bob-790-196018 As so often happened in Hollywood back in the day, form outweighs content in this movie. Basically it's a soap opera. But thanks to excellent movie-making craftsmanship, it's a soaper well worth watching--very enjoyable.The cast is excellent, and outshining them all is Joan Crawford, marching through her ultra-neat mansion like a drill sergeant. With her broad padded shoulders, butch hairdo, flashing eyes and jutting jaw, she scares the pants off any weak man, and, alas, Wendell Corey as her husband is that man, a fine fellow but eminently malleable and trusting, at least until the last part of the movie.To me the best part of the movie consists of the two final confrontations between Crawford and Corey. The movie is full of great lines but the rapid-fire exchanges in these confrontations, delivered with expert timing, are just super. Fine work by writers Anne Froelich and James Gunn.Of course I spent the whole movie waiting for that vase to be smashed! The closing shot of Crawford left with her husband's lavish house but not much else, is a powerful ending.

tsmith417 In this remake of "Craig's Wife" Joan Crawford assumes the role of Harriet Craig, the woman to whom objects are more important than people.The biggest difference to me is that in this version Harriet is more concerned with running other people's lives, whereas in the 1936 version she is only concerned with keeping people from interfering with the smooth running of her own life.Joan Crawford's character is more devious, more suspicious, while Rosalind Russell played it as detached and aloof. Crawford undermines everyone around her; Russell ignores them. Crawford is obvious, like a raging river carving out a canyon; Russell is insidious, like a tiny trickle of water eating away at a foundation.Crawford's severe hairdo makes her look like a prison guard, to represent her rigid personality. Although Russell had a softer look about her, her perfectly straight posture was the giveaway to her feelings about the world around her.Of the two I prefer the Rosalind Russell version.

blanche-2 Joan Crawford is "Harriet Craig," a manipulative, insecure woman who has to control everything around her in this 1950 film also starring Wendell Corey, K.T. Stevens, Lucile Watson, Allyn Joslyn and Viola Roche.The director, Vincent Sherman, knew how to get a good performance out of Crawford and did so several times, in "Goodbye, My Fancy" and "The Damned Don't Cry." He described her as a very bright, knowledgeable woman when it came to every aspect of filming. Here, Crawford is a cold, manipulative bitch married to hapless Walter (Corey), and as is implied, the sex is great. Pretty soon, he forgets that he's uncomfortable in his own house and that Harriet has isolated him from his friends and things he used to enjoy, and also that she can't have children - so she says. Harriet is unfortunately stuck with the old Craig family housekeeper, Mrs. Howard, who continues to be a burr in her saddle. Mrs. Howard sees through Harriet, as does the boss' wife (Watson). She recommends a promotion which will require Walter to spend some time away from dear Harriet in China. When Harriet finds out, she has a fit and makes sure the boss decides against sending him. Wouldn't want Walter gambling away the company money while drunk, now, would we? Harriet's niece Clare (Stevens) is made to feel extremely grateful by Harriet, so she works for Harriet for free. When Harriet finds out a worker at Walter's lab is interested in Clare, she tells Clare he's a womanizer who brags about it. Harriet is a piece of work.The saddest part of all of this is that I know someone like Harriet and believe me, this portrait is only slightly exaggerated! They are sad cases. They make the lives of everyone around them miserable. And they aren't happy people.Crawford is great in the role and has been said, she plays this type of part very well. She has the regal looks, the voice, and the requisite chilly delivery. For those who say this was the real Crawford, no one knows for sure. I don't think anyone deals with the woman herself at this point, only a plastic persona. She had to have been a lot more charming than Harriet and also, unlike Harriet, capable of letting down her hair once in a while and having a good time. Crawford the actress had many more sides to her than the "Queen Bee" and "Harriet Craig" persona. I think she was at her best in "A Woman's Face" and "Possessed" (the second one) which show what she could really do. I never felt she was great in comedy, but she was a hard worker who could do drama well.Wendell Corey does a good job as a man who loves his wife, his work and his friends and has to walk a thin line. The rest of the cast is uniformly very good, and the Craig house is gorgeous, if you like living in a museum. I'm really talking about the layout.As a spoiler, I think it would have been a riot if, after what we see in the film, Walter ended up with the widow next door. Who knows? Maybe he did.

MarieGabrielle This film seems tailor-made for Ms. Crawford and her persona. A controlling housewife, Harriet Craig, she controls all of her husband's life, (portrayed well by a kind-hearted Wendell Corey), who you may also recognize as the long suffering husband in "No Sad Songs for Me".Harriet is a desperate housewife, whose own father abandoned her. Her mission in life is order and control, of the house, her husband, and his career. She refuses to have children, and conceals this from her husband ( unheard of in 1950!).Crawford looks lovely, is a beautiful woman, but people have problems relating to her. She is not an accepting person. Eventually her scheming and attempt to thwart Corey's trip to Japan disgusts him, and he decides he can carry on his life in a more normal manner with someone, anyone else.Crawford and her hauteur are classic, there are some small scenes which are almost amusing as she obsesses about a vase, and scolds a young neighbor boy. Overall a do not miss. 9/10.