Main Cast: William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon
Release Year: 1954
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
Cameron Hawley's novel Executive Suite appeared around the same time as two other tales of big-business intrigue, the 1954 film A Woman's World and the 1955 Rod Serling teleplay Patterns. Elements of all three properties inevitably overlap. In Executive Suite, a furniture-store executive dies suddenly, resulting in a power play between five of his vice presidents. Julia O. Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck), daughter of the company founder and mistress of the president, must choose between solid family man McDonald Walling (William Holden), blackmail-prone Josiah Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas), ruthless Loren Phineas Shaw (Fredric March), duplicitous George Nyle Caswell (Louis Calhern), and eternal corporate bridesmaid Frederick Y. Alderson (Walter Pidgeon). Only Walling, the most honest of the bunch, refuses to campaign for the presidential chair. Despite the presence of the A-list leads and of supporting actors Shelley Winters, Dean Jagger, and Nina Foch, Executive Suite is a true ensemble effort, with everyone carrying like weight onscreen. The property was later adapted into a TV series, which owed more to Dallas than it did to the Hawley novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Shelley Winters - Eva Bardeman; Paul Douglas - Josiah Walter Dudley; Louis Calhern - George Nyle Caswell; Dean Jagger - Jesse Q. Grimm; Nina Foch - Erica Martin; Tim Considine - Mike Walling; William Phipps - Bill Ludden; Lucy Knoch - Mrs. George Nyle Caswell; Edgar Stehli - Julius Steigel; Mary Adams - Sara Asenath Grimm; Virginia Brissac - Edith Alderson; Harry Shannon - Ed Benedeck; John Banner - Enrique, Stork Club Waiter Captain; Willis B. Bouchey; Helen Brown - Miss Clark; Paul Bryar - Stork Club Waiter; Robin Camp - Mailroom Boy; Jonathan Cott - Cop; Abe Dinovitch - Cab Driver; John Doucette - Morgue Officials; Mimi Doyle - Telephone Operator; Faith Geer - Stork Club Hatcheck Girl; Cameron A. Grant; John Hedloe - Reporter; Mary Ellen Hokanson - Nurse; Chet Huntley - Narrator/Tredway; May McAvoy - Grimm's Secretary; Matt Moore - Servant; Burt Mustin - Sam Teal; Kasia Orzazewski - Liz; Carl Saxe; Gus Schilling - News Dealer; Ann Tyrrell - Shaw's Secretary; Charles Wagenheim - Luigi Cassoni; Wilson Wood - Airport Clerk; Robert Carson - Lee Ormond; Phil Chambers - Toll Station Attendant; Bert Davidson - Salesman; Michael Lally - Spectator at Ball Game; Esther Michelson; Raoul Freeman - Avery Bullard; John R. McKee - Umpire
Executive Suite is a game of office politics at a computer company, and compared to other 1980s life sims -- say, Romantic Encounters at the Dome -- it has aged pretty well. After passing an initial interview and starting as a lowly mailroom clerk or junior engineer, you see how far you can make it by retirement. Whether you end up CEO, or still working on the assembly line at the age of 65, depends on the choices you've made. Who have you befriended, who have you sacked, and how much blame have you been able to lay on other people, while impressing company president Malcolm Farnsworth III with your go-getter instincts? This witty game is equally useful as an educational exercise for anyone working in the corporate world -- and as a reminder to everyone else why they decided not to. Despite consisting of simple multiple-choice input, gameplay feels surprisingly open-ended, similar to Jones in the Fast Lane.
Executive Suite was the Philly group that Daryl Hall contributed vocals to on their first single ("Christine," for Jubilee Records) in 1970. The members were Vincent Unto, Henry Tuten, William Tyler, and Charles Conyers. Their next release, a smooth, Philly ballad named "I'm a Winner Now" from 1972, remains the jewel of their career. Babylon Records picked it up for national distribution in 1973, but the move didn't help much as the record never expanded beyond the Philly/New York area. A 1974 release, "When the Fuel Runs Out," embraced disco, Philly style, and achieved some club notoriety. Two more singles "Your Love Is Paradise" and "You Believed in Me," suffered from indifferent promotion. Polydor released an LP, Executive Suite 1, in 1974 that contains the North Bay singles, produced at Sigma Sound Studios by an assortment of Philly's finest: Norman Harris, Phil Hurtt, Bunny Sigler, and the Harris Machine. They released one final single "Hey Pearl" on United Artists but the results didn't change. Unto and Tyler previously sang with the Millionaires on Castle Records; Tyler also sang with the Jewels, and Conyer with the Lovenotes. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
Avery Bullard, president and driving force of the Tredway Corporation, dies at a critical time. Bullard had lost his way in recent years and the furniture manufacturing company had steadily lost ground to the competition. But he had not groomed a successor, so the board of directors must vote for his replacement.
The frontrunner is the ambitious but unimaginative Loren Shaw (Fredric March), the company Controller concerned more with profitability and satisfying the stockholders than rejuvenating the company. He has the backing of the main shareholder, Julia Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck), who had been hopelessly in love with Bullard. In addition, "independent" board member George Caswell (Louis Calhern) offers his support in return for certain lucrative considerations.
The only viable alternative is idealistic VP of Design Don Walling (William Holden), who isn't even sure he wants the job. He would rather spend his time developing new products and more efficient manufacturing methods, and his wife Mary (June Allyson) is strongly against his giving up that dream to take a new position inside the executive suite.
Walling is supported by company Treasurer Frederick Alderson (Walter Pidgeon), Bullard's best friend, who sees Walling as the best hope for saving the company but fears he might be a good five years too young for the job. VP of Manufacturing Jesse Grimm (Dean Jagger) is opposed to Walling for reasons of his own while VP of Sales Walt Dudley (Paul Douglas) is being blackmailed by Shaw, having caught him red-handed having an affair.
The machinations, bargaining and maneuvering leading up to the election propel the plot. In the end, Walling's enthusiasm and vision win over Julia Tredway, the others jump on the bandwagon, and he is elected.
