MovieChat Forums > I Saw What You Did (1965) Discussion > Joan, what the f@%k were u thinking!

Joan, what the f@%k were u thinking!

posted 15 years ago by Eva1-1
14 replies | jump to latest

Does anybody else wonder why in the world Joan did all these awful films in the 1960's-70's following "Baby Jane?" I mean they're great camp fun, but I'm sure she didn't need the money, as she must have been a multi-millionaire by that time .. & she was married to the Pepsi exec. Also, can somebody tell me why they kept putting a 60+ year-old woman with all these young studly guys? I'm thinking "Berserk" and "Strait-Jacket" as well as this film. It's just too, too funny watching her all dressed up and trying to be VERY SEXY and the men actually finding her attractive with all that makeup and beehive hair! A woman of 60 in 1965 was definitely not like a 60-year-old today ... ala Raquel Welch, who still looks incredible at nearly 70!

[–] lastmidnite2 15 years ago

Joan was obviously drunk in several scenes in this movie, which she must have been when she agreed to do it!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] majictiger3-1 15 years ago

True....she was almost penniless after her last husband passed away....she made these movies because they were cheap and the producers thought by getting a star like Joan, even if she was much older, they would bring in a good box office draw...instead they remain some of the most campy classics to date! I am thrilled that she made them...they are just too funny to watch and sometimes actually scary!

[–] babettegillette 14 years ago

Booze money. A majority of women smoked in that era. That ages people. Far fewer smoke today.

[–] miriamwebster 14 years ago

And whether she needed money or not (which she probably did), she was an ACTRESS--and what else was she going to do? Retire from the screen and open a day care center? That's all she knew how to do.

[–] Devans00 8 years ago

miriamwebster
And whether she needed money or not (which she probably did), she was an ACTRESS--and what else was she going to do? Retire from the screen and open a day care center? That's all she knew how to do.

I agree. Joan Crawford started in movies as a chorus girl in 1929 and worked steadily, without a big breaks, up through this movie. Not easy to turn off being an actor after 36 years. Especially if she needed the money.

No two persons ever watch the same movie.

[–] robotrix 13 years ago

According to Christina Crawford's book, Joan was broke before she married the Pepsi executive too. Or at least that's what she told her - that she had to work her way through private school from then on.

Regular studios wouldn't give her decent roles. I think the best she could get at that time was The Best of Everything - and then she wasn't the star.

As to why people put her in these films....she was a well-known name. And William Castle was pretty shameless as far as making a quick horror film and attaching over the top marketing and gimmicks (like the skeleton that "flew" out of the screen at the end of House on Haunted Hill).

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Last night, I was lying back looking at the stars and I thought...where the *beep* is my ceiling???

[–] jcb-nyc 9 years ago

Castle wasn't "shameless." He was a showman, giving the kind of showmanship that created a lot of fun for a lot of people.

[–] PrometheusTree64 9 years ago

Castle was pretty hapless as a director, but made a better producer putting projects together.

But I SAW WHAT YOU DID benefits from the presence of gothic Crawford, that Cold War creepy simplicity of the early-'60s, and the exquisite B&W mood photography of Joseph Biroc (who gave more dignity than deserved to more than one Castle movie) and if only he'd shot STRAIT-JACKET!

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http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m127/tubesteak69/Divas_Who_Drink-1.jpg

[–] cdjunkee-1 8 years ago

I really enjoyed Joan's performance. I found her character sympathetic and felt bad when she got killed.

[–] phillindholm 8 years ago

I also enjoy her performance-but didn't find her 'sympathetic''. As for her death, she almost literally ASKED for it. Great looking Blu-Ray, by the way.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] shango7200 8 years ago

She probably gut $20,000. 00 for 4 days work. Wouldn't YOU take the job!????

"In every dimension , there's another YOU!"

[–] 8 years ago

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