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Another Man's Poison

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Another Man's Poison
Theatrical release poster
Directed byIrving Rapper
Written byVal Guest
Based onplay Deadlock by Leslie Sands
Produced byDaniel M. Angel
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
StarringBette Davis
Gary Merrill
Emlyn Williams
Anthony Steel
Barbara Murray
CinematographyRobert Krasker
Edited byGordon Hales
Music byJohn Greenwood
Paul Sawtell
Production
company
Angel Productions
Distributed byEros Films
United Artists (US)
Release date
  • 20 November 1951 (1951-11-20)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£106,096[1]

Another Man's Poison is a 1951 British drama film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Bette Davis, Gary Merrill and Emlyn Williams.[2] The screenplay by Val Guest is based on the play Deadlock by Leslie Sands.

Plot

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Successful mystery novelist Janet Frobisher, who has been separated for years from her husband, a man with a criminal past, lives in an isolated home in Northern England. Her nearest neighbour is nosy vet, Dr Henderson. Janet has an affair with, and falls in love with, her secretary Chris's fiancé, Larry, who is years younger than she.

When her estranged husband unexpectedly appears, Janet poisons him by administering medication given to her by Dr Henderson for her horse. One of the deceased man's criminal cohorts arrives as she is preparing to dispose of the body in the local lake. When Janet's secretary and Larry arrive at the secluded house, the mysterious man, who has assisted her with her scheme, impersonates George, the long-absent husband of Janet.

George and Janet trade accusations and insults. Chris learns of Larry's affair with Janet, and determines to leave for London. Janet tries to convince Larry to stay with her, but he loves Chris and chases after her unsuccessfully. George shoots Janet's horse to upset her. Janet pretends she is remorseful about Larry and Chris, and sends George after Chris in an unsafe vehicle. He crashes, but survives.

The next morning the authorities are dragging the lake because of the crash. Janet's attempt to kill George has trapped them both, although George plans simply to run away. Janet tricks George into poisoning himself. As George dies, Dr Henderson arrives and says he knew all along that George was an imposter; the real George had stopped by his house in the fog the night he arrived. Janet pretends to faint. Dr Henderson gives her a drink from the same flask she used to trick George. When she opens her eyes and recognises the flask, she realises she has killed herself, and bursts into hysterical laughter.

Cast

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Production

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Val Guest said Barbara Stanwyck was envisioned in the lead role and was going to play it; however, she then discovered her husband Robert Taylor had been unfaithful making Quo Vadis and did not want to make the film.[3]

In November 1950, producer Dan Angel announced Gloria Swanson would play the lead.[4][5] However, Swanson later dropped out; she said this was because she had received an offer to perform Twentieth Century on Broadway.[6]

In March 1951, Bette Davis and Gary Merrill became attached to the project with Merrill replacing Leo Genn who had been cast.[7] Merrill wrote in his memoirs that neither he nor Davis had particularly liked the script, but were attracted by the chance to work together in England, and by a large fee; Davis was also pleased by the fact the cast would include Emlyn Williams, who wrote the original play on which Davis' film The Corn Is Green (1945) was based.[8]

This was the second on-screen pairing of then-married couple Davis and Gary Merrill, following All About Eve (1950). They made Phone Call from a Stranger (1952) the following year. Rapper, who was selected by Davis to helm the film, had directed her in Now, Voyager (1942) ten years earlier.

Filming went from April to June 1951. Exteriors of the United Artists release were filmed on location in Malham, West Riding of Yorkshire (now in North Yorkshire), and interiors were shot at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. The film's sets were designed by the art director Cedric Dawe. Davis was reportedly insecure and unhappy during filming. She called Steel "a beautiful prop".[9]

Of the project, star Bette Davis recalled "We had nothing but script trouble. Gary (Merrill) and I often wondered why we agreed to make this film after we got started working on it. Emlyn (Williams) rewrote many scenes for us, which gave it some plausibility, but we never cured the basic ills of the story."[10]

According to Merrill, "the basic premise" of the film "was pretty crummy to begin with. But Bette believed that with Emlyn's help the script could be improved. So the two of them went to work, altering this and that. When this happened I usually found a place to lie down, being my lazy self, to wait for the action to begin. The fact I wasn't doing anything bugged the hell out of Bette."[11]

Critical reception

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Kine Weekly said: "Meaty psychological melodrama, liberally spiced with sex."[12]

Variety wrote: "With this small and select cast, there is little margin for error. Bette Davis does her standard first-class job as the writer, playing the unsympathetic role with her known facility. Gary Merrill, as her assumed husband, turns in an impressive performance, being strong without being domineering, tough without being brutal. Emlyn Williams, a little more suave than usual, plays a neighbor vet who knows there is something wrong and whose nosiness exposes the masquerade. Anthony Steel and Barbara Murray are a good romantic team, while Reginald Beckwith and Edna Morris fill the two minor roles with polish."[13]

The New York Times described the film as "a garrulous but occasionally interesting excursion into murder and unrequited love ... the script ... is basically a static affair that rarely escapes from its sets or the scenarist's verbosity. Suspense is only fitfully generated and then quickly dissipated ...Gary Merrill contributes a thoroughly seasoned and convincing portrayal ... Emlyn Williams adds a professionally polished characterization ... and Anthony Steel and Barbara Murray are adequate ... However, Another Man's Poison is strictly Bette Davis' meat. She is permitted a wide latitude of histrionics in delineating the designing neurotic who is as flinty a killer as any we've seen in the recent past."[14]

In his review in New Statesman and Nation, Frank Hauser wrote "No one has ever accused Bette Davis of failing to rise to a good script; what this film shows is how far she can go to meet a bad one."[15]

References

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  1. ^ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 358
  2. ^ "Another Man's Poison". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ^ Higham, p. 222–223.
  4. ^ "Swanson Signs for British Film". The New York Times. 8 November 1950. p. 49.
  5. ^ "Worth Reporting". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 18, no. 37. Australia. 17 February 1951. p. 28. Retrieved 19 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Scott, John L. (12 August 1951). "Swanson Swan Song Turns to Hit Parade: Adult Romance Held Need to Bring Older People Back into Film Houses". Los Angeles Times. p. D1.
  7. ^ "British Film For Bette Davis". The Sunday Herald (Sydney). No. 112. New South Wales, Australia. 18 March 1951. p. 3 (Features). Retrieved 19 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ Merrill, p. 97.
  9. ^ Higham, p. 225.
  10. ^ Mother Goddam by Whitney Stine, with a running commentary by Bette Davis, Hawthorn Books, 1974, p. 241 (ISBN 0-8015-5184-6)
  11. ^ Merrill, p. 100.
  12. ^ "Another Man's Poison". Kine Weekly. 431 (2382): 25. 19 February 1953 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ "Another Man's Poison". Variety. 184 (12): 6. 28 November 1951 – via ProQuest.
  14. ^ "Double Bill at Loew's Theatres". The New York Times. 7 January 1952. p. 14.
  15. ^ Another Man's Poison at Turner Classic Movies

Notes

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  • Higham, Charles (1981). Bette : the life of Bette Davis. Macmillan.
  • Merrill, Gary (1988). Bette, Rita, and the rest of my life. L. Tapley.
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