Executive Suite (1954)

Directed by Robert Wise. Starring William Holden, Fredric March, Louis Calhern, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson, Nina Foch, Paul Douglas, Barbara Stanwyck, Dean Jagger, Shelley Winters, William Phipps.

Star-laden MGM ensemble drama depicting a power struggle among the VP’s and board members of a furniture manufacturing corporation after the president abruptly drops dead. Gets off to a rocky start with a stylistically mishandled POV start-up and some initially bewildering conversations among central players the audience does not yet know, but finds its rhythm as it progresses and sinks its hooks in. No powerhouse performances in the cast, but everyone manages a respectable job or better, although some roles are simply better than others (what could June Allyson have done with the standard-issue worried wife part?). After finding the dramatic tension in scheming business politics and building up a board room battle finale for control of the company’s soul, the filmmakers fumble the verbose final chapter with overwritten speeches that give the game away too early. Ernest Lehman’s first produced screenplay, adapted from a Cameron Hawley novel. Produced by John Houseman; narration by Chet Huntley.

67/100