La Perfide

Harriet Craig (1950) : Brief Review -

Craig's Wife (1936) boosted for good. A superb remake that actually adds some originality of its own with a better set of actors. I saw Rosalind Russell's Craig's Wife a couple of months ago and called it an underrated gem. Now I come across the remake before that film fades away from my memory, with the legend Joan Crawford playing the lead role. It's not even a choice between Rosalind and Joan. The latter wins the race by a margin. I mean, come on yaar, she is THE JOAN CRAWFORD! Here's one more chapter in her legacy. Harriet Craig is a superb remake for many reasons, starting with the writing and screenwriting. So, the basic script is about the same, but the screenplay adds a few more conflicts that are far more modern and effective than the 1936 adaptation of the play. For instance, Harriet isn't obsessive only about herself; she is obsessed about having her husband stick to her. That "nobody in my family ever ended up as poor" worked just the same again. The big surprise was "No man's born ready for marriage. He has to be trained." Walter, the husband, is smarter and more active here, and there is one more solid reason in the end for him to leave the house as well as his wife. The pregnancy angle was new and too good. "You Married the House" was missing, but like I said, this film is more about Harriet Craig's obsession with having her home neat and her husband tied to her, while Craig's wife was more about her and herself only. This film uses some advanced theories with a better set of actors. Joan Crawford is flawless, and Wendell Corey has done a nice job. No complaints about Sherman's direction except why he didn't add "Those who live for themselves, are left to themselves." ??? Have you already seen Craig's Wife? Doesn't matter. This is equally great.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

"Harriet Craig" started out as a stage success – obviously, it struck familiar chords – and saw at least one previous film version (Craig's Wife, starring Rosalind Russell). Remade in 1950 with Joan Crawford commandeering the part of the domestic despot, the movie takes on a dimension that helped define camp. It also offers an unadulterated middle-period glimpse of the controlling monsters she had begun (Mildred Pierce, Humoresque) and continued (Torch Song, Johnny Guitar, Queen Bee) to play on film. (And, if there is a sliver of verity in her adopted daughter Cristina's report from the front lines, such roles paralleled her off-screen personality).

It's a parable about the dangers of social ascendancy, an illustration of Thorstein Veblen's view of the affluent wife as agent of conspicuous consumption. Joan Crawford's Harriet Craig has it all: a husband in a grey flannel suit on his way up the corporate ladder (Wendell Corey), and so can buy her what she most desires: property and position. She's obsessed with who does and does not fit in with what she refers to as `our set' as she strikes poses in her perfect (and perfectly dull) upper-middle-class abode.

That her only interest in her husband is as a meal ticket is revealed by her avoiding her wifely obligations under the pretext that bearing children would be dangerous. But she's not content to leave him be, maybe to enjoy a little action on the side; what might the other members of their `set' think? She craves total control. When he's about to go out of town on a business trip, thus slithering out at least temporarily from under her oppressive thumb, she intervenes, lying to his boss that he's a compulsive gambler. Finally, of course, the worm turns.... But, in the closing shot, when Crawford regally ascends her curved staircase alone among the splendor of her possessions, you wonder who's really won after all.

This soapish melodrama remains surprisingly riveting. Perhaps it's the extra touch of authenticity Crawford brings to her portrayal (Mary Tyler Moore played a later version of this upscale shrew in Ordinary People; then of course there's always Martha Stewart). The movie preserves an uncanny sense of upward mobility in America, circa midcentury, a lugubrious self-importance that has not, alas, vanished from the land.

Joan Crawford shines as George Kelly's Craig's Wife, which had been made as a film some years earlier with Rosalind Russell, hence the title change. Joan is far better suited to the role, and closer to the right age. As a controlling, materialistic, unfeeling housewife, she is perfect, and is better than I've ever seen her. Crawford clearly understands this woman and doesn't play for sympathy. Yet we can sense her identification with the character, which is complete. SHE has sympathy for the monstrous Harriet, and we can feel it. There is a touch of Pirandello-ish identification here, and it comes through loud and clear; and yet for all this, Miss Crawford is never hammy. She is a thorough pro, and gives us a Craig's Wife that Harriet Craig would herself heartily approve of.

The line above is from the original advertising art, and it conveys the theme of HARRIET CRAIG very well. I have an issue with reviewers who are constantly comparing characters on the screen with the actors who portray them. Harriet Craig was a character, and that is all. There are parallels between the lives of the character and Joan Crawford herself, but one should not go so far as to say they are the same! Joan Crawford is a woman of many mysteries. Every account you could possibly read about her life is full of contradictions; was she good or was she bad, was the ruthless and cruel or was she generous and kind? She was probably all of these things and, like Harriet Craig, a complicated, non-conventional, and independent woman at war with the world.

This is where the comparison ends. The character in the film is a compulsive liar and manipulator. Harriet Craig lies about anything and everything in the spider's web she builds around her. Joan Crawford's performance is fierce and chilling in its complexity. This is a woman of astounding talent, playing a character worthy of that talent. This is one of only a handful of roles Crawford ever played that allowed her to really act, which she does so well you will forget all about those other "great" actresses which usually claim all the credit.

If 1950 was not such a tough year, I'm convinced Joan would have received an Oscar nomination for the performance. The film itself was worthy of a nomination and, as the advertising art claimed, was "one of the five best pictures of the year." I think it is comparable in quality to ALL ABOUT EVE and SUNSET BLVD., and certainly Crawford's performance is on par with the leads in those films, and one of the best of her career! One last final note: a feminist take on HARRIET CRAIG may emphasize that Harriet was just a woman trying to survive the sexist times...but Wendell Corey was such a good and nice husband, believing in their equality, that I don't buy it. Harriet was a woman hurt by her times and unfortunately taking out her mistrust of men on her innocent and good husband, as well as others around her. Harriet was, in the end, a victim of her own prejudice, and selfish, compulsive lies.

One of Joan Crawford's best roles. She plays a possessive domineering perfectionist housewife who tries to control everyone in her life, particularly her exceptionally nice husband (Wendell Corey). A lot has been said about the similarities between the character of Harriet Craig and Joan herself. Perhaps that's why Joan's performance is so superb. She plays the character of Harriet so effortlessly. Wendell Corey is terrific as her husband. Through most of the movie he's a pushover but when he finally realizes who his wife really is and what she's capable of, look out! It's a very good drama but also some funny parts. Moves along at a crisp pace. Unlike most dramas from the period (and today, really) it doesn't overstay its welcome and pad the length for another twenty minutes. Definitely recommended.