Joan vs. Rosalind Russell
Has anyone seen both versions? which do you like more?
shareDorothy Arzner's 1936 "Craig's Wife," which is much closer to the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by George Kelly, and far more probing and less soapy than Vincent Sherman's stripped-down 1950 remake, is the better film.
Neither Russell in one version nor Crawford in the other is particularly good, in my opinion, but it hardly matters. The central character is a dead center. Craig's wife is irrelevant to "Craig's Wife" in any of its incarnations. However, I'm sure you are aware that Russell's performance is somewhat more highly regarded.
I just watched Craig's Wife and, in my opinion, it was the better of the two films. I felt Rosalind Russell's portrayal was more believable because I don't normally think of her in dead serious dramatic roles. I recall thinking that Joan Crawford does often play the very same kind of character and I find her acting less interesting because of it. That's just my two cents.
shareCrawford's performance is the better one and HARRIET CRAIG is a far more interesting film than CRAIG'S WIFE. Crawford is well suited to the role and the structure and denoument of the film are so much better conveyed than in the Russell version. Crawford's Harriet is more calculating and sexually liberated and tells so many more lies that when it all finally comes crashing down upon her at the end she can't keep straight what lies she told to whom and her whole life comes tumbling in. It is a sight to behold Crawford trying to keep up the pretense when one lie comes on top of another at a meteroic rate. It is a brilliantly directed, acted and scripted last half hour. I love Rosalind Russell but her version is boring and she makes Harriet way too sympathetic and not the shrew the script demands. She also seems too young and inexperienced for the part. CRAWFORD reigns supreme. Better dramatic Russell films are PICNIC, MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA and THE VELVET TOUCH.
shareI haven't seen HARRIET CRAIG yet, but from reading comments about it I can't help but wonder if people react to Crawford's performance not only based on other Crawford performances but because of what we now know about her real-life personality quirks and actions. I realize, of course, that it's difficult not to do this, though I fear it may color some performances unfairly, while actually enhancing others (when I watch Audrey Hepburn in THE NUN'S STORY, for instance, her performance seems enhanced by the knowledge of all the good works she did in her later years).
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
I agree with both you and scotgrunes. I prefer the older talkie to this remake.
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