Executive Suite

Executive Suite (1954) was producer John Houseman's third major film for MGM. As with The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Julius Caesar (1953, then in production), Executive Suite boasted a star-studded cast, including William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, June Allyson, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas and Nina Foch. Though the large A-list cast was in part a throwback to the days of Grand Hotel (1932) and Dinner at Eight (1933), in the main, it was a rear-guard attempt by Hollywood to increase ticket sales in the new world of television. Still, according to Houseman, the cast was selected not on the basis of their star power, but because they could handle the dialogue-rich scenes. Most of the actors had stage experience and were not adverse to the idea of spending an inordinate time on rehearsals. In the 1950s, Hollywood belatedly turned its cameras on America's new corporate culture. In this it was merely catching up with sociologists like C. Wright Mills, who had examined the world of White Collar as early as 1951. Still, Hollywood was not the university, and Executive Suite was a risky project. The film was based on a book by Cameron Hawley, a one-time advertising executive with the Armstrong Cork Company in Pennsylvania. Dore Schary had secured the book for MGM and brought it to Houseman, who felt that after The Bad and the Beautiful and Julius Caesar, it would complete a perfect triptych of films concerned "with the pursuit of power." But such a topic was not as welcomed by the censors when it aimed its lens on a team of American business leaders, rather than on a Hollywood producer (since, after all, everyone knows how sleazy they are) or a Roman leader (how seditious could a film on Caesar be?). According to Houseman: "Such was Hollywood's timidity during and after the witch hunts that a film about Big Business - a struggle for power among corporate executives - was considered an audacious project when I announced it in the winter of 1952-1953." Production for the film could not begin until Houseman signed a letter for the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) stating that he had never been a communist. But the censors need not have worried, for though this film does indeed criticize mercenary corporate machinations, in the end it is the idealist sentiments of young Don Walling (William Holden) that win out. Despite the amazing cast, perhaps Houseman's most inspired hire was the screenwriter, Ernest Lehman. This was Lehman's first screenplay, and he was paid the minimum $600 a week. In his autobiography, Lehman recounts: "Finally, after months of struggle, I turned in my first draft screenplay, held my breath, and heard sounds of delighted approval from John Houseman, Jud Kinberg, and most important of all, from studio chief Dore Schary. When it came time to attack the final draft, I felt that maybe, after all, I could write a screenplay." This is a bit of an understatement. Lehman went on to write Sabrina (1954), The King and I (1956), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), North by Northwest (1959), West Side Story (1961), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and Hello, Dolly! (1969). As Houseman notes, just a few years after penning Executive Suite, Lehman "was earning not twice nor ten times but close to one hundred times what we paid him." For Stanwyck and Holden, Executive Suite was a sweet reunion. They had worked together only once before, on Golden Boy (1939), the film that made Holden a star. On that film, Stanwyck went to bat for Holden when Harry Cohn wanted to replace him. The two became fast friends (he nicknamed her "Queen") and, until his death in 1981, Holden sent Stanwyck two dozen red roses and a single white gardenia every year, on the anniversary of the premiere of Golden Boy. In Executive Suite, Stanwyck is barely on screen, but her presence is unforgettable. According to Stanwyck: "Size has never bothered me. If it had I would not have done Executive Suite. I liked the role and I wanted to do it, no matter how short it was. I think I worked all of seven days." For her role, Stanwyck was awarded her third Laurel Award (presented by the Motion Picture Exhibitors). But it is Fredric March's portrayal of the conniving efficiency expert Loren Shaw that is most indelible. Given a chance to play against type, March turns in one of his best performances. He gives us a Shaw both life-like and mechanical. As one reviewer noted, "The usually beneficent and positive-spirited March screen character, indeed, is not merely submerged; it is positively obliterated in this brilliant study of a single-minded negativist. . ." Though critics universally praised March's performance, he was overlooked when the Academy Award nominations were announced. With cast and writer secured, Houseman needed a director. He immediately turned to Robert Wise. The two men had been friendly since their work on Citizen Kane (1941)--Houseman was an uncredited writer and Wise was the film's editor--and Houseman knew that the special demands of Executive Suite called for a director who could leave his ego at the door. With eight major stars, little action and a half-hour scene set entirely around a boardroom table, Executive Suite, according to Houseman, "called for skills in a director that included those of an engineer and a lion tamer." Wise proved perfect for the task and, in fact, his directing style so meshed with Lehman's writing style, that