Strait-Jacket (1964)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

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 | Pepsi | Mother Versus Daughter | Mother Daughter Relationship

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)
Lyn 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: 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.)

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:

Joan Crawford required the script be completely rewritten to her specifications before she agreed to sign on to the film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: There are several references to the Fields' farm being a dairy farm. However, in multiple scenes, you can see that they are Black Angus beef cattle.

Quotes:

Lucy Harbin: Carol, you want a drink?
Carol Harbin: No thank you, Mother.
Lucy Harbin: But it's a celebration.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Morgan Stewart's Coming Home (1987)

Soundtrack:

There Goes That Song

A full throttle plunge into dementia!!!!

For die-hard Crawford fan's this movie is an absolute hoot!!!! To see our gal Joanie decked out in the horrible wig with bangs to the jangling bracelets, it's a camp classic. Joan plays a woman who catches her young husband in bed with another hoochie and murders them both with an AXE and is sent to the loony bin for a number of years. The fun starts when she is released and guess what, you got it, axe murders start up again, imagine that????? Only Crawford could deliver banal lines with a completely straight face and she does give it her all, but the movie is just too silly to be taken seriously. Please watch it if you are teetering on the brink of insanity.