{"id":4845,"date":"2007-11-27T22:55:39","date_gmt":"2007-11-28T05:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4845"},"modified":"2021-02-02T13:45:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T20:45:51","slug":"harriet-craig-1950","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4845","title":{"rendered":"Harriet Craig (1950)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;No man&#8217;s born ready for marriage; he has to be trained.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Harriet-Craig-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Harriet-Craig-Poster-201x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-68086\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Harriet-Craig-Poster-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Harriet-Craig-Poster-685x1024.png 685w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Harriet-Craig-Poster-86x128.png 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Harriet-Craig-Poster-181x270.png 181w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Harriet-Craig-Poster.png 749w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDomineering housewife Harriet Craig (Joan Crawford) lies to her unsuspecting husband (Wendell Corey) and treats her faithful cousin Celia (K.T. Stevens) like a personal secretary; but when Harriet interferes with her husband&#8217;s chance for promotion &#8212; and Celia&#8217;s chance for marriage with a well-meaning suitor (William Bishop) &#8212; she&#8217;s finally called on her lies and manipulating tactics.\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>Character Studies<\/li>\n<li>Henpecked Husbands<\/li>\n<li>Housewives<\/li>\n<li>Joan Crawford Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<li>Wendell Corey Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Harriet Craig<\/em> is the third cinematic adaptation of George Kelly&#8217;s 1925 stage play <em>Craig&#8217;s Wife<\/em> &#8212; filmed first in 1928 by William C. de Mille, and then <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25541\">in 1936 by Dorothy Arzner<\/a> &#8212; and is one of many vehicles in which Crawford essentially plays a version of herself. In this case, she&#8217;s a neurotic, manipulative woman who uses others for her own needs, and cares more about maintaining a perfect house than promoting the happiness of its inhabitants (anyone who&#8217;s read Christina Crawford&#8217;s memoir <em>Mommie Dearest<\/em>, or seen <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2306\">the movie version<\/a>, will immediately recognize shades of Joan in Harriet). The story itself, unfortunately, is less convincing: while it&#8217;s hinted that Harriet&#8217;s sway over her husband (Corey is perfectly cast) is primarily sexual, it&#8217;s still tough to imagine that he would remain deluded about her pathological tendencies for so many years; and his shift from adoration to contempt is far too sudden. Similarly, Celia&#8217;s blind devotion to Harriet &#8212; despite whatever favors Harriet did for her years earlier &#8212; beggars belief; and Harriet&#8217;s desire for status and wealth is at odds with how desperately she tries to prevent her husband&#8217;s promotion. Despite its narrative flaws, however, <em>Harriet Craig<\/em> remains worth a look simply for its status as a prototypical Crawford flick.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> A more apt title for the film would perhaps be <em>Harriet&#8217;s House<\/em> &#8212; indeed, the house itself is a central character.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Joan Crawford as Harriet (check out the flame lapels)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-crawford.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-crawford.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4848\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Wendell Corey as Walter<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-corey.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-corey.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4849\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Allyn Joslyn as Walter&#8217;s friend Billy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-billy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-billy.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4847\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A disturbing portrait of a housewife whose need for control jeopardizes her marriage<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-relationship.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/harriet-craig-relationship.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4850\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s certainly worth a look. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0042544\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1950\/11\/03\/archives\/the-screen-in-review-harriet-craig-film-adaptation-of-george-kellys.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/27784\/harriet-craig\/#articles-reviews?articleId=161061\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinchronicle.com\/gyrobase\/Issue\/review?oid=oid%3A75697\">Austin Chronicle Review (scroll down to second review)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/harriet-craig\/review\/125476\">T.V. Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;No man&#8217;s born ready for marriage; he has to be trained.&#8221; Synopsis: Domineering housewife Harriet Craig (Joan Crawford) lies to her unsuspecting husband (Wendell Corey) and treats her faithful cousin Celia (K.T. Stevens) like a personal secretary; but when Harriet interferes with her husband&#8217;s chance for promotion &#8212; and Celia&#8217;s chance for marriage with a well-meaning suitor (William Bishop) &#8212; she&#8217;s finally called on her lies and manipulating tactics. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Character Studies Henpecked Husbands Housewives Joan&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4845\"> 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-4845","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\/4845","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=4845"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68087,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4845\/revisions\/68087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}