Set your VCRs or whatevers - the seldom-seen CRAIG'S WIFE (1936) will be shown on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday 7/08 at 8:00 PM (EST).
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
I wish I'd seen your posting earlier. Only caught the last half-hour of this. Quite interesting and quite different in tone from the Joan Crawford remake, "Harriet Craig".
Kudos to Rosalind Russell for managing to project beyond those quite extraordinary eyelashes they put on her. From the little I saw, Russell's Harriet seemed more human than Crawford's. One could sense a normal human being lurking beneath this Craig's wife. Her remorse seemed more in keeping with what had happened to her. Great expressions on her face in the last few moments - as if she *might* actually be capable of change.
Doubtless director Dorothy Arzner had a better insight into the character than Vincent Sherman who directed the remake. His version presents Harriet as an irredeemable bitch, in keeping with his own misogynist bent (he recalls with glee slapping Crawford to the floor in "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star").
Hilarious to see Billie Burke come sweeping in as the neighbour lady with the roses in the last scene. Shades of Glinda whenever I hear that voice. Hope TCM shows this again sometime - would like to see the whole thing.
How did you like it?
I have to chuckle, but it seems that all of us on this thread (so far) missed the first 1/2 or something like that (I think I missed perhaps the first 30 minutes).
What a fascinating film this is & Rosalind Russell was absolutely great in this. I sometimes forget how good an actress she really was.
Interestingly, I've also only seen parts of "Harriet Craig" & now definitely want to watch it from beginning to end based on what you say in your post.
Message me if you would like a copy
shareI have never seen this movie and due technical problems I missed getting the first 40 minnutes, Is there any way I could get a copy from you or someone , I really wanted to see this movie. Particularly because Arzner directed. Maybe we could trade please drop a line to bearcor1-AT-gmail.com
Thanks
Wow, I feel lucky that I caught the whole thing. I don't watch too many pre-WWII films for reasons that I am uncertain, but I really enjoyed this.
It's amazing how dense and how quickly the dialogue moved in those days. It kept me on my toes throughout.
I was lucky enough to record the movie. We have direct TV, and there was no interference. "Craig's Wife" was interesting to watch because I've seen "Harriet Craig" at least a couple of times. I watch it whenever it comes on TCM.
I, too, was a little thrown by the Billie Burk's appearance as the nice and understanding neighbor. I was doing a bit of ironing during that scene, and I heard "Glenda's" voice and looked up to see Billie Burk.
Like the other poster mentioned, Rosalind Russell, did seem more human than Joan Crawford although still unlikable as the frigid Harriet Craig. Rosalind as Harriet was more a victim of circumstances, which she didn't handle well because of her stunted relationships with others. However, Joan, as Harriet, maliciously engineered circumstances to remain in control. Interesting difference I think. Another example is how Rosalind/Harriet did try to reach out to Billie Burk's character, but Joan/Harriet remained an island onto herself to the end.
"This is not good for my rage."