Executive Suite (1954) |
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Executive Suite Cast |
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Movie Highlights |
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Other InformationAwardsBest Written American Drama Writers Guild of America, USA [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Directors Guild of America, USA [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Foreign Actor BAFTA Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Film from any Source BAFTA Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Actress in a Supporting Role Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Golden Lion Venice Film Festival [1954] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Special Jury Prize Venice Film Festival [1954] (Won/Nominated: Won) Best Supporting Actress National Board of Review, USA [1954] (Won/Nominated: Won) Plot SummaryCameron 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 Execut... TaglineBehind the lighted tower windows the conflict of love and power is reckless and daring! |
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Full Cast and Crew |
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Actor CreditsNon Actor Credits |
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Awards |
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Executive Suite (1954) was nominated for the following awards:
Academy AwardsVenice Film FestivalNational Board of Review, USA |
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Fans |
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Trivia |
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Trivia and QuotesQuotes [last lines]
[Mr. and Mrs. Walling enter an elevator.]
McDonald Walling: Hey, by the way, who won today?
Mary Blemond Walling: We did.
[first lines]
[pre-opening-credits sequence; views of skyscrapers]
Narrator: It is always up there, close to the clouds, on the topmost floors of the sky-reaching towers of big business. And because it is high in the sky, you may think that those who work there are somehow above and beyond the tensions and temptations of the lower floors. This is to say that it isn`t so.
George Nyle Caswell: A one-man company without its one man!
Mrs. George Nyle Caswell: You`ll have to excuse my friend. He likes to read while he *doesn`t* eat.
McDonald Walling: We`ll have a line of low-priced furniture, a new and different line - as different from anything we`re making today as a modern automobile is different from a covered wagon. That`s what you want Walt, isn`t it - what you`ve always wanted? Merchandise that will sell because it had beauty and function and value - not because the buyers like your scotch or think that you`re a good egg. The kind of stuff that you, Jesse, will feel in your guts when you know it`s coming off your production line. A kind of product that you will be able to budget to the nearest hundredth of a cent, Shaw, because it will be scientifically and efficiently designed. And something you will be proud to have your name on, Miss Tredway.
Loren Phineas Shaw: After all, that`s only part of our business. Eventually we can cut down on the line...
McDonald Walling: We`ll drop that line! And we`ll never again ask a man to do anything that will poison his pride in himself or his work.
McDonald Walling: The force behind a great company has to be more than the pride of one man; it has to be the pride of thousands. You