Product Details

• Actors: Joan Crawford, Wendell Corey, Lucile Watson, Allyn Joslyn, William Bishop
• Directors: Vincent Sherman
• Writers: Anne Froelich, George Kelly, James Gunn
• Producers: William Dozier
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: February 20, 1996
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303962068
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,258 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WIFEY DEAREST...., December 2, 2001

By	Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This is an engrossing film of a cold, calculating, and manipulative woman, Harriet Craig, who is married to Walter Craig, a very nice man who adores her. She lives in an impeccably appointed mansion with him, has two servants, and a poor relation, Claire, who caters to her every whim. Life should be great. Wrong!

Harriet is not happy, unless she is able to control everyone and everything around her. A regular martinet and perfectionist, she is cruel to the servants and totally self absorbed. If something does not revolve around Harriet, then it is of no import. She stops at nothing to get what she wants, even if it means destroying those who love her.

Harriet keeps her husband on a short lease, and he is so besotted by her that, at first, he does not even notice. She is a master at maintaining her own status quo. Then, one day she goes too far. Walter is going get a long awaited promotion that will require him to travel abroad. As this does not fit in with Harriet's plans, she surreptitiously moves heaven and earth to quash the promotion. At first, Walter is puzzled by his change of circumstances, but when he discovers Harriet's treachery, no more Mr. Nice Guy.

Joan Crawford is magnificent as the cold, implacable, and shrewish Harriet. Wendell Corey is wonderful as the besotted husband, who has his kind heart ripped out by his wife's perfidy. Look for a wonderful performance by the delightful Lucille Watson, as the perceptive wife of Walter's boss. While Harriet may have fooled everyone else, she certainly did not fool her.

This is a wonderful film that all Joan Crawford fans will love. Aficionados of classic films will, likewise, enjoy it. Bravo!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crawford in Full Control, December 3, 1999

By A Customer

The play "Craig's Wife"(title of an earlier movie version with Roz Russell) may have been a daring-for-its-day look at a phenomenon of Depression-era America's upwardly-mobile middle class: the empty shell of a woman for whom position and appearance mean everything. (Mary Tyler Moore played an updated version in "Ordinary People.") But when Crawford the control-freak assumed the role, it took on grotesque dimensions -- down to her 1950 hairdo that looks like an Oreo with a bite out of it. This is one role Crawford played that must have been completely natural to her -- the narcissistic despot of "Mommie Dearest." (And with tired old Wendell Corey as her spouse and foil, she steals every scene.) Still, it's fun to watch this cool schemer get her comeuppance -- but, when she regally ascends her spiral staircase in the last shot, alone among the splendor of her possessions, you wonder who has won after all.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joan Crawford in full throttle, October 10, 2002

By	Simon Davis - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

"Harriet Craig" is a startling and awe inspiring movie which is dominated from beginning to end by Joan Crawford in a standout performance as the character of the title, a cold and calculating woman used to getting her own way in all things. Never was a role more tailor made for an actress than this one and it is a tribute to Joan Crawford's great (and often underrated) talent that she manages to pull it off and add extra dimension to an otherwise unlikeable character.

This film was based on the stage play and previous movie starring Rosalind Russell called "Craig's Wife" and deals with a domineering and manipulative woman who runs her beautifully furnished home like an army base and also controls the lives of her husband and servants as she sees fit. Despite having everything in life to make her happy Harriet is only content when she has people to herself, namely her Husband Walter played superbly by Wendall Corey and her cousin Clare (KT Stevens). What transpires is in a way a very sad tale of a woman who by her perfectionism destroys everything she ever had.

Despite being the monster she undoubtedly is there is one scene were Harriet retells some of her childhood history and it goes along way towards explaining her current manical behaviour. Joan Crawford is always superb in playing anguished women forced into hazardous situations. Here she is in her element as she manages to stop Walter obtaining a great job promotion to Japan to keep him with her, manages to break up Clare's relationship with Wes Millar, Walter's assistant and stricks terror into all her staff when they fail to meet her impossibly high standards.

Wendall Corey, an often underrated actor, is excellent in the role of Harriet's besotted husband who ultimately learns the hard way about Harriet's calculating ways. the scenes after he realizes Harriets calculating manipulation are superb as he turns the tables on her at the dinner table and flushes out all the deceit and lies that Harriet has told about all those who are supposedly dear to her. He proceeds to smash one of Harriet's prized Chinese antique vases and that is a symbol that what Harriet had is now finished, broken and cannot be repaired. Fiona O'Sheil and Ellen Corby also score in the roles of Harriet's domestic staff who suffer under her perfectionist yoke. O'Sheil in particular has a wonderfully dramatic scene when she resigns from the staff and warns Harriet about having a beautiful house which has no warmth or love in it.

"Harriet Craig" while a quite disturbing film to watch, filled as it is with a manipulative central character and surrounding people who in one way or the other are victims, is a splendidly acted piece of movie making which is totally engrossing. Despite her character's faults I still feel an element of pity for Harriet, in particular during the scenes with her mother where the lack of love and deprivation of her childhood goes at least part of the way towards explaining her adult actions. Joan Crawford is of course the whole movie and she makes "Harriet Craig" a memorable viewing experience. If like me you are a Crawford fan you will definately see it as one of Joan's very best later performances. Enjoy!