User Reviews

TCM showed this movie immediately after Craig's Wife (this movie is a remake of that one) and I loved comparing the two versions of the same story.

The Harriet in Harriet Craig is wonderfully evil and Joan Crawford was perfect in this role. I loved watching her spin her lies and was very curious as to just how her house of cards would fall.

I was not disappointed. The scene where Walter confronts Harriet about her lies was brilliantly played by both Crawford and Wendell Corey. Scenes like this are often melodramatic or just not believable. In this movie, however, Crawford and Corey hit it out of the park.

With just her eyes, Crawford showed Harriet's inner panic at being found out and her desperation when she realizes that Walter knows the truth.

Corey was fantastic at showing the mixed emotions of Walter Craig. He was able to convey anger, disappointment and even love all at the same time. The moment when he found out that Harriet had lied about not being able to have children was just heartbreaking. I felt Walter's pain in that moment.

My only quibble with this movie is Joan Crawford's hair. I know they were going for a severe look, but it was truly awful.

In this remake of "Craig's Wife" Joan Crawford assumes the role of Harriet Craig, the woman to whom objects are more important than people.

The biggest difference to me is that in this version Harriet is more concerned with running other people's lives, whereas in the 1936 version she is only concerned with keeping people from interfering with the smooth running of her own life.

Joan Crawford's character is more devious, more suspicious, while Rosalind Russell played it as detached and aloof. Crawford undermines everyone around her; Russell ignores them. Crawford is obvious, like a raging river carving out a canyon; Russell is insidious, like a tiny trickle of water eating away at a foundation.

Crawford's severe hairdo makes her look like a prison guard, to represent her rigid personality. Although Russell had a softer look about her, her perfectly straight posture was the giveaway to her feelings about the world around her.

Of the two I prefer the Rosalind Russell version.

As so often happened in Hollywood back in the day, form outweighs content in this movie. Basically it's a soap opera. But thanks to excellent movie-making craftsmanship, it's a soaper well worth watching--very enjoyable.

The cast is excellent, and outshining them all is Joan Crawford, marching through her ultra-neat mansion like a drill sergeant. With her broad padded shoulders, butch hairdo, flashing eyes and jutting jaw, she scares the pants off any weak man, and, alas, Wendell Corey as her husband is that man, a fine fellow but eminently malleable and trusting, at least until the last part of the movie.

To me the best part of the movie consists of the two final confrontations between Crawford and Corey. The movie is full of great lines but the rapid-fire exchanges in these confrontations, delivered with expert timing, are just super. Fine work by writers Anne Froelich and James Gunn.

Of course I spent the whole movie waiting for that vase to be smashed! The closing shot of Crawford left with her husband's lavish house but not much else, is a powerful ending.

Joan, with director Sherman, trimming *all* the fat away from *Craig's Wife* (that means removing every scene in which Joan would *not* be present), and turning it into a tour-de-force for La Crawford. As the epitome of every neurotic, deeply disturbed female that Joan ever portrayed, *Harriet Craig* is Joan with a capital J. Taking the role in her mouth and shaking it into submission, she is playing, ultimately, another facet of Joan herself. But what Joan film role *didn't* become Joan herself – either before or *after* filming? In a case of Joan's art imitating her life, as well as her life imitating her art, Harriet provides Joan with yet *one* more of those peculiar roles – roles which must have been written with *only* Joan in mind, since it would be difficult to imagine *any* other actress in this role. If Rosalind Russell had had this much focus on her in *her* version, *Craig's Wife*, it's hard to imagine if she could have sustained it, since part of Russell's strength was her ability to respond to other characters while seemingly on a course all her own. But Joan, never one to shy away from *any* movie role, makes *Harriet Craig* one the great milestones of her career. And we are indebted to her for it. As she explains to her niece (she *always* has nieces in movies like this – sweet young things who come to live with her and become her indentured servants) about how to "keep men in line," we are given more pure-Joan philosophy. With lines like, "…the average woman *does* put her life in someone else's hands – her husbands'. That's why she usually comes to grief," and "No man is *born* ready for marriage – he has to be trained," it is familiar Joan territory. Familiar now, because we've seen Joan spackling her angst all over movie and TV screens for decades, but along with *Mildred Pierce*, *Queen Bee* and *Torchsong*, *Harriet Craig*, at the time, was a new dimension in Joan's personal psychosis committed to film.

