''Strait-Jacket'' is a 1964 American
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
In terms of context and co ...
film directed and produced by
William Castle
William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...
, written by
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small ...
and starring
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
. Its plot follows a woman who, having murdered her husband and his lover decades prior, is suspected of a series of axe murders following her release from a
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
.
Released by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
in January 1964, the film was the first of two written for Castle by
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small ...
, the second being ''
The Night Walker
''The Night Walker, or The Little Thief'' is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and later revised by his younger contemporary James Shirley. It was first published in 1640.
Authorship
The play enters th ...
'' (1964). The film's plot makes use of the psychological abuse method known as
gaslighting
Gaslighting is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality. The term derives from the title of the 1944 American film ''Gaslight'', which was based on the 1938 British theatre play ''Gas ...
.
Plot
After finding her husband asleep in bed with his mistress, Lucy Harbin
decapitate
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
s them both with an axe. Her three-year-old daughter, Carol, witnesses the murders. Lucy is committed to a
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
and deemed criminally insane. Twenty years later, after she is found to be mentally sound and reformed, Lucy is released from the institution. She takes up residence at the farm of her brother Bill Cutler and sister-in-law Emily. Carol, now an artist and sculptor, also lives on the farm, having been adopted by the Cutlers after Lucy was committed.
Carol swiftly makes attempts to bond with Lucy, encouraging her to dress and act the way she did in the past. When Carol attempts to introduce her wealthy fiancé, Michael Fields, however, Lucy is evasive. Lucy's stress is compounded by apparent auditory hallucinations in which she hears children singing a
nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
From t ...
comparing her to
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...
, as well as disturbing nightmares in which she finds herself lying in bed with her husband and his lover's severed heads.
Lucy eventually meets Michael at a dinner party, and Carol is angered when Lucy is overtly flirtatious with him. When Lucy has a subsequent emotional breakdown, her sanity is questioned by Dr. Anderson, the psychologist following her. Later that night, Dr. Anderson is brutally murdered and dismembered in the Cutlers' barn after visiting with Carol to discuss Lucy's mental health. When Dr. Anderson is reported missing, Carol hides his car on the farm, as Lucy fears she may have killed him during a
blackout episode. Leo, the handyman on the Cutler farm, witnesses Carol hiding the car, and subsequently takes it for himself, threatening Carol with
blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
. He is subsequently decapitated in the barn.
Lucy and Carol visit Michael's parents' home for dinner, during which Lucy is harshly judged by Michael's mother, Allison, who believes Carol is of a low class and is not fit to marry into the family. This results in a confrontation, after which Lucy storms out of the house in a rage. She is pursued by Carol and Michael, leaving Michael's parents alone at their home. Michael's father, Raymond, is butchered by the killer while alone in his closet. Allison is subsequently confronted by the killer upstairs, donning a latex mask and dressed like Lucy — at this moment, Lucy herself also enters the room, having returned to the house. Lucy fights with the killer, removing the mask and revealing the murderer as Carol, who has been impersonating Lucy while committing the murders. Michael appears, and Carol admits to the killings, which were driven by a love-hate relationship with her mother. Carol hoped to murder Michael's parents and frame Lucy for the crimes, effectively allowing her to marry Michael.
Sometime later, Lucy, accepting responsibility for her daughter's mental illness and hatred, looks on at various props Carol created in an attempt to drive her mad, including a tape-recorded nursery rhyme, and fake severed heads she sculpted and placed in Lucy's bed. Lucy departs to visit Carol in the psychiatric hospital where she is now confined.
Cast
*
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
as Lucy Harbin
*
Diane Baker
Diane Carol Baker is an American actress, producer and educator who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.
Early life
Baker was born in 1938 at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California a ...
as Carol Cutler
*
Leif Erickson as Bill Cutler
*
Howard St. John
Howard St. John (October 9, 1905 – March 13, 1974) was a Chicago-born character actor who specialized in unsympathetic roles. His work spanned Broadway, film and television. Among his best-remembered roles are the bombastic General Bullmoose i ...
as Raymond Fields
* John Anthony Hayes as Michael Fields
*
Rochelle Hudson
Rochelle Hudson (born Rachael Elizabeth Hudson; March 6, 1916 – January 17, 1972) was an American film actress from the 1930s through the 1960s.[George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academ ...]
as Leo Krause
*
Edith Atwater
Edith Atwater (April 22, 1911 – March 14, 1986) was an American stage, film, and television actress.