in addition to Executive Suite, the two men collaborated on three more classics: Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965). Since so much of the film's $1.25 million budget went to the actors, Houseman and Schary opted to rely entirely on stock scenery. All of the interior sets had originally been constructed for other MGM pictures. Some were slightly altered, some were left as is. According to Houseman, "they looked fine in black and white - with a used look that gave them unusual authenticity." Money was also saved by deciding to replace the musical score with what Schary describes as the "sounds of the city - church bells, sirens, the roar of traffic, crowd noises, horns, the squeal of tires, faraway screams of brakes. He [Houseman], as an old radio producer, bought the idea and shepherded the sounds through the hands of the sometimes reluctant sound-department chief, Douglas Shearer." The film garnered four Academy Award nominations (Best Supporting Actress, Best Black-and-White Cinematography, Best Black-and-White Art Direction, and Best Costume Design). Of this last category, Stanwyck often told the story of how she mistakenly wore one of her specially designed dresses backwards through an entire day's shooting. The dress designer, Helen Rose, realizing that reshooting the day's scenes would be prohibitively expensive, told Stanwyck and director Robert Wise that the dress looked terrific backwards. According to Stanwyck, "Helen Rose is not only a great designer, she's a hell of a lady!" And though the acting was excellent throughout, only Nina Foch received a nomination for her role as a suicidal secretary. She lost out to Eva-Marie Saint for On the Waterfront (1954). Producer: John Houseman, Jud Kinberg Director: Robert Wise Screenplay: Ernest Lehman, based on the novel by Cameron Hawley Production Design: Emile Kuri, Edwin B. Willis Cinematography: George Folsey Costume Design: Helen Rose Film Editing: Ralph Winters Principal Cast: William Holden (McDonald Walling), June Allyson (Mary Blemond Walling), Barbara Stanwyck (Julia O. Treadway), Fredric March (Loren Phineas Shaw), Walter Pidgeon (Frederick Y. Alderson), Shelley Winters (Eva Bardeman), Paul Douglas (Josiah Walter Dudley), Louis Calhern (George Nyle Caswell), Dean Jagger (Jesse Q. Grimm), Nina Foch (Erica Martin), Tim Considine (Mike Walling). BW-105m. Closed captioning. Descriptive Video. by Mark Frankel

Executive Suite is one of the earlier and better-remembered 'business ethics' films of the 1950s, the decade of The Organization Man and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, which was made into an impressive movie version. Jean Negulesco's Woman's World was sort of big business extrapolation of A Letter to Three Wives: to choose its next general manager, a car company evaluates the candidate's wives as its main criteria. Executive Suite avoids some of the subgenre's soap opera excesses by focusing on a boardroom battle for control of a suddenly leaderless company. Honing his reputation as a maker of civilized tough guy movies, director Robert Wise emphasizes the extremes to which executives will go to win a coveted position. Executive Suite is one of the better films in the boxed set Barbara Stanwyck: The Signature Collection. She's just one player in an ensemble of ten and receives third billing. Synopsis: Millburgh is a one-company town dominated by the Tredway Corporation. Its President Avery Bullard drops dead on New York's Wall Street, igniting a tempest back at corporate headquarters. The five VPs have equal standing and begin jockeying for position. Slick playboy George Caswell (Louis Calhern) sells his stock short, gambling that Bullard's death won't be detected before the market opens on Monday. Sharp numbers expert Loren Shaw (Fredric March) usurps temporary command, raising the ire of old salt Frederick Alderson (Walter Pidgeon), and canceling the experiments of R&D specialist McDonald "Don" Walling (William Holden). Shaw makes a deal for Caswell's vote, and interrupts salesman Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas) with his mistress Eva (Shelley Winters) to secure his vote as well. Walling's wife Mary (June Allyson) first pushes him to go for the presidency, and then tries to keep him away from it. But the deciding vote will be submitted by the majority stockholder, Julia O. Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck). Julia was Avery Bullard's frustrated long-term girlfriend, and she's in a fragile state of mind. As lean and businesslike as a takeover deal, Executive Suite builds its story with maximum efficiency. A man falls dead on the sidewalk and before the ambulance comes one of his employees has concocted a scheme to profit from the news. Each candidate for the presidency is judged in terms of the woman in his life. Caswell ignores his trophy date to worry about his rash stock deal. Old Fred Alderson's wife badgers him to pursue the top job that he should have had years ago. Walter Dudley's mistress is a guilty liability. Only the calculating Loren Shaw seems to have no family life; he lives and breathes the company and behaves as if the presidency were already his. Deciding vote Julia Tredway just wants out of the firm that monopolized the attention of the love of her life. When Loren asks her for her vote, she's contemplating suicide. Quiet Jesse Grimm (Dean Jagger) is a retirement-age VP beyond personal ambitions. Executive secretary Erica Martin (Nina Foch) maintains a professional decorum even as she's