Casting Joan Crawford as Harriet Craig was the perfect decision. She stars in this gloomy melodrama as a woman whose compulsion for cleanliness and complete control ultimately destroys her. I have heard before that this movie was written as a comedy (which is quite evident in the original version "Craig's Wife" starring Rosalind Russell) but due to Crawford's coldness in playing Harriet, the tone of the movie completely changed. Don't get me wrong, it does have its amusing moments, as unintentional as they might be. We see Crawford act completely condescending towards everyone she comes in contact with. It is made quite obvious that Harriet manipulates her husband, Walter, who believes Harriet is the perfect wife, by keeping him "happy" in the bedroom. Some rather suggestive dialogue even for 1950. The absolute best is when Harriet holds a dinner party for Walter's boss. She seems completely rude to her guests who all coincidentally happen to be over 50, making Harriet look like a glamour girl. Much of what makes this movie so amusing is the way in which the dialogue is presented, as well as Crawford's ridiculous gestures. "My that's a lovely vase.,' exclaims one of the guests, pointing towards Harriet's most prized possession. "It's Ming-Dynasty" replies Harriet proudly displaying her vase like some prize-girl on a gameshow. Harriet seems not to feel compassion for anyone and tolerates no mistakes. "I was wondering if you ever intended on serving the coffee, my guests have been waiting for quite some time!" Harriet shouts at her maids, causing one of them to drop a teacup. Harriet's looks as if she is about to explode as the cup shatters on the floor. "I'm so sorry Mrs. Craig!" "Yes, of course your sorry, but sorry won't mend my broken tea set!" sneers Harriet as she fires the maid. The movies seems to keep building just to show us how wicked Harriet is, including a visit to her husband's boss which is completely unforgettable. She interferes with her cousin's love life, almost causes her husband to lose his job, fires all of her staff, and to top it off is mean to the little boy next door. "What was Harriet Craig's Lie? Proclaimed the posters and advertisements for this movie. The answer: Her entire existence. The lies just continue to pour out one after the other until everyone is so far driven by it, they leave. But does Harriet learn her lesson? Of course not, even the final line in the movie is a lie. So in the end all we see is Harriet with the only companion to whom she's stayed true...her house. This movie is by far one of my favorite Joan Crawford movies, and what's really coincidental about it, Harriet Craig, the character, almost foreshadows Joan's persona in Christina Crawford's trash novel "Mommie Dearest". Perhaps Christina saw this movie too many times, and confused the facts. :) ****If you liked this movie you'll LOVE Joan Crawford in "Queen Bee". It's like Harriet Craig, but set in the south! -Mark Thomas.

Joan Crawford is "Harriet Craig," a manipulative, insecure woman who has to control everything around her in this 1950 film also starring Wendell Corey, K.T. Stevens, Lucile Watson, Allyn Joslyn and Viola Roche.

The director, Vincent Sherman, knew how to get a good performance out of Crawford and did so several times, in "Goodbye, My Fancy" and "The Damned Don't Cry." He described her as a very bright, knowledgeable woman when it came to every aspect of filming. Here, Crawford is a cold, manipulative bitch married to hapless Walter (Corey), and as is implied, the sex is great. Pretty soon, he forgets that he's uncomfortable in his own house and that Harriet has isolated him from his friends and things he used to enjoy, and also that she can't have children - so she says. Harriet is unfortunately stuck with the old Craig family housekeeper, Mrs. Howard, who continues to be a burr in her saddle. Mrs. Howard sees through Harriet, as does the boss' wife (Watson). She recommends a promotion which will require Walter to spend some time away from dear Harriet in China. When Harriet finds out, she has a fit and makes sure the boss decides against sending him. Wouldn't want Walter gambling away the company money while drunk, now, would we? Harriet's niece Clare (Stevens) is made to feel extremely grateful by Harriet, so she works for Harriet for free. When Harriet finds out a worker at Walter's lab is interested in Clare, she tells Clare he's a womanizer who brags about it. Harriet is a piece of work.

The saddest part of all of this is that I know someone like Harriet and believe me, this portrait is only slightly exaggerated! They are sad cases. They make the lives of everyone around them miserable. And they aren't happy people.

Crawford is great in the role and has been said, she plays this type of part very well. She has the regal looks, the voice, and the requisite chilly delivery. For those who say this was the real Crawford, no one knows for sure. I don't think anyone deals with the woman herself at this point, only a plastic persona. She had to have been a lot more charming than Harriet and also, unlike Harriet, capable of letting down her hair once in a while and having a good time. Crawford the actress had many more sides to her than the "Queen Bee" and "Harriet Craig" persona. I think she was at her best in "A Woman's Face" and "Possessed" (the second one) which show what she could really do. I never felt she was great in comedy, but she was a hard worker who could do drama well.

Wendell Corey does a good job as a man who loves his wife, his work and his friends and has to walk a thin line. The rest of the cast is uniformly very good, and the Craig house is gorgeous, if you like living in a museum. I'm really talking about the layout.

As a spoiler, I think it would have been a riot if, after what we see in the film, Walter ended up with the widow next door. Who knows? Maybe he did.

That is how maid Ellen Corby describes her boss, Mrs. Craig, in this third version of George Kelly's Pulitzer Prize Winning Play. Rosalind Russell's Harriett was a young woman with definite mental problems in the 1936 version. But she at least had youth on her side so with psychological treatment, it is obvious she could have made necessary alterations to change her into a better person. But Joan Crawford's middle-aged Harriet is really beyond help. She's deliberately cruel, treating servants with the condensation of Leona Helmsley and rubbing her power over them and everybody else in the house she worships with glee. Only housekeeper Viola Roache and maid Ellen Corby see her for who she truly is, although a few of husband Walter's friends see right through her and are blatantly uncomfortable when in her presence.

