{"id":25541,"date":"2012-04-27T10:56:58","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T17:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25541"},"modified":"2020-12-12T10:24:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T17:24:07","slug":"craigs-wife-1936","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25541","title":{"rendered":"Craig&#8217;s Wife (1936)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Nobody can know another human being enough to trust him.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Poster-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-25544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Poster-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Poster-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Poster.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA controlling, upwardly mobile housewife (Rosalind Russell) who married her adoring husband (John Boles) for his money finds her carefully planned life crumbling apart when her husband&#8217;s volatile friend (Thomas Mitchell) is found dead.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dorothy Arzner Films<\/li>\n<li>Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues<\/li>\n<li>Housewives<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Rosalind Russell Films<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<li>Thomas Mitchell Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nFilm fanatics are likely most familiar with the third cinematic adaptation of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Craig%27s_Wife\">George Kelly&#8217;s Pulitzer Prize-winning play<\/a>, retitled as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4845\"><em>Harriet Craig<\/em> (1950)<\/a>, and starring Joan Crawford in what many consider to be one of her most personally-defined performances. Indeed, given how closely Crawford&#8217;s own infamous persona aligns with the play&#8217;s troubled protagonist, one might find it difficult to imagine anyone else in the role &#8212; yet the indomitable Rosalind Russell is equally up to the task. Indeed, by the end of the story, Russell actually manages to make us feel somewhat sorry for this most unsympathetic of heroines, a calculating woman so focused on maintaining control over her household that she stupidly fails to recognize her imminent downfall. <\/p>\n<p>Watching <em>Harriet Craig<\/em> a few years ago was my personal introduction to Kelly&#8217;s play; viewing it once again (albeit in a truncated fashion; this film runs just 73 minutes, 21 minutes less than <em>Harriet Craig<\/em>), I had a renewed appreciation for the important themes he&#8217;s attempting to address, and I found myself doubly thankful that this earlier version was directed by Dorothy Arzner, whose feminist sensibilities shine through clearly. Indeed, Russell&#8217;s Harriet comes across as nothing less than a deeply self-preserving woman who recognizes that her only chance at security in life is wooing a well-off man who will give her whatever she wants; her mistake, of course, lies in failing to recognize that longevity requires more than just this initial conquest. To that end, I remain troubled in both adaptations by the unrealistic character arc of Craig&#8217;s husband, who shifts from adoring puppy (how can he be <em>so<\/em> clueless?) to wounded cynic far too quickly &#8212; but this time around, I found myself better able to understand the need for dramatic compression (this <em>is<\/em> an adaptation of a play, after all). Ultimately, both <em>Craig&#8217;s Wife<\/em> and <em>Harriet Craig<\/em> remains worth a look by those interested in engaging with the play&#8217;s challenging yet provocative premise.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rosalind Russell as Harriet Craig<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Russell.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Russell.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"448\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Russell.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Russell-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Russell-300x221.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>John Boles as Walter Craig<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Boles.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Boles.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"448\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Boles.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Boles-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Boles-300x221.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Arzner&#8217;s confident direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Direction.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"448\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Direction.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Direction-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Craigs-Wife-Direction-300x221.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s certainly worth a look. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0027474\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1936\/10\/02\/archives\/the-screen-the-music-hall-presents-a-skillful-film-version-of-that.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/27398\/craigs-wife#articles-reviews?articleId=198746\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Nobody can know another human being enough to trust him.&#8221; Synopsis: A controlling, upwardly mobile housewife (Rosalind Russell) who married her adoring husband (John Boles) for his money finds her carefully planned life crumbling apart when her husband&#8217;s volatile friend (Thomas Mitchell) is found dead. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Dorothy Arzner Films Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues Housewives Marital Problems Play Adaptation Rosalind Russell Films Strong Females Thomas Mitchell Films Review: Film fanatics are likely most familiar with the third&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25541\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25541"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57324,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25541\/revisions\/57324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}