Strait-Jacket (1964)

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robert Bloch (written by)

Release Date:

19 January 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

HER HUSBAND...HER ROOM... ......AND ANOTHER WOMAN

Plot:

After a 20 year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughter where suspicions arise about her behavior.

Plot Keywords:

Asylum | Murder | Punctuation In Title | Hyphen In Title | Mother Versus Daughter

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Lucy Harbin
Diane Baker	...	Carol Harbin
Leif Erickson	...	Bill Cutler
Howard St. John	...	Raymond Fields
John Anthony Hayes	...	Michael Fields
Rochelle Hudson	...	Emily Cutler
George Kennedy	...	Leo Krause
Edith Atwater	...	Mrs. Fields
Mitchell Cox	...	Dr. Anderson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vicki Cos	...	Carol Harbin: age 3 (uncredited)
Patricia Crest	...	Stella Fulton (uncredited)
Laura Hess	...	Second little girl (uncredited)
Howard Hoffman	...	(uncredited)
Patty Lee	...	First little girl (uncredited)
Lynn Lundgren	...	Beautician (uncredited)
Lee Majors	...	Frank Harbin (uncredited)
Robert Ward	...	Shoe Clerk (uncredited)

Directed by
William Castle

Writing credits
Robert Bloch		(written by)

Produced by
William Castle	....	producer
Dona Holloway	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Van Alexander

Cinematography by
Arthur E. Arling		(director of photography) (as Arthur Arling)

Film Editing by
Edwin H. Bryant		(as Edwin Bryant)

Production Design by
Boris Leven

Set Decoration by
Frank Tuttle

Makeup Department
Virginia Jones	....	hair styles
Ben Lane	....	makeup creator
Peggy Shannon	....	hair styles: Miss Crawford
Monty Westmore	....	makeup artist: Miss Crawford (as Monte Westmore)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert S. Greene	....	assistant director (as Herbert Greene)

Sound Department
Lambert E. Day	....	sound (as Lambert Day)
Charles J. Rice	....	sound supervisor

Special Effects by
Richard Albain	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Albert Bettcher	....	first assistant camera

Music Department
Paul Tanner	....	musician: electro-theremin (uncredited)

Production Companies

• William Castle Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (William Castle Collection)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2009) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)  this picture made under the jurisdiction of (as I.A.T.S.E.)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Germany:18 | Portugal:M/16 | USA:Approved (No. 20618) | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | UK:X (theatrical release) (cut) | Finland:(Banned) (1964)

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

The sculpture of Joan Crawford used in the film was indeed real, created by Yucca Salamunich, a Yugoslav artist. The sculpture was originally presented to Crawford in 1941 on the set of A Woman's Face (1941).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Lucy commits a double ax murder at the beginning of the film, there is absolutely no blood on ax blade or blood splattering during her brutal attack.

Quotes:

First little girl:Lucy Harbin took an axe, gave her husband forty whacks, when she saw what she had done, she gave his girlfriend forty one.
Carol Harbin:[Lucy storms out to find two girls playing jump rope] What is it, Mother?
Lucy Harbin:I heard them...
First little girl:London bridge is falling down, falling down, London bridge is falling down, my fair lady.
Carol Harbin:It's just a nursery rhyme, mother.
Second little girl:Take the key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up, take the key and lock her up, my fair lady.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Morgan Stewart's Coming Home (1987)

Soundtrack:

All of Me

Psycho in Strait-Jacket

"Strait-Jacket" tells this story: Lucy Habin (Joan Crawford) surprises her husband with another woman. She falls into madness and kills them both, and her daughter sees everything. After spending 20 years in an asylum, she's is considered recovered and released. She leaves the asylum and goes to live with her daughter. Very simply told this is just the introduction of the film. The rest you can guess but maybe you'll guess wrong. I said maybe.

This is an interesting film. It is deceivingly naive but those able to go beyond the story will make their own discoveries. For one thing: "Strait-Jacket" was filmed in 1963 when society was more conservative - social rules and divisions were much more rigid then. There were mainly two choices (especially in small towns and rural areas) - either adapt to society and its straight-jacket or else be an outcast. Why am writing this? Because this is one of my readings of the film.

Anyway "Strait-Jacket" is a good thriller (not so much for the scares but rather for the atmosphere). Well, it hasn't the sophistication of some film noirs of the 40s and 50s but its charm resides in its simplicity not deprived of sense of humor. Joan Crawfords acting is of course superb and the supporting cast does also a good job. The story is interesting and will keep your attention till the end.

I've seen 2 other Castle films ("The Tingler" and "House on Haunted Hill") - both of them funny and entertaining, but I think that "Strait-Jacket" is the best one - it is not so amateurish and goes deeper than the other ones, but still preserves the light touch characteristic of William Castle. There are surprises in store. Go for it!