Career
Born in Chicago, Atwater made her Broadway debut in 1933. In 1939, she starred in ''The Man Who Came to Dinner''. Her film career i ...
as Mrs. Allison Fields
* Mitchell Cox as Dr. Anderson
''Strait-Jacket'' featured the first big-screen appearance of
Lee Majors
Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. Majors portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley in the American television Western series ''The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin in the American television ...
in the uncredited role of Frank Harbin, Lucy Harbin's husband.
Production
Development
After the success of ''
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'' (1962), Joan Crawford and other older actresses, including
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
and
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
, appeared in many horror movies throughout the 1960s. ''Strait-Jacket'' is one of the examples of the
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
sometimes referred to as
psycho-biddy
The representation of gender in horror films, particularly depictions of women, has been the subject of critical commentary.
Critics and researchers have argued that horror films depict graphically detailed violence, contain erotically or sex ...
or
Grande Dame Guignol
The representation of gender in horror films, particularly depictions of women, has been the subject of critical commentary.
Critics and researchers have argued that horror films depict graphically detailed violence, contain erotically or sexu ...
.
Casting
Crawford replaced
Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.
Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...
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 (born September 12, 1938) is a retired Canadian-born actress and children's author (as Annie Helm), who primarily appeared in guest roles on episodes of various American television series. Her few film roles include playing Elvis Presl ...
, 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). Baker asserted that the original actress for her part, Anne Helm, had numerous problems with Crawford. According to Baker, Crawford said, "it wasn't working out, her timing was off, she wasn't getting it, she wasn't seeing eye-to-eye, or she wasn't working the way Crawford wanted to work" on the 'making-of' featurette on the DVD of the film.
Promotion
During the film's original release, moviegoers were given little cardboard axes as they entered the theater. At the end of the closing credits, the Columbia logo's torch-bearing woman is shown in her traditional pose, but decapitated, with her head resting at her feet on her pedestal.
Reception
Critics disliked the film but praised Crawford's performance, the general critical consensus being that she was better than the material. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' noted, "Miss Crawford does well by her role, delivering an animated performance."
Judith Crist
Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic.
She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...
commented in the ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'' that "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
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
'' wrote: "I am full of admiration for Joan Crawford, for even in drek like this she gives a performance."
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
, however, wrote a scathing review of both the film and Crawford's performance in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', declaring: "Joan Crawford has picked some lemons, some very sour lemons, in her day, but nigh the worst of the lot is "Strait-Jacket". He goes on to call the film a "disgusting piece of claptrap."
Richard L. Coe of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' also hated the film, calling it "likely to stand as the worst picture of the year ... Apart from the absurdity of the plot and the chilling predictability of lines and situations, 'Strait-Jacket' is inexcusable for its scenes of violence."
The film is listed in
Golden Raspberry Award
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
founder
John Wilson's book ''
The Official Razzie Movie Guide
''The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst'' is a book about the booby prize award show the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), written by John Wilson, founder of the awards ceremony. The book was published in 2005 ...
'' as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made. The film also maintains an 88% rating on
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 8 reviews.
Assisted by Castle's promotion gimmicks, including in-person appearances by Crawford, the film was a big hit, making in 2019 adjusted grosses $60.8 million at the American box office.
Home media
''Strait-Jacket'' was released on Region 1
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
on March 12, 2002. On February 4, 2014, it was re-released on Region 1 DVD as part of the
Sony Pictures Choice Collection
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
online program.
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
released the film on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on August 21, 2018. Mill Creek Entertainment also released the film along with ''
Berserk!
''Berserk!'' is a 1967 British horror-thriller film starring Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors and Judy Geeson in a macabre mother-daughter tale about a circus plagued with murders. The screenplay was written by Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel ...
'' on a double feature Blu-ray on October 2, 2018.
Strait-Jacket and Berserk: Double Feature Blu-Ray
Mill Creek Entertainment
Legacy
An excerpt from the film is seen on TV in the 1994 John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...
film ''Serial Mom
Serial may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media The presentation of works in sequential segments
* Serial (literature), serialised literature in print
* Serial (publishing), periodical publications and newspapers
* Serial (radio and televisi ...
''.
The promotion of ''Strait-Jacket'' by the studio, the director and Crawford is addressed in the episode " Hagsploitation" of the 2017 television miniseries ''Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...
''.
See also
*List of American films of 1964
A list of American films released in 1964.
''My Fair Lady'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
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See also
* 1964 in the United States
References
External links
1964 filmsat t ...
References
External links
*
Review of ''Strait-Jacket'' at TVGuide.com
*
*
*
{{William Castle
1964 films
1964 horror films
1960s psychological thriller films
American black-and-white films
American horror thriller films
Columbia Pictures films
Films shot in California
Films directed by William Castle
Films with screenplays by Robert Bloch
Psycho-biddy films
1960s English-language films
1960s American films