sickened by the shark-like behavior around her. It looks like the sweaty Loren Shaw has the job sewn up. That's where Executive Suite goes soft in a way that identifies it as a product of the early 1950s, when most mainstream movies about The American Way Of Life could be counted on to affirm that justice and virtue always triumph. The obvious underdog winner is young Don Walling, the only one of the VPs who rolls up his sleeves with the rank and file and shares their concern for the good of all. Keen to improve the product, Don is seen experimenting with some kind of chemical process, either as a wood finish or a wood substitute. Since it sounds like Walling is going to make furniture from plastic, he might as well be wearing a halo on his head. The essentially decent Walling grinds his teeth in frustration when he sees the other execs hatching their cheap schemes. Mary Walling is played by the quintessential super-wife June Allyson, another sign that Don walks on water. Being married to Allyson in a 50s movie is like having the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval tattooed on one's rump. A cheerful morale booster for the male ego, Allyson charms James Stewart's Glenn Miller into finding his magic orchestration, and urges Alan Ladd to blast down more Commie MIGs in The McConnell Story. Her role in Executive Suite is a bit more complex. Writer Ernest Lehman seems very aware of 'booster wives', the hausfrau lobbyists that will do anything to secure the promotion and the house and car that go with it. Allyson's Mary first gives Walling some verbal jabs, spurring him to assert himself on the corporate level. When Don's feelers get a negative response from his associates Mary pulls back on the reins, assuring her man that she's all for him no matter what happens. Then Mary withholds a critical phone message, a choice she almost immediately regrets. The viewer must decide if Mary's efforts are wifely support, or ordinary meddling. (* See Footnote #1 below). (Spoilers) The final scene of Executive Suite builds considerable tension as the voting for Tredway's new president goes into its final rounds. But the film's grip on the audience fades when Loren Shaw and the 'upstart' Walling go head to head. Shaw topples like a house of cards, fumbling and sweating as he defends his policy of making cheap furniture to hawk at cheap prices. Walling comes on like the wrath of God, smashing a sample of Shaw's crummy product and talking about pride -- pride in the workplace, pride in the knowledge that a superior American product is being made (no tears, please). William Holden puts a feral snarl into his voice to let us know that he has the drive and the guts to do what's best for the company. Loren Shaw just wilts, Julia Treadway is given a new lease on life and Mary will be trading cloth coats for furs. The show ends with the audience ready to rush out and buy Tredway stock. Robert Wise keeps everything on the rails except for Barbara Stanwyck's 'hysteria' scene, which gets a little too big. Otherwise his actors give better than average work. Shelley Winters is actually subdued, making the most of her standard 'other woman' role. Wise keeps the Little League subplot in its proper perspective, although the script makes it obvious that, like his son Mike (Tim Considine), Walling must go for the big prize because he's a fighter at heart. Good Old Mary helps Mike to practice his pitching and keep his eye on the prize, as if she were raising a pit bull. Director Wise's films were always technically acute. He repeats his clock motif from The Set-Up with the ringing of the Millburgh church bell. Executive Suite has no music score, a very effective gambit. In the Manhattan opening, the only audio on the soundtrack is traffic noise. (* See Footnote #2 below). Warners' DVD of Executive Suite is transferred flat full frame, when its aspect ratio is probably 1:66; it's too bad that Warners doesn't normally do 1:66 enhanced transfers. The show still looks good, in reasonably crisp B&W. Director Oliver Stone's commentary focuses on the venality of the various deals on screen, and starts from the assumption that all business is EVIL. The other extras are a trailer (with music), a painful Pete Smith comedy short and one of Tex Avery's most amusing cartoons, the minimalist masterpiece about Billy Boy, a goat that eats anything. Tex makes the limited animation into a joke; instead of animating his main character to walk over and step into his car, the hillbilly wolf oozes across the screen. 1. Just the next year, José Ferrer directed June Allyson in The Shrike, a filmed play that makes pointed use of Allyson's squeaky-clean image. Allyson plays Ann Downs, a manipulating wife who schemes behind the scenes to benefit her talented but (to her) insufficiently aggressive husband. The bird called The Shrike sadistically impales its prey on a thorn before eating it, and Ann is a malignant monster. 2. By far the most interesting film in the 50s 'business ethics' subgenre is Fielder Cook's Patterns, or Patterns of Power, a much more ruthless story of the unreasonable pressures in company politics. The movie doesn't give a hang about flattering the American way of life, and shows good men thrown to the wolves. Written by Rod Serling, it stars Van Heflin, Everett Sloan, Ed Begley, Beatrice Straight (The Nun's Story, Network) and Elizabeth Wilson (The Graduate). For more information about Executive Suite, visit Warner Video. To order Executive Suite, go to TCM Shopping. by Glenn Erickson