Rosalind Russell as Star of the Month

[jdb1]

Did you watch Craig's Wife last night? I remembered liking this movie a lot when I saw it, but that was a long time ago. This time I was somewhat disappointed, since I am now seeing it in light of also recently having seen the later version with Joan Crawford, called Harriet Craig.

I now understand why the plot of Harriet Craig is so different, and I think the makers of that film did the right thing in tailoring the basic idea of the story to be more meaty for Crawford. The fact that Crawford was much older in her version than was Russell in hers makes a big difference, I think. It adds a dynamic to the rather pale original plot: that is, the desperation of a no-longer young wife trying to hold on to her affable and attractive husband, while denying him the children he has expressed a desire for.

I thought also that Russell didn't really dig deeply enough into Harriet; she was rigid and cold, but I don't feel she was nearly rigid and nasty enough, and I do think she would have been capable of being so, even at that young age. That Crawford could play such a part in her sleep is a given.

However, within the confines of the rather stilted dialog, I thought everyone involved was quite good, although I really chafe at the pseudo-British speech Russell affected in that era. We got to know a very different Roz in the years following this movie, and I think most of us like that one a lot better. I especially enjoyed the performances of Jane Darwell and Nydia Westman as the maids. John Boles was a bit stiff at times, but not at all bad. I thought he made Walter quite sympathetic.

Two more things: I could have sworn that the investigating detective was called "Catlett" by the maid, but that at one point someone at headquarters talking to him on the phone called him "Butell." And does anyone know what the Birkmires were drinking in the early bar scene? Like little sno-cones in a cocktail glass, with cherries on top. Were those maybe creme de menthe frappes?

[MissGoddess]

This was my first look at Rosalind's CRAIG'S WIFE and while I did enjoy it as a stand-alone movie, in comparison to Joan's remake I think it does suffer. The one exception is the finale...I do think the way that end scene was filmed, mostly without dialogue, was very effective and it contained Rosalind's most deeply felt performance in the entire movie. She made you feel sorry for her for the first time. And, as Judith noted, she's still so young and pretty I don't worry she'll have any trouble starting over again. Not so with Crawford's older Harriet.

I thought the murder angle was completely unnecessary. Also the young neice character is much better delineated in the remake and she functions as more of a catalyst while emphasizing that Harriet's manipulative powers could work on others besides her husband. In this version, the neice disappears for so long I'd forgotten she was upstairs "asleep". I also didn't quite understand the boyfriend's panic over losing touch with her for just one evening so that he had to jump on his white steed to rescue her. In the remake he is a person known to the Craigs and fits more naturally into the story.

The plot and changes of emphasis in the remake definitely made it a stronger story than this one.

[mongoII]

It's the first time I watched "Craig's Wife" (too short) and it's apparent that the remake with Joan Crawford spoiled it for me.
There were too many loose ends and what's with that murder-suicide?
Indeed Rosalind Russell, alhough she was good, was too young for the role.
It also surprised me that Robert Osborne didn't mention "Hariet Craig".

[egolden]

Interesting. Ros Russell was a little too young for the role (Ruth Chatterton might have been better in '36), but the movie was better than I'd expected. Lots of plot changes from the later version, I wonder which was truer to the Broadway play? And I wonder if the silent, with Irene Rich, still exists?

Director Dorothy Arzner snuck in a few feminist lines about how women had to look out for themselves (though that might have been in the play, too), and I love how she had the two older single ladies go off as "traveling companions" together!

[jdb1]

Yes, I did feel for Harriet at the end, when she broke down. Russell did that very nicely (and she looked so beautiful). I also liked the scene where she comes into the kitchen and sees a stranger (the second maid's boyfriend), and summarily fires that maid. I think Russell hit the mark well in that episode, demonstrating just how cold and controlling Harriet really was. That level should have been maintained throughout the film.

But I can't picture Crawford having the same meltdown at the end of the story, and she certainly doesn't in Harriet Craig. That Harriet is just too self-absorbed to be very bothered by her losses, even if she does recognize it as a momentary setback. She loves her house more than anything else, and that's what she's left with, so it's fine with her.

I have now been thinking about remakes, a subject many of us have discussed before on the TCM board. There are indeed instances where a remake is better than the original(s), and I think the Craig's Wife/Harriet Craig comparison shows this (has anyone actually seen the first one - the silent?)

[inglis]

I love her in The Trouble With Angels .She played the part of the Mother Superior.Her dealings with the two students played by Hayley Mills and June Harding are just hilarious.Mary Wickes deserves a mention as the studious gym teacher.