My 12-y-o son and I were talking about something (I don’t remember what), and I responded to something he said with, “No wire hangers!”
He, naturally, was puzzled, and I tried to explain the whole “Mommie Dearest” thing to him.
I was really hoping I could find a video clip on YouTube or similar of just that one scene, but either it isn’t out there or my Google-foo is totally lame.
Can anyone help me find that clip?
Here you go.
Why not just act it out for him? It will be a fun story for his therapist?
It was a pretty effective way of showing how batshit insane Joan Crawford was (allegedly), since it was ultimately her own damn fault if her kids had wire hangers in their closets. It’s not like a seven-year-old girl could go out shopping on her own to stock her closets, after all.
Actually, I’d be happy if he used ANY kind of hanger. 
Thank you, **Aithele ** (dearest). You rock! So does Faye Dunaway. You hardly ever get to see that kind of scenery-chewing any more.
Good point, Scrivener. Hell, it looks like the poor kid couldn’t even have reached the top hanging rod.
To the extent I’ve thought about this at all, I thought perhaps it might have been a domestic or someone who picked up the clothes at the cleaners on wire hangers, then Christina was responsible for hanging them up and knew she was supposed to change the hangers but didn’t.
Either that, or the helper hung them directly in the closet without Christina knowing.
That, or Joan is howling-wolf crazy.
I’d say its likely the latter, she was simply looking for an excuse to fly off the handle and found one. My Ex was raised in that kind of household, it was really very sad. There were all of these little rules that she had to obey, which her mother usually broke and then blamed on the kids.
Its very likely the reason that my Ex went as crazy as she did. I’ve never seen or heard of that clip before, but I’ve seen a similar scene played out live before, many many times.
You’re welcome, freckafree. (Love the name, by the way!)
This is one of my favorite movies. Joan Crawford gave new meaning to the word insane.
Has anyone read the book?
Christina Crawford was on Larry King Live several years ago. Here is a copy of the transcript if anyone is interested.
I thnk it’s funny that Joan Crawford’s most famous line is one she didn’t actually say. (Well, she may have said it IRL, but not on screen).
I’d like to point you to the recent work of one Al Pacino.