Strait-Jacket (1964) Film Locations
Strait-Jacket (1964) Film Locations
“Lucy Harbin took an ax, gave her husband 40 whacks.
When she saw what she had done, gave his girlfriend 41,”
I’m a pushover for cute little nursery rhymes, particularly ones based off of Lizzie Borden.
Starting with “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” in 1962, a slew of psycho-biddy movies hit the silver screen. William Castle’s Strait-jacket, starring Joan Crawford, falls in this category. I enjoy this film for many reasons, including how it captures Riverside, California in the 1960s.
For those who haven’t seen the film, Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford) has been in an asylum for 20 years after axing her husband (Lee Majors) and his lover. If he had been bionic, I doubt the axe would have hurt him. A crime of passion. Their three-year-old daughter Carol saw it all. Now, Lucy is out and ‘cured’ of her homicidal axe-wielding tendencies, or is she? She reunites with her daughter back at her brother Bill Cutler’s farm.
Things go sideways when she returns to the farm: voices in the house, bloody axes appear and disappear. Carol is trying her best to take care of her mom, but she has her own problems. Her fiancee’s parents disapproved of her. Anyway, I won’t spoil the ending. Find the movie and watch it.
Like other William Castle movies, during its original run, cardboard axes were handed out to audience members.
Classic. The Columbia Pictures logo at the end of the film features the classic woman with a torch, only her head has been chopped off and it’s sitting at her feet.
Film Locations Comparison Shots:
Crestmore Manor (Carol’s fiancee’s home) – 4600 Crestmore Road, Rubidoux, CA 92509
This historic landmark is now owned by Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District.
The next location is on Main Street probably around 9th or 10th looking north towards the Mission Inn. Since the filming of Strait-Jacket, Main Street has been redeveloped into a pedestrian walk way with City of Riverside municipal buildings taking up the area on Main between 9th and 10th.
