Joan Crawford’s career has been one of ups and downs. Obviously, she’ll always be fondly remembered for her early films, but in the 1960’s she was taking practically any role that came her way, including royally bad stuff like TROG. That’s when gimmick-meister William Castle (known more for his ad campaigns than the actual quality of his pictures) ingeniously casted Crawford in STRAIGHT JACKET (1964). Her portrayal in that film was way over-the-top, and a perfect way to cap off her career. The combination of Castle’s skills and Crawford’s performance proved very profitable for Columbia Pictures. A few years later, when Castle was determined to bring Ursula Curtis’ novel, I SAW WHAT YOU DID to the big screen, Castle again turned to Crawford to headline the film version. However, unlike STRAIGHT JACKET, Crawford does not take center stage in I SAW WHAT YOU DID. This Universal film delivered the usual corny Castle goods, but failed to garner a successful box office. I SAW WHAT YOU DID remained an unseen cult item in the home video underground, until Anchor Bay licensed the film from Universal for a widescreen DVD release in 1999.

Two teens, Libby (Andi Garrett) and Kit (Sarah Lane) want to have an overnight sleepover together while Libby’s parents are out of town on business. Their parents have hired a baby-sitter to watch Libby and their younger daughter, Tess (Sharyl Locke). But the baby-sitter calls in sick at the last minute. Rather than cancel the business engagement, Libby’s father says she is now old enough and responsible enough to baby-sit her sister, Tess. Kit’s father drops her off at Libby’s house, but will return later to pick her up. Libby’s parents leave and the first thing these immature girls do is made crank phone calls. They randomly pick mens’ names from the phone book, and when their wives answer, they speak in deep female voices suggesting their husbands are cheating on them. After several hours of this the girls get bored, and take the activity to a new level. They call people randomly, and say, "I saw what you did. I know who you are." Most people just hang up. Except for Steve Marak (John Ireland). You see, he has a guilty conscience because he just killed his straying wife.

Steve has also had an affair with his lovestruck neighbor Amy (Joan Crawford). With Steve’s wife out of the picture, Amy is ready to move in and corral the object of her affections, Steve. While Amy is in the process of seducing Steve, he receives a random phone call from those trouble making girls, Libby and Kit. Libby says, "I saw what you did. I know who you are." into the receiver, and a paranoid Steve immediately thinks that this person knows he killed his wife. Steve starts to come on to her, and when asked for a name, Libby responds with "Suzette". Steve begs her to meet him someplace, but she refuses. After they hang up, the lonely Libby is intrigued with what this guy has to say. She talks Kit and her sister Kit into joining her in a trip to Steve’s house--just to check out where he lives and hopefully get a look at him. Using their parents car, the trio easily find Steve’s house. Against Kit’s wishes, Libby gets out and looks in the windows of Steve’s apartment, where he sees her. He grabs a knife and advances to kill her, but a jealous Amy shows up thinking that this teenage girl is her rival for Steve’s affections. She forces Libby back into the car, then grabs the car registration from the dash board. The frightened girls head for home, unaware that Amy gives the registration to Steve. He now knows the address of Libby’s house. Steve fires up his car and begins the trek to the girl’s home. They must fend off the threat of the murderer in order to survive the night!

I SAW WHAT YOU DID is loaded with the same cheesy thrills and sense of fun that William Castle is famous for. Castle easily manipulates the audience (ala Hitchcock) by controlling the suspense level. Most of the tension is sustained though timing, since the movie takes place in real-time (during the course of one night). Castle’s tongue-in-cheek humor catches the viewer unaware, then follows it up with a few well-placed shock sequences. Castle even reinvents the ol’ murder in the shower scene, that is guaranteed to surprise first-timers. He also demonstrates an inventive visual style that would end up being copied in 1970’s Euro-thrillers. Castle creates some truly atmospheric backgrounds for the narrative to unfold in. For example, the conclusion takes place bathed in the swirling mists and fog. He masterfully presents these visuals with stark black & white photography. Can you imagine a Castle film in color? We can’t.

The film is not perfect, though. The climax is too quickly and cleanly resolved. The story focuses on these people throughout the entire movie, and instead of a tidy ending that changes the lives of the characters and wraps up loose endings, we have a bland and unsatisfying conclusion. Another problem at times is the dialog is too syrupy. I don’t mean the exposition is too caught up in 1960s lingo (which it is), but I can’t imagine anyone in real-life spewing lines like this. Listen to Libby and Kit’s chatter and you’ll see what I mean. Even Joan Crawford’s lovestruck character can’t help but revel in turgid dialog. The parents in I SAW WHAT YOU DID are even more inept than the immature teenagers. The narrative is too gimmicky and clumsy at times--only William Castle would use peanut butter and jelly stains as a plot device. Joan Crawford delivers another interesting over the top performance, yet nowhere as off kilter as in STRAIGHT JACKET. Unfortunately, the script doesn’t do a whole lot with her character, except for a highly notable death sequence. John Ireland is great as the paranoid killer, Steve. Andi Garrett and Sarah Lane are capable enough, but the script has them doing such groaningly stupid things, that the audience has no sympathy for them. Young Sharyl Locke steals the show, though as Libby’s precocious sister, Tess.

-  Phil Chandler

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