The beginning of Executive Suite is very exciting. Filmed in the same first-person perspective as Robert Montgomery's Lady of the Lake, a faceless CEO has a heart attack outside his building and dies. At the next board meeting, the directors must choose a successor. Fredric March, a company man for decades, favors himself, but Walter Pidgeon, the deceased's friend, doesn't like what will happen to the company if Freddie takes over.
With an all-star cast and an intense premise, how could this movie possibly fall flat? Somehow, it does. The problem lies with both the screenplay and with William Holden. Bill is supposed to be seen as a savior, the only man who can prevent the company from a fate worse than bankruptcy, but he seems neither experienced, interested, or intelligent enough to live up to the mantel. Fredric March is extremely experienced, having been a company man all his life. He's obviously interested, since he resorts to blackmail to secure the necessary board votes. Paul Douglas is having an affair with his secretary, Shelley Winters, and Freddie confronts him while he's at her apartment. Louis Calhern has conducted illegal trading, and Freddie holds a police phone call over his head.
Where the screenplay errs is making William Holden's company ideas less feasible than Freddie's. Anyone who knows anything about business (presumably the film's target audience) would put their faith in Fredric March, when he's clearly portrayed as the villain. Where William Holden errs is in his lack of passionate delivery during his supposedly passionate monologues. Pidge puts his heart on the line when given the chance, but Bill just shouts the same way he did in The Country Girl and Sunset Blvd. There's nothing convincing about him, the way there is about Pidge and Freddie. Barbara Stanwyck's performance isn't very inspired, either, and her needlessly dramatic scenes with Bill seem to serve only one purpose: asking the audience, "Remember them in Golden Boy? Aren't they cute?" Shelley and Paul are good, but neither one has very much screen time.
For a far superior movie with a very similar theme, watch Woman's World instead. You'll still get to watch men vie for a vacant position in a huge company. You'll still get to see secrets uncovered, and you'll still get to see June Allyson as one of the wives.
With an all-star cast and an intense premise, how could this movie possibly fall flat? Somehow, it does. The problem lies with both the screenplay and with William Holden. Bill is supposed to be seen as a savior, the only man who can prevent the company from a fate worse than bankruptcy, but he seems neither experienced, interested, or intelligent enough to live up to the mantel. Fredric March is extremely experienced, having been a company man all his life. He's obviously interested, since he resorts to blackmail to secure the necessary board votes. Paul Douglas is having an affair with his secretary, Shelley Winters, and Freddie confronts him while he's at her apartment. Louis Calhern has conducted illegal trading, and Freddie holds a police phone call over his head.
Where the screenplay errs is making William Holden's company ideas less feasible than Freddie's. Anyone who knows anything about business (presumably the film's target audience) would put their faith in Fredric March, when he's clearly portrayed as the villain. Where William Holden errs is in his lack of passionate delivery during his supposedly passionate monologues. Pidge puts his heart on the line when given the chance, but Bill just shouts the same way he did in The Country Girl and Sunset Blvd. There's nothing convincing about him, the way there is about Pidge and Freddie. Barbara Stanwyck's performance isn't very inspired, either, and her needlessly dramatic scenes with Bill seem to serve only one purpose: asking the audience, "Remember them in Golden Boy? Aren't they cute?" Shelley and Paul are good, but neither one has very much screen time.
For a far superior movie with a very similar theme, watch Woman's World instead. You'll still get to watch men vie for a vacant position in a huge company. You'll still get to see secrets uncovered, and you'll still get to see June Allyson as one of the wives.