...these pictures are mainly for the Stanwyck fan, but Executive Suite is good enough to please almost anyone.
The story gets a bit soapy as it delves into the lives of these people, yet Wise is able to juggle all of it effectively, keeping the pace lively and the momentum moving forward all the time.
So, who will get the top spot? There's the star of the show, William Holden as Don Walling, the executive in charge of production design, but he's perhaps thought too young for the job. There's Barbara Stanwyck as Julia Treadway, the daughter of the man who founded the company, but she wants no part of the operation. Ms. Stanwyck actually has a relatively small supporting role in this picture, so don't expect her as the lead. Fredric March, one of Hollywood's finest actors, is Loren Shaw, the company controller, a nervous, fussy, bean-counting snake to whom the bottom line is everything. Walter Pidgeon is Fred Alderson, a devoted friend of the deceased president and a loyal employee of Treadway. Paul Douglas is Walt Dudley, the big-talking VP of sales, who is also carrying on an affair with his secretary. Louis Calhern is George Caswell, another big-shot weasel. And Dean Jagger is Jesse Grimm, an old timer about to retire, who resents the newcomers in the company.
June Allyson plays Walling's wife, and she is typically (for her) all sweet, wide-eyed, and innocent. Shelley Winters plays Dudley's secretary, with whom he's having an affair. And Nina Foch plays Bullard's longtime personal assistant.
Holden's final speech is quite inspiring and effectively moving. It's too bad the world's businesses continue to ignore the message. Fifty years on, and things are worse than ever. Now, many big corporations are willing literally to see the world end rather than do anything about their polluting products if it would cause them a loss of profits in the slightest. Oh, well....
7/10
Video:
All of the films are in the 1.37.1 (1.33:1) standard-screen ratio of the day, and all of them are in black-and-white. As usual, Warner Bros. do a good job cleaning them up and presenting them in something very close to what must have been their original condition. "Executive Suite," for example, displays good B&W contrasts, although the contrasts are a bit subdued. It's also very good B&W, by the way, using the lights and shadows of the corporate board room to particular advantage as a metaphor for the tower of a medieval king's castle. There is some very light film grain, inherent to the print, no doubt, some minor line flutter here and there, but hardly an age speck or fleck in sight.
Audio:
The sound comes in an ordinary 1.0 monaural, nicely refreshed via Dolby Digital processing and a small degree of noise reduction. Its midrange is clean, clear, and smooth, and since the soundtrack has only dialogue to convey, that's good enough.
Extras:
Each of the movies comes with short subjects, classic cartoons, scene selections, theatrical trailers, English and French subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired. Oh, and several of the movies come with audio-only radio adaptations.
"Executive Suite" comes with the best extras of all, starting with an audio commentary by director Oliver Stone. No, he didn't direct the film (he's not nearly that old), but he seems to like it a lot. He even says that "Executive Suite" was the model for his own 1987 business movie, "Wall Street." It's nice to hear a big-time director comment on an older film that's not his own; it brings a fresh perspective to things. Following that is a vintage "Pete Smith" comedy short, "Out for Fun," nine minutes. Then there is a classic MGM Technicolor cartoon, "Billy Boy," and a theatrical trailer.
Parting Shots:
Admittedly, these Stanwyck pictures are mainly for the Stanwyck fan, but "Executive Suite" is good enough to please almost anyone. If it seems more than a bit like a television show, maybe it's because it became a TV series in the mid 1970s. And if it's good enough for television, well, maybe I should have left well enough alone.
So, who will get the top spot? There's the star of the show, William Holden as Don Walling, the executive in charge of production design, but he's perhaps thought too young for the job. There's Barbara Stanwyck as Julia Treadway, the daughter of the man who founded the company, but she wants no part of the operation. Ms. Stanwyck actually has a relatively small supporting role in this picture, so don't expect her as the lead. Fredric March, one of Hollywood's finest actors, is Loren Shaw, the company controller, a nervous, fussy, bean-counting snake to whom the bottom line is everything. Walter Pidgeon is Fred Alderson, a devoted friend of the deceased president and a loyal employee of Treadway. Paul Douglas is Walt Dudley, the big-talking VP of sales, who is also carrying on an affair with his secretary. Louis Calhern is George Caswell, another big-shot weasel. And Dean Jagger is Jesse Grimm, an old timer about to retire, who resents the newcomers in the company.
June Allyson plays Walling's wife, and she is typically (for her) all sweet, wide-eyed, and innocent. Shelley Winters plays Dudley's secretary, with whom he's having an affair. And Nina Foch plays Bullard's longtime personal assistant.
Holden's final speech is quite inspiring and effectively moving. It's too bad the world's businesses continue to ignore the message. Fifty years on, and things are worse than ever. Now, many big corporations are willing literally to see the world end rather than do anything about their polluting products if it would cause them a loss of profits in the slightest. Oh, well....
7/10
Video:
All of the films are in the 1.37.1 (1.33:1) standard-screen ratio of the day, and all of them are in black-and-white. As usual, Warner Bros. do a good job cleaning them up and presenting them in something very close to what must have been their original condition. "Executive Suite," for example, displays good B&W contrasts, although the contrasts are a bit subdued. It's also very good B&W, by the way, using the lights and shadows of the corporate board room to particular advantage as a metaphor for the tower of a medieval king's castle. There is some very light film grain, inherent to the print, no doubt, some minor line flutter here and there, but hardly an age speck or fleck in sight.
Audio:
The sound comes in an ordinary 1.0 monaural, nicely refreshed via Dolby Digital processing and a small degree of noise reduction. Its midrange is clean, clear, and smooth, and since the soundtrack has only dialogue to convey, that's good enough.
Extras:
Each of the movies comes with short subjects, classic cartoons, scene selections, theatrical trailers, English and French subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired. Oh, and several of the movies come with audio-only radio adaptations.
"Executive Suite" comes with the best extras of all, starting with an audio commentary by director Oliver Stone. No, he didn't direct the film (he's not nearly that old), but he seems to like it a lot. He even says that "Executive Suite" was the model for his own 1987 business movie, "Wall Street." It's nice to hear a big-time director comment on an older film that's not his own; it brings a fresh perspective to things. Following that is a vintage "Pete Smith" comedy short, "Out for Fun," nine minutes. Then there is a classic MGM Technicolor cartoon, "Billy Boy," and a theatrical trailer.
Parting Shots:
Admittedly, these Stanwyck pictures are mainly for the Stanwyck fan, but "Executive Suite" is good enough to please almost anyone. If it seems more than a bit like a television show, maybe it's because it became a TV series in the mid 1970s. And if it's good enough for television, well, maybe I should have left well enough alone.
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[release]22522[/release]