Introduction
Welcome to my corner! this week, I'm sharing my thoughts on the film Another Man's Poison. The TCM television channel played Another Man's Poison as part of their 'Creepy Cinema With Mario Cantone - Bette Davis and Joan Crawford' lineup on October 3. One of my favorite parts of October is Creepy Cinema on TCM with Mario Cantone and Ben Mankiewicz. Enjoy!
Another Man's Poison
Another Man's Poison is a 1951 British crime drama film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Bette Davis, Gary Merrill and Emlyn Williams. The screenplay by Val Guest is based on the play Deadlock by Leslie Sands.
Plot: an English mystery writer (Bette Davis) kills her husband, then tries to kill a man (Gary Merrill) for posing as her husband.
Acting: Bette Davis played Janet Frobisher. Simply the best. Her laughter in the film stays with me the most. Bette Davis can't do wrong when it comes to acting. I fear the same could not be said for her in real life. I obviously didn't know her personally, but all the stories from various sources portray her as a very angry "my way or no way" kind of person. I fi had ever met her, I probably wouldn't have liked her, but boy is she a great actress. I haven't seen a Bette Davis movie yet that I haven't liked. Her most notable titles are All About Eve, Dark Victory, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Now, Voyager. She had 124 titles to her name, and I've only scratched the surface. My favorite so far is The Man Who Came to Dinner.
Gary Merrill played George Bates. I'm surprised that he and Davis were married during the filming of Another Man's Poison. There is definitely chemistry, but you'd never guess they were married outside the film, which I suppose proves how well they acted in the movie. His four most notable titles are All About Eve, The Woman Who Wouldn't Die, Twelve O'Clock High and where the Sidewalk Ends. Merrill had nearly as many titles to his name as Davis, 116 to 124.
Emlyn Williams played Dr. Henderson. He attempts to steal the spotlight in Another Man's Poison, and to an extent he's pretty successful at it. It's pretty hard to steal the spotlight from Bette Davis though. Dr. Henderson is a great character, innocent, but nosy. Williams is better known as a writer, but he did have acting roles as well. His four most notable titles are Ivanhoe, The Stars Look Down, I, Claudius and Woman of Dolwyn as a writer.
Technical Aspects: 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.
In November 1950, producer Dan Angel announced Gloria Swanson would play the lead. However, Swanson later dropped out; she said this was because she had received an offer to perform Twentieth Century on Broadway.
In March 1951, Bette Davis and Gary Merrill became attached to the project with Merrill replacing Leo Genn who had ben cast. 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.
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) 10 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 Waltonon-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 Anthony Steel, who played Larry Stevens, "a beautiful prop."
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."
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."
Final Thoughts: A twisting tale to answer the question: "Will they get away with it?" Trust is not easy to establish between people, especially those who rob banks and kill people. Although Another Man's Poison isn't meant to be a comedy, I find some aspects of it funny, like the character interactions and dialogue. I don't mean it in a bad way though; I quite enjoyed it. I always enjoy Bette Davis movies. And, as Mario Cantone and Ben Mankiewicz said on TCM, it is a very October ending.
Where to watch it: According to Google, Another Man's Poison is currently available on Amazon Prime, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV, PLEX, and YouTube TV. You can also purchase or rent a digital copy for a few dollars. I've also donated a DVD copy of the film to the Emil M. Larson Public Library in Clark for you all to enjoy if you choose to.
That's it for this week! What were your thoughts? Feel free to share them with us! You can call us, email us, visit us at the office, leave us a comment or message on Facebook, or even mail us something. Keep the comments, suggestions, questions, submissions, etc. coming our way! We'd love to hear from you!
