe murders begin once again.
Originally intended as a B vehicle for '30's star Joan Blondell and ingenue Anne Helm,
Blondell was going to play the role in a fat suit in her post-prison period. Before shooting started, Blondell had an accident that prevented her participation in the project.
Blondell was going to play the role in a fat suit in her post-prison period. Before shooting started, Blondell had an accident that prevented her participation in the project.
With the production budget ticking, someone from Columbia (damn, who was it?) remembered that the Pepsi Queen and co-star of "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" owed them a picture. Joan Crawford's amazing longevity in the film industry boosted her star power and box-office appeal. Castle met with her in New York and agreed to meet her demands. She even agreed to a screen test.
"Baby Jane" had spawned a whole volume of former female superstars appearing in grisly suspense films including Bette Davis (7 times), Olivia DeHavilland (2), Barbara Stanwyck (1), Joan Fontaine (1), Tallulah Bankhead (1) and I know there are more! This picture began Crawford's descent into the abyss.
Once filming began, Crawford had conflicts with Helm and wanted her fired. She suggested Diane Baker, a more popular young star and one that she had worked with before.
William Castle delighted in being called "The King of Schlock". He used cheap gimmicks to promote his films. For one, he wired theatre seats with electric buzzers, for another a skeleton on a wire careened through the audience. Some of his
movies are considered minor masterpieces ("The Tingler", "The House on Haunted Hill"). Castle's gimmick for "Strait-Jacket" was to procure one of the world's most famous faces to appear in his movie.
Once filming began, Crawford had conflicts with Helm and wanted her fired. She suggested Diane Baker, a more popular young star and one that she had worked with before.
William Castle delighted in being called "The King of Schlock". He used cheap gimmicks to promote his films. For one, he wired theatre seats with electric buzzers, for another a skeleton on a wire careened through the audience. Some of his
movies are considered minor masterpieces ("The Tingler", "The House on Haunted Hill"). Castle's gimmick for "Strait-Jacket" was to procure one of the world's most famous faces to appear in his movie. William Castle, even with a proven box office star in his film, could not resist using cheap thrills, crude humor, inappropriate B movie music and a Tv budget (except for Joan) so he could say he did what Hitchcock did with "Psycho". He failed to realize that he was not a recognized suspense auteur nor did he have a resume of bona fide blockbusters under his large tummy.
Parts of "Strait-Jacket" are ge
nuinely frightening and effective. One scene in a meat locker is particularly harrowing. The cinematography is haunting and barren. Joan Crawford is at her most compelling. Her performance elevates the film's status to an A picture. She shifts her age (she plays a younger then an older Lucy Harbin)differences with ease and believability. In one scene, at the meeting of the daughter's boyfriend, Joan delivers an astonishing hormone party. Many critics have stated that Crawford gives one of the best performances of her life....except for the fact that the movie was a William Castle film.
The supporting cast tried to follow Joan's lead and be as professional as possible. Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Rochelle Hudson, Howard St. John, Edith Atwater and George Kennedy gave solid performances. Only the inept John Anthony Hayes stands out as an amateur.
nuinely frightening and effective. One scene in a meat locker is particularly harrowing. The cinematography is haunting and barren. Joan Crawford is at her most compelling. Her performance elevates the film's status to an A picture. She shifts her age (she plays a younger then an older Lucy Harbin)differences with ease and believability. In one scene, at the meeting of the daughter's boyfriend, Joan delivers an astonishing hormone party. Many critics have stated that Crawford gives one of the best performances of her life....except for the fact that the movie was a William Castle film.The supporting cast tried to follow Joan's lead and be as professional as possible. Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Rochelle Hudson, Howard St. John, Edith Atwater and George Kennedy gave solid performances. Only the inept John Anthony Hayes stands out as an amateur.
Now to the ending: the ending looks like it was a second thought. Maybe the movie wasn't long enough to play at the premium chain theatres, or maybe the sneak preview audiences didn't understand what happened or perhaps Joan wanted to be in the last scene. So we have an explanation of what has happened from a remarkably stable Lucy Harbin, acting a lot like Joan Crawford, who then leaves the building while her brother stays behind. She says she is going to her daughter, now in an asylum. A hug would have been a much better ending than the walk out the door. And then we have the now-famous headless Columbia lady holding the torch. Did the audience get the joke? Maybe. I'm sure William Castle got the joke loud and clear.
By the way, the film was an enormous financial success bolstered by a Joan Crawford personal publicity tour to the major cities, where "Strait-Jacket" WAS playing at A-list theatres!
That made everybody happy.
