Joan Crawford’s Tailor-Made ‘Strait-Jacket’ 1964

Joan Crawford's Lucy Harbin has an ax to grind with cheatin' hubby and his bimbo,
in 1964's thriller, "Strait-Jacket."

Joan Crawford’s post-studio contract films were often beyond over the top. But Strait-Jacket is right up there with Johnny Guitar as a bizarro bonanza. After the surprise success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Joan appeared in a solo suspense film, Strait Jacket, while Bette Davis made Dead Ringer.

Did Adrian design Joan's "Strait-Jacket?"

The lighting a match on the record player scene never fails to make me laugh.
I wish that Carol Burnett had spoofed Strait-Jacket on her classic TV series.

So much has been written about this camp classic, that I chose to note things about Strait-Jacket that I found personally interesting. The set up is about a young woman who catches her husband in bed with another woman upon returning home late one night. She responds by chopping their heads off with an ax. Done and dusted! She then spends the next twenty years in an asylum. Upon returning home to her grown daughter, creepy things begin to happen. And when the tensions really rise, heads begin to roll!

Frank Harbin and his bar pickup look laid out just like corpses! That's Lee Majors,
in his film debut, about to get the ax by Joan Crawford in 1964's "Strait-Jacket."

Lucy Harbin’s scrapbook, with pics of her 7 years younger hubby Frank, played by Lee Majors. In reality, Lee was almost 35 years younger than Joan! Note the pics in Strait-Jacket with hubby’s heads cut out. Shades of Uncle Greg in Mommie Dearest!

Strait-Jacket was written by Robert Bloch of Psycho fame. Producer/director William Castle worshiped Psycho director Alfred Hitchcock, which he demonstrated by totally copying him! Castle also admired the old-time stars, so getting Joan Crawford for this B thriller was a coup in his mind.

Ankle straps are a few of Joan’s favorite things, all on display in Strait Jacket!

Joan’s introduction as Lucy Harbin in Strait-Jacket is very similar to her
Sadie Thompson in Rain, another “big” performance!

Mama 'pank hard! Joan Crawford as a hoochie mama at the choo-choo station
makes me think of Bette Davis’ small town overripe vamp in Beyond the Forest:
the black fright wig, drag makeup, peasant dresses, and ankle strap shoes. 

The result is a fun fright flick that is presented in a stylish way. What undercuts Strait-Jacket is the dialogue and the story's plotting. All this and Joan Crawford working overtime to sell you that she’s 29 and later 49 at almost 60 sends the movie straight into camp orbit. Joan gives it her all and works well with Diane Baker, as her daughter. But Joan stands out in the wrong way against the weathered character actors who are her age, and the younger actors who actually look youthful. Contrasted against all of this is Joan, looking like a hillbilly Natasha Fatale.

Note the clap board. Joan plays 29 as Lucy Harbin in the opening set piece of 
Strait-Jacket. Crawford then plays her at 49 thereafter; Joan was 60-ish at the time.

“My mother, an ax murderer! Aren’t the pie slices bad enough? Must you degrade
 us?” Diane Baker as daughter Carol recalls her mother's history for the audience
and her boyfriend in Strait-Jacket's prologue!

Strait-Jacket was made on an even smaller budget than Baby Jane but was a moderate hit, helped by Joan’s tireless promotion. The downside was that it further stamped Joan as a hag horror film star.

Joan Crawford promoted her later movies and Pepsi with equal vigor. She even got
 Pepsi's PR vice-president a role as her psychiatrist in "Strait-Jacket!" 

George Kennedy, as Strait-Jacket's farm hand, who leers in his spare time. Isn’t it interesting that future “realistic” stars like Kennedy, Bruce Dern, James Caan, and Donald Sutherland started out playing "challenged" characters?

Time is a great healer and Joan’s star reputation has overcome the latter day downturns of Crawford’s life and career. Enjoy Strait-Jacket for what it is, one of Joan’s last gaudy jaunts at the Hollywood rodeo.

I love this candid from the wardrobe tests for Strait-Jacket. Joan’s silvery gray hair, simple make up, and smiling. This is much more appealing than the increasingly grim drag queen look Crawford sported in her later years.

Here’s my deep dive into Joan’s Oscar-winning Mildred Pierce, made 20 years before Strait-Jacket: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-joan-crawford-became-mildred-pierce.html

So my mother's an ax murderer! Mainstreaming Mommie has its challenges in 1964's
  Strait-Jacket. Joan with Rochelle Hudson, Diane Baker, and Leif Erickson.