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Craig's Wife

Play trailer Poster for Craig's Wife 1936 1h 13m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
A pushy pessimist with an eye for the finer things in life, Harriet (Rosalind Russell) has married Walter Craig (John Boles) because he is able to provide the kind of posh lifestyle she is certain she deserves. She feels not the slightest bit of guilt about her lack of affection for her husband, and aside from John himself, everyone around her seems to realize this. But when her husband gets a scare involving the police, Harriet's way of life is threatened.

Critics Reviews

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Kat Sachs Chicago Reader 10/03/2024
The personal is certainly political, and collaboration is key. Go to Full Review
Frank S. Nugent New York Times 03/25/2006
The entire weight of the drama depends upon the malign effectiveness of its central character and Miss Russell, here enjoying her first real opportunity in Hollywood, gives a viciously eloquent performance. Go to Full Review
Meyer Levin (Patterson Murphy) Esquire Magazine 04/22/2020
Very competently done character study of the wife who has a perfect-house mania. Closely follows the play, which is not a bit dated. Go to Full Review
Liz Galst Sojourner 09/04/2019
[Director Dorothy] Arzner played her part to perfection: she added to her films "a woman's touch," while never really challenging the patriarchal stranglehold on cinema. Her 1936 film Craig's Wife bears this out well. Go to Full Review
Ann Ross Maclean's Magazine 08/07/2019
A deft and well-acted screen version of the Pulitzer Prize play. Go to Full Review
Lauren Humphries-Brooks Citizen Dame 06/18/2019
Harriet Craig is not formed by her past but by her culture, fulfilling the requisite role of the housewife to a degree that turns her into a monster of patriarchy's own making. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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A R 08/16/2023 I like movies based on plays because they tend to focus on dialogue and excellent acting, and this is no exception. Rosalind Russell in particular gives and amazingly believable and subtle performance as the detached, manipulative wife. That said, I don't understand the takeaway here, besides the expositional final passage 'those who live alone are usually left alone'...I hope there's more to this movie than that singular concept. As a movie directed by a woman, focusing on women's position in a patriarchal society - I'd like to find a different conclusion here. See more 03/05/2019 Engrossing thriller that intends to tell a message plainly and simply. Rosalind Russell and John Boles play their roles magnificently as do the supporting actors. The film is tight, always moving to its inevitable conclusion. See more 06/28/2011 This version is a must see classic. Ms. Russell's performance compelling. I like this version much better than the 1950 remake starring Crawford. See more 02/06/2011 Russell is superb in this glossy adaptation of the stage play. See more 01/07/2009 good weepy melodrama See more 09/10/2008 A film so criminally undervalued and a little forgotten, it's also a much better version of the play than it's glossy and somewhat misogynistic Crawford remake. It's pioneering director, Dorothy Arzner, was unique in two ways. Not only the only woman director making big studio pics during the Hollywood Golden Age but also a lesbian who made no secret of her sexuality. Most surely a gay icon as well as a feminist one. Her version of Craig's Wife is very much a crack at the male dominated studio system of the time (good on her!!). Arzner's Harriet Craig is also a much more sympathetic character than the one being justly (?!) punished in the remake (which, of course, was produced and directed by men) See more Read all reviews
Craig's Wife

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Movie Info

Synopsis A pushy pessimist with an eye for the finer things in life, Harriet (Rosalind Russell) has married Walter Craig (John Boles) because he is able to provide the kind of posh lifestyle she is certain she deserves. She feels not the slightest bit of guilt about her lack of affection for her husband, and aside from John himself, everyone around her seems to realize this. But when her husband gets a scare involving the police, Harriet's way of life is threatened.
Director
Dorothy Arzner
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 13m