The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)

Director:

Delbert Mann

Writers:

Harriet Frank Jr. (writer)
William Inge (play)

Release Date:

10 febrero 1961 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama

Frase comercial:

Everytime a woman turns her face away because she's tired or unwilling - there's someone waiting like me!

Plot:

In Oklahoma in the 1920s, Ruben Flood loses his job as a traveling salesman, when the company goes bankrupt...

Plot Keywords:

Anti Semitism | Loss Of Job | Salesman | 1920s | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Dated, But Still Powerful Americana With Great Cast

Cast

Robert Preston	...	Rubin Flood
Dorothy McGuire	...	Cora Flood
Eve Arden	...	Lottie Lacey
Angela Lansbury	...	Mavis Pruitt, Beauty Parlor Proprietress
Shirley Knight	...	Reenie Flood
Lee Kinsolving	...	Sammy Golden
Frank Overton	...	Morris Lacey
Robert Eyer	...	Sonny Flood
Penny Parker	...	Flirt Conroy
Ken Lynch	...	Harry Ralston

También conocida como:

En la escalera oscura (Spain) [es]

Duración:

124 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sonido:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Clasificación:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Rubin Flood: [To Lottie after he overhears her prejudice comments towards Catholics] Hogwash! Malarky! Horse manure! Woman you oughta get yourself a broom and ride over the housetops! You oughta buy yourself a sheet and poke two holes in it and go around setting fires! Or better still, get yourself a big piece of tape and put it over your mouth because you're too ignorant to live! Lottie sometimes I'm ashamed to be related to you even by marriage!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Angela Lansbury: A Balancing Act" (1998)

Dated, But Still Powerful Americana With Great Cast

I love William Inge's work. Inge's "Picnic (1955)" and the unappreciated "Splendor in the Grass (1961)," are among my favorite movies. One thing I like about Inge is his ability to get under the skin of rural, small town America. I also think he adept at exploring the repressed passions found underneath the normal façade of small conservative towns. I do not think "Dark at the Top of the Stairs" is one of the best films based on Inge's work. Director Mann fails to hide the fact that this is a movie based on a stage play. I also found Robert Preston's performance weak and uninteresting (maybe it is just me, but his performance is a carbon copy of his role in "The Music Man"). Some of the material has dated badly too, but in my view, the great supporting cast really saves this movie. Dorothy McGuire is wonderful as the good, but misguided mother. Shirley Knight (one of the most unappreciated beauties from the 1960s) is poignant in the pivotal role of the daughter. However, I think both Eve Arden and Angela Lansbury steal the movie. Knight received the Oscar nomination, but I thought Lansbury and Arden were simply brilliant in their small but unforgettable roles. These two actresses helped me forget about the flaws in the film – what a pleasure was to see them act! Anyhow, not a great movie, but an interesting one (mainly because of Arden and Lansbury).