Strait-Jacket

''Strait-Jacket'' is a 1964 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by William Castle, written by Robert Bloch and starring Joan Crawford. 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.

Released by Columbia Pictures in January 1964, the film was the first of two written for Castle by Robert Bloch, the second being ''The Night Walker'' (1964). The film's plot makes use of the psychological abuse method known as gaslighting.

Plot

After finding her husband asleep in bed with his mistress, Lucy Harbin decapitates them both with an axe. Her three-year-old daughter, Carol, witnesses the murders. Lucy is committed to a psychiatric hospital 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 comparing her to Lizzie Borden, 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. 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 as Lucy Harbin
* Diane Baker as Carol Cutler
* Leif Erickson as Bill Cutler
* Howard St. John as Raymond Fields
* John Anthony Hayes as Michael Fields
* Rochelle Hudson as Emily Cutler
* George Kennedy as Leo Krause
* Edith Atwater as Mrs. Allison Fields
* Mitchell Cox as Dr. Anderson
''Strait-Jacket'' featured the first big-screen appearance of Lee Majors 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 and Barbara Stanwyck, appeared in many horror movies throughout the 1960s. ''Strait-Jacket'' is one of the examples of the genre sometimes referred to as psycho-biddy or Grande Dame Guignol.

Casting

Crawford replaced Joan Blondell 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). 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'' noted, "Miss Crawford does well by her role, delivering an animated performance." Judith Crist commented in the '' New York Herald Tribune'' 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'' wrote: "I am full of admiration for Joan Crawford, for even in drek like this she gives a performance."

Bosley Crowther, however, wrote a scathing review of both the film and Crawford's performance 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". He goes on to call the film a "disgusting piece of claptrap." Richard L. Coe of ''The Washington Post'' 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 founder John Wilson's book '' The Official Razzie Movie Guide'' as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made. The film also maintains an 88% rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 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 on March 12, 2002. On February 4, 2014, it was re-released on Region 1 DVD as part of the Sony Pictures Choice Collection online program.

Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray on August 21, 2018. Mill Creek Entertainment also released the film along with '' Berserk!'' 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 film ''Serial Mom''.

The promotion of ''Strait-Jacket'' by the studio, the director and Crawford is addressed in the episode " Hagsploitation" of the 2017 television miniseries '' Feud''.

See also

*List of American films of 1964

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