Executive Suite (1954)

100% of critics liked it
(7 reviews)
75% of users liked it
(586 ratings)

Cameron Hawley's novel of corporate in-fighting and gamesmanship was brought to the screen by producer John Houseman and director Robert Wise, working successfully in the slickest MGM style. When Avery Bullard, the hard-charging president of Tredway, the third-largest furniture maker in the United… More Cameron Hawley's novel of corporate in-fighting and gamesmanship was brought to the screen by producer John Houseman and director Robert Wise, working successfully in the slickest MGM style. When Avery Bullard, the hard-charging president of Tredway, the third-largest furniture maker in the United States, dies suddenly at the end of a business week, it sets off a scramble among the surviving vice presidents to see which of them will succeed him. Among the latter, the best positioned to take the job is Loren Shaw (Fredric March), an ambitious bean-counter-type who is more concerned with the profits that the company generates than the quality of what it produces. Opposing him are Frederick Alderson (Walter Pidgeon), Bullard's longtime right-hand man, and McDonald Walling (William Holden), a forward-thinking idea man brought in by Bullard but never given a wholly free hand (mostly thanks to Shaw). But Alderson's age works against him, as does his seeming lack of leadership -- and Walling is not ready (or so he thinks) to take the president's job, nor does he really want it. Caught in the same dilemma are Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas), the head of sales, who is being quietly blackmailed by Shaw over an affair with his secretary; Jesse Grimm (Dean Jagger), a production man who has always been distrustful of Walling's new ideas; and George Caswell (Louis Calhern), a duplicitous corporate player who will do anything -- including compromise the future of the company -- to protect his own financial position. And possibly holding the balance of power between them is Julia Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck), the daughter of the company's founder (who committed suicide during the Great Depression) and a major shareholder, whose unrequited love for Bullard clouds all of her thinking about the company. And caught in the middle of their struggle -- which literally has a clock ticking, toward the opening of business on Monday morning -- are the thousands of employees of Tredway, represented by a handful of fine character actors, whose jobs and futures hang in the balance over who wins this fight. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By: Robert Wise
Written By: Ernest Lehman
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Apr 15, 1954 Wide
On DVD: Oct 30, 2007
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
A slick, quintessential 1950s melodrama, about intrigues and leadership in the business world, well acted by an all-star cast: William Holden, Barabara Stanwyck, Fredric March, June Allyson.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
The story gets a bit soapy...yet Wise is able to juggle all of it effectively. (Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection)
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...still manages to hold up reasonably well after more than fifty years. (Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection)
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The dramatics are riveting, though it's all superficial.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Glossy, star packed drama with Holden in top form.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

A great movie about corporate competition, and with great actors too.
jay n

Very good 50's corporate drama. Top cast all give fine perfomances. Holden and June Allyson are well matched and Barbara gives her all in her few scenes.
Michael G

When Executive Suite started and the credits rolled off the names that made up the powerhouse cast (finishing with directing credit going to the late, great Robert Wise) I thought I was in for a greatly underrated and overlooked classic. When the end credits rolled I by no stretch of… More
When Executive Suite started and the credits rolled off the names that made up the powerhouse cast (finishing with directing credit going to the late, great Robert Wise) I thought I was in for a greatly underrated and overlooked classic. When the end credits rolled I by no stretch of the imagination felt the same way. The first half hour to 45 minutes of Executive Suite started off strong enough but eventually turned into an instructional video about how to helm a hostile takeover. The cast was good enough even if there wasn't nearly enough Barbara Stanwyck. Not enough of my interest was held for me to get the details but by the time William Holden delivered that Rynd-esque speech at the end I didn't really care enough to recommend this movie. But then again my DVR cut off at the very end.
Lanning :