In probably his best performance, bland Wendell Corey adds life to Walter who slowly wakes up to his wife's evil manipulations, which include lies not in Russell's version. Where Crawford succeeds in this performance is making Harriett's sexuality more blatant, verbalized as her "part of the bargain". K.T. Stevens seems a bit too worldly to be presented as a naive young woman. Watch her in the previous year's "The Port of New York" to see her as a film noir femme fatal role. She would later enter daytime soap immortality as the initially veiled mother from hell Vanessa Prentiss on "The Young and the Restless", passive/aggressively using her own death to try and destroy her hated daughter-in-law's life. Amusing performances by Allyn Joslyn as a playboy friend of Corey's and Lucille Watson as Corey's boss's life-loving wife add humor. I wanted to see a scene with Watson getting the truth from her husband Raymond Greenleaf, playing Walter's boss. Her presence is ironic considering that she played the wise mother of Crawford's rival, Norma Shearer, in the classic movie version of "The Women". The business aspect of Harriet's manipulations add a new dimension to her character, which leads to the revelation of one of the most malicious lies a wife can tell a husband.

Fans of "Mommie Dearest" will take great pleasure in making comparisons to this and Crawford's 1955 melodrama "Queen Bee". When I first saw this as a teenager, I did not pick up on the psychological aspects of Crawford's character, truly a master at manipulation and using sexuality to get what she wanted, yet declining it when it didn't suit her purpose. Her mannish hairstyle makes her Harriett much more intimidating than Russell's kinder/gentler (and thus more dangerous) version. Crawford chews the scenery (including that oh so precious vase) yet you feel the pain inside her when she breaks down and reveals all the truths and feel sorry for her when it all comes crashing down on her. She's a model, not only for the man-hating realm of certain kind of feminists, but for anybody who puts social propriety and their own needs above those they claim to love. I wouldn't want a relative or friend like Harriet Craig, but she's somebody who is fascinating to watch rise, then crash and burn. You really can envision Harriet telling maid Corby, "When you clean the floor, you have to move the tree!"

Perhaps one of Joan's last great dramas that had the production values, a good script and fabulous costuming; Joan digs her teeth into Harriet making her a very scheming, perhaps mentally disturbed woman. Turning in a great performance as the brittle Martha Stewart of the 1950's, Joan makes Harriet Craig a stand out movie just as she did with Mildred Peirce, showing what she can do with good material. Wendell Corey, at first seemingly miscast, does embody the role of the "Happy go Lucky" nice guy that the part calls for. Not realizing how calculating Harriet can be, she thwarts her cousin's love life, alienates Walter from his friends from his bachelor days, until finally interfering is her husband's business affairs that would take him to Japan, Walter finally see's her for the fist time. As delicate as her china service, Harriet needs everything to be perfect and in her eyes, change is a very bad thing. She cannot be left alone and will not be ignored. She's as antiseptic as her polished kitchen floor, and just as cold one.

It was exactly a quarter of a century after George Kelly's Craig's Wife opened on Broadway that Joan Crawford followed Rosalind Russell - who had starred in the first film version - into the role of the eponymous Mrs Craig. Crawford, lacking Russell's natural warmth, was perfect casting as the cold, manipulative control freak and could well have phoned it in. As it happened the supporting cast included the likes of Ellen Corby and Lucile Watson but there were albeit superfluous as Crawford could carry this one by sheer willpower and force of personality. Wendell Corey was still getting work wherever mahogany was called for and he did about as well as anyone with the thankless part of Craig, who is there merely as something - as opposed to someONE - for Harriet to fool, foil and manipulate. Inevitably, of course, she gets her comeuppance although she was never a magnificent Amberson so much as an insignificant Craig.

" Wives may be a little extra trouble now and then, but they're mighty handy gadgets to have around the house."

This movie is like a time capsule of the late 1940's and 50's. There are definite stereotypes about the roles of men and women from that period - like a woman's place is in the home, etc. Some will find this very dated and annoying - but I often enjoy seeing glimpses into past periods in American history, even if I don't necessarily agree with it.

There is not a lot of depth to this movie in the classic soap tradition. But there is good character development in the sense that you know everyone's personalities. Joan is the controlling, manipulative wife trying to climb the social ladder. Correy plays the wimpy husband who lets his wife control him and everything in his life... Until she finally goes to far. Its good to see Mrs. Craig get what's coming to her in the end.

Joan's costumes are beautiful and extravagant. But I hated the hairdo she has in most of the picture - very much like "helmet-hair". Its all stuck very close to her head and gives her profile shots an unflattering shape. Perhaps they're trying to give her an overly masculine look to match her domineering personality. I'm not a huge fan Of Crawford. I find most of her work overly theatric and stiff. This carries over here as well. There is one exception: when she relives the day her father left the family. She shows natural and genuine human emotion and pain in that scene, without all the campiness for which she is known.

If you don't like melodrama or soap opera style films, stay away from this one. If you want a glimpse into 1950's stereotypes, watch this. Also, for those familiar with Crawford personal life and "Mommie Dearest", this role perhaps best captures that side of Joan - controlling, manipulative, unforgiving, and without an ounce of warmth in her whole body.