boy-13

Interestingly, as Bette Davis' final film for Warner Bros., her unhappiness with the studio after a prolonged and tomultuous run really shows through in this role. Her disgust with the domineering studio adds to the bleakness of this hilariously bad stinker of a film.

Davis plays Rosa Moline ("I'm not just a small town girl - I'm Rosa Moline!", "I came here - dragged myself on my hands and knees with no pride. Me, Rosa Moline!"). Rosa is a self-absorbed, driven woman stuck in smalltown America. Obsessed with the thought of moving to nearby Chicago and living the glamorous life full of furs and status, she embarks on an affair with big city businessman David Brian. Sick and tired of her mundane life and her self-sacrificing doctor husband (Joseph Cotten), Rosa plots, lies, schemes, and murders her way to what she thinks will be a better life.

In the tradition of later films such as "Valley of the Dolls" (1967), or even "Showgirls" (1995), "Beyond the Forest" is a laugh riot....it's so bad that it's good. Davis prances around the backwoods in her insanely faux-looking black hair, a Mae West-esque tone in her voice, planning to destroy the lives of those around her. We watch her brandish a rifle and shoot porcupines, as well as humans, carry around a mirror for those all important vanity checks, and topping it all off, take a death-defying leap off a cliff. Perhaps, just perhaps this would be a better film if we actually had a character to root for. But Davis' character is too evil and dark to be a smart or funny villain, Cotten's dopey doc is too self-involved and oblivious for us to support, and Brian's traveling man is too underdeveloped to even get to know. On the upside, music- extraordinaire Max Steiner once again weaves his soundtrack magic providing a great score. But good music does not compensate for such a corn-ball of a flick. It's really novel when even the wonderful Davis can't save a sinking film.

When the president of a major furniture conglomerate drops dead, all of the company's executives (William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern, Dean Jagger) converge in the executive suite for a vote on who will take over. But before this climactic meeting takes place, we learn about each executive's motives and desires. Make way for the clash of egos and ambitions!

Helping to define the human element of these ruthless, driven businesspeople, we gain a revealing look into the simplicity of their domestic lives. And helping to add to the intensity of this over-wrought boardroom melodrama, director Robert Wise smartly (or not so smartly, perhaps) forgoes any musical soundtrack. Instead the background is filled with the real life sounds of a major company such as this.

The all-star cast provides perhaps the biggest punch in all of "Executive Suite". Standouts particularly are Holden, Stanwyck, March, and Foch. Despite her devastating lack of screentime, Stanwyck is able to give one of the best performances of her mutifaceted career as a woman on the verge -the high-strung lover of the deceased president. In an exemplary showcase of scene-stealing, Holden has a final showdown with Stanwyck - this dynamite sequence tops them all. This smart coporate drama is given the glossed-over MGM treatment, but is nonetheless gripping and realisitic, thanks in part to outstanding performances and direction (watch for the amazing opening scene where we watch from the ailing president's point-of-view). "Executive Suite" is intelligent, mature storytelling, Hollywood style.

Often considered to be one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser known films, "Stage Fright" has unfortunately gotten a bad wrap. Even mediocre Hitchcock is better than most movies ever get, though. And this one is a solid, entertaining picture. With an eclectic cast one doesn't expect to see together, each diverse actor provides a little something for everyone. And with Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Todd and Michael Wilding how can you go wrong?

Wyman convincingly plays a drama student who gets involved over her head in a purely Hitchcockian case of murder. When her ex-lover Todd is suspected of killing Dietrich's husband, Wyman hides him and helps him allude the police. Meanwhile, Wyman disguises herself as Dietrich's maid to help find evidence to save Todd's freedom. Wyman falls into a dangerous trap, and danger surrounds her.

Disappointingly underdeveloped as it starts, "Stage Fright" eventually turns into a first-rate thriller. While Wyman has been better, Dietrich is hilariously catty and Todd is wickedly suspicious. This is undoubtedly a Hitchcock film all the way around, but adding a nice twist to the formula is a soaring, romantic soundtrack. A seriously satisfying film, "Stage Fright" hits most of the right notes.