''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs'' is a 1960 American drama film directed by

Delbert Mann Delbert Martin Mann Jr. (January 30, 1920 – November 11, 2007) was an American television and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film '' Marty'' (1955), adapted from a 1953 teleplay of the same name which h ...

and starring Robert Preston and

Dorothy McGuire Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 – September 13, 2001) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actre ...

Shirley Knight Shirley Knight Hopkins (July 5, 1936 – April 22, 2020) was an American actress who appeared in more than 50 feature films, television films, television series, and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and charac ...

garnered an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actress and Lee Kinsolving was nominated for a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

as Best Supporting Actor. Knight was also nominated for two Golden Globes. Mann's direction was nominated for a

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

for Outstanding Directing in a Feature Film. The film was based on the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

-nominated 1957

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

William Inge William Motter Inge (; May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973) was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broad ...

Plot

During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, Rubin Flood is a successful harness and saddle salesman. However, with the advent of the automobile, his job is becoming more difficult. He considers his wife Cora demanding and an over-protective mother. When he learns his company is closing, he is unable to face her, and stops at a pharmacy to partake of "medicinal" alcohol. Cora is out with her daughter Reenie, buying a party dress. Rubin cannot bring himself to tell Cora he has lost his job, and they about how much Cora has spent on Reenie's dress. The couple's younger son Sonny is being bullied at school. Sonny has a fear of the dark. Determined to get him to stand up for himself, Rubin attempts to teach him to box. While sparring, he inadvertently strikes the boy too hard. An incensed Cora accuses Rubin of having an affair with Mavis Pruitt, a local widow. Rubin slaps Cora and storms out of the house. Reenie, having witnessed the row, runs into the street, causing a motorist to swerve and strike a tree. The driver, Sammy Golden, is relatively unhurt, and he and Reenie become attracted to one another. Cora calls her older sister Lottie to tell her that Rubin hit her. Rubin, still slightly intoxicated, shows up at Mavis's beauty salon, also her home, where he is seen by two town gossips. Rubin tells her Cora has ignored him for years, and while he has remained faithful, he desires Mavis. When she rejects his halfhearted advances, Rubin falls asleep on her sofa. Days later, Lottie and her husband come for dinner. Cora asks if she and the children can stay with them, then Rubin returns home to apologize. The two gossips tell Cora about Mavis, which re-ignites the argument. He accuses Cora of rejecting him sexually, and she argues that she is preoccupied with worrying about money. Reenie's friend Flirt and her boyfriend arrive, with a date for Reenie, Sammy. Lottie's bigotry is revealed when she suggests that Cora and Rubin might not want to allow Reenie to accompany a Jew to the party. Sammy and Reenie kiss at the party, but Harry Ralston and his wife berate her for bringing a Jew to the country club, where they are not allowed. Embarrassed, Sammy and Reenie leave. Sammy drops Reenie at home, where she finds Rubin on the sofa. He confesses that he has lost his job and does not know how to tell Cora. The following morning, they learn Sammy has attempted suicide. Reenie rushes to the hospital, telling him that she does not care what people think. Cora promises Sonny to stop being so over-protective so he can grow into a responsible adult, then receives a call to say that Sammy has died. She heads over to Mavis's salon, where she pretends to be a customer, before revealing that she is Rubin's wife. Mavis confesses that she has been in love with Rubin for years, but that Rubin has always been faithful to Cora, and also reveals that Rubin has lost his job. Rubin gets a new job as a salesman at an oil drilling equipment company. He returns home to find that Cora has sent Reenie to Lottie's for a few days to recover from Sammy's death. Cora and Rubin commit to paying more attention to each other's needs. As they embrace, Sonny returns home with a friend, one of his former tormentors from school. Rubin pays for the two boys to go to a movie, then follows his wife up to the bedroom.

Cast

* Robert Preston as Rubin Flood *

as Cora Flood *

Eve Arden Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades. Beginning her film career in 1929 ...

as Lottie Lacey *

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

as Mavis Pruitt *

as Reenie Flood * Lee Kinsolving as Sammy Golden *

Frank Overton Frank Emmons Overton (March 12, 1918April 24, 1967) was an American actor. He was best known for the roles of Maj. Harvey Stovall in ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1964-1967), Sheriff Heck Tate in ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962) and General Bogan in ' ...

as Morris Lacey * Robert Eyer as Sonny Flood * Penney Parker as Flirt Conroy *

Ken Lynch Kenneth E. Lynch (July 15, 1910 – February 13, 1990) was an American radio, film, and television actor with more than 180 credits to his name. He was generally known for portraying law enforcement officers and detectives. He may have been bes ...

as Harry Ralston * Paul Birch as Jonah Mills (uncredited) *

Peg LaCentra Margherita Maria Francesca LaCentra (c.1910 - June 1, 1996) was an American contralto singer, best known for her work on old-time radio and her singing with Artie Shaw's orchestra. She also performed as Barbara Fulton. Early years Born in B ...

as Edna Harper (uncredited) *

Nelson Leigh Nelson Leigh (born Sydney Talbot Christie; January 1, 1905 – July 3, 1985) was an American motion picture actor of the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Born in Mississippi, Leigh was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Christie. He was a graduate ...

as Ed Peabody (uncredited) *

Charles Seel Charles Seel (April 29, 1897 – April 19, 1980) was an American actor. He acted in over 30 films from 1938 to 1974 and appeared in over one hundred titles for television from 1952 to 1974. He was also credited as Charles Seal and Charles F. S ...

as Percy Weems (uncredited) * Mary Patton as Mrs Ralston (uncredited)

Production

Warner Bros. announced in January 1960 that it would be producing a film version of Inge's play, directed by Delbert Mann and starring Robert Preston and Dorothy McGuire. During rehearsals for the production, Mann used the same process that he had used since his first film, '' Marty'', in 1955. First, the cast read through the entire script, then they rehearsed the entire screenplay on set prior to filming. The film went into production in late January, but by the beginning of March, an actor's strike was looming, scheduled for March 7. Warner Bros. shifted to seven-days-a-week production schedules to complete filming before the strike. In mid-July, it was announced that ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs'' would headline the launch of the fall season, and it opened at New York's

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

on September 22, 1960.

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' provided a favorable review, noting that ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs'' was "well cast and persuasively acted." However,

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it a "flawed adaptation of the original stage play." The ''Film Bulletin'' described the film a "rather absorbing drama, with goodly shares of humor, warmth, and tragedy," though Preston's performance needed more "humility and tenderness" and Mann's direction, though professional, focused on "certain scenes singularly, rather than integrating them into the whole." ''

Motion Picture Daily ''Motion Picture Daily'' was an American daily magazine focusing on the film industry. It was published by Quigley Publishing Company, which also published the ''Motion Picture Herald''. The magazine was formed by the merging of three existing Qui ...

'' provided another positive review while criticizing Mann's direction, writing that he "failed to draw out some of the most vital scenes all the urgency and pathos that Inge had wrote into them." Shirley Knight earned an

nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Reenie Flood. Knight also received Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and New Star of the Year - Actress. Lee Kinsolving also received a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Mann was nominated for a

for " outstanding directorial achievement." The film was voted one of the ten best of the year in 1960 by the

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

. Eve Arden's performance rated among the five best of the year by supporting actresses, according to ''

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

s poll of over 1,800 critics.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark at the Top of the Stairs 1960 films 1960 drama films American films based on plays American drama films 1960s English-language films Films about dysfunctional families Films directed by Delbert Mann Films scored by Max Steiner Films set in Oklahoma Films set in the 1920s Warner Bros. films 1960s American films