That movie was the best Svengoolie ever had, we loved it.
Yep. It was definitely memorable. As decapitation movies go, it was a bit of a groundbreaker.
Of course it was not seen from this angle in the film - and the axe-wielding figure was only seen in shadow. Here, we can clearly see it's not Joan but Diane Baker in a mask, possibly ruining the whole climax of the film!
Seriously, you have to remember that back then (early 1960's) losing a head, hand, limb or anything similar on-camera was rare in mainstream US films. Nowadays we're used to seeing
everything lopped off in loving, gory detail.
Signor V.