Straight-Jacket (2004)

In 1950's Hollywood, movie star Guy Stone must marry a studio secretary in order to conceal his homosexuality. Sally has no idea her marriage is a sham, though, and turns Guy's life upside-down. Then he falls in love.

Director:

Richard Day

Writers:

Richard Day (play), Richard Day (screenplay)

Stars:

Matt Letscher, Carrie Preston, Adam Greer

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Matt Letscher	...	Guy Stone
Carrie Preston	...	Sally Stone
Adam Greer	...	Rick Foster
Veronica Cartwright	...	Jerry Albrecht
Victor Raider-Wexler	...	Saul Ornstein
Jack Plotnick	...	Freddie Stevens
Michael Emerson	...	Victor
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Alan	...	Waiter
David Burke	...	Ray Verrine
Matt Bushell	...	Moron #2
Jennifer Elise Cox	...	Betty Bright
Shea Curry	...	Starlet
Tammy Dahlstrom	...	Tourist
Scott Fishkind	...	Reporter
John Ganun	...	Crewman

Storyline

In 1950's Hollywood, movie star Guy Stone must marry a studio secretary in order to conceal his homosexuality. Sally has no idea her marriage is a sham, though, and turns Guy's life upside-down. Then he falls in love.

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Plot Keywords:

1950s | marriage | secretary | homosexuality | character says i love you | 

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Taglines:

Fame... Money... Girls... What's his secret?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

Regent Releasing [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$2,888 (USA) (3 December 2004)

Gross:

$45,463 (USA) (15 April 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

SRO Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jackie Hoffman, who originated the role of Jerry in the stage play, was asked to reprise her role, but couldn't due to her appearance in "Hairspray: The Musical."

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Goofs

The wall telephone (in Guy's apartment), is not period. They didn't have phones like that until the late 60's. The phone cord is not accurate either. That phone appears to have a modular connection, and not the thick type cord in the older phones.

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Quotes

Victor: [to Guy:] Sir, if I may: Mr. Foster is a man of much higher caliber than you deserve. If I were you, I'd stop worrying about how to cut him loose and I'd start worrying about how to keep him. Because letting him go will be a mistake that will haunt you until your miserable, lonely, alcohol-soaked death.

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Crazy Credits

No animals or homosexuals were injured in the making of this film.

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Connections

Referenced in 2005 Glitter Awards (2005)

User Reviews

Serious vs. Fun

There is a quote by a popular musical duo where they talk about some of their albums as being meant to be taken seriously where as others are meant to be taken as entertainment or for the pleasure and enjoyment. I think film should be viewed this way as well. On that level, this works fine as an entertainment. It's very obvious an independent film with a limited budget and, if anyone bothered to do some research or get the DVD and listen to the voice over, they would have discovered that Skywalker Sound donates their services to films that wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it. So the people complaining about the CGI or the sound obviously have no conception of what an independent movie is. The fact that mainstreams studios have been funding $5 and $10 million movies and releasing them through their art house labels skewers the fact that a number of films are still made and released for budgets well under that. There's no way they had $10M for this movie.

It's a good example of attempting to do what was done with Down With Love but without the budget. The performances are fine, with some really good work by a few of the performers, the dialogue was good although the situations and resolutions were, not surprisingly, predictable, especially at times. It should exceed your expectations unless you really are expecting a $5 or $10 million production or more.