McDonald Walling: If you want to stab a dead man, why don't you do it yourself, instead of having someone else do it for you? Julia O. Treadway: Get out of here. McDonald Walling: Go on, sell out! Smash everything he lived for. That's what you want to… More
McDonald Walling: If you want to stab a dead man, why don't you do it yourself, instead of having someone else do it for you? Julia O. Treadway: Get out of here. McDonald Walling: Go on, sell out! Smash everything he lived for. That's what you want to do, isn't it? Pay him back for loving the company more than he could love you? Julia O. Treadway: Will you get out of here! When John Houseman serves as the producer of a film, I most assuredly sit up and pay attention. Houseman's acumen as a producer, as a director, as a production assistant to the likes of Orson Welles on Citizen Kane, and even more visibly as a stage and screen actor on projects such as The Paper Chase, is extremely keen. Okay, so there are some poor moments in this film. The one clinch-and-break scene quoted at the top here is a prime example. Overall, however, William Holden's acting lifts this cunning portrait of corporate business mentality to a whole new higher plane. What do you think? On the heels of having watched Stalag 17 for the umpteenth time last week, a role for which Holden was nominated for Best Actor, I have to say that, in my first viewing of Executive Suite, he's even better here. You watch this and you know why he rose to the top of the Hollywood acting food chain. Contrast the very wooden moment cited above with his dressing down of the Treadway board of directors scene just before the movie ends, and you will see Mr. Holden on absolute acting fire. And in the scene immediately following, you'll watch Barbara Stanwyck absolutely dominate the landscape in a face-to-face with June Allyson. It's as if you're watching a split screen of two different movies. Stanwyck stands out in full 3-D relief; Allyson is almost a paper silhouette, a kind of Javanese shadow puppet by comparison. Additionally, Fredric March and Shelley Winters prove why they went as far as they did in the acting business. What a wonderful, if uneven, film. Mr. Houseman, you are truly missed. Gotta add William Holden to my all-time favorite actors list pronto : )

Cast

            William Holden as McDonald Walling

            June Allyson as Mary Blemond Walling

            Barbara Stanwyck as Julia O. Tredway

            Fredric March as Loren Phineas Shaw

            Walter Pidgeon as Frederick Y. Alderson

            Shelley Winters as Eva Bardeman

            Paul Douglas as Josiah Walter Dudley

            Louis Calhern as George Nyle Caswell

            Dean Jagger as Jesse Q. Grimm

            Nina Foch as Erica Martin

            Tim Considine as Mike Walling

            William Phipps as Bill Ludden

            Lucy Knoch as Mrs. George Nyle Caswell

            Edgar Stehli as Julius Steigel

            Mary Adams Hayes as Sara Asenath Grimm

            Virginia Brissac as Edith Alderson

            Harry Shannon as Ed Benedeck

            John Banner as Enrique Stork Club Waiter Captain

            Willis B. Bouchey
            
            Helen Brown as Miss Clark

            Paul Bryar as Stork Club Waiter

            Robin Camp as Mailroom Boy

            Jonathan Cott as Cop

            Abe Dinovitch as Cab Driver

            John Doucette as Morgue Officials

            Mimi Doyle as Telephone Operator

            Faith Geer as Stork Club Hatcheck Girl

            Cameron A. Grant
            
            John Hedloe as Reporter

            Mary Ellen Hokanson as Nurse

            Chet Huntley as Narrator/Tredway

            May McAvoy as Grimm's Secretary

            Matt Moore as Servant

            Burt Mustin as Sam Teal

            Kasia Orzazewski as Liz

            Carl Saxe
            
            Gus Schilling as News Dealer

            Ann Tyrrell as Shaw's Secretary

            Charles Wagenheim as Luigi Cassoni

            Wilson Wood as Airport Clerk

            Robert Carson as Lee Ormond

            Phil Chambers as Toll Station Attendant

            Bert Davidson as Salesman

            Michael Lally as Spectator at Ball Game

            Esther Michelson
            
            Raoul Freeman as Avery Bullard

            John R. McKee as Umpire

            Robert Wise
            
            Frederic March
            
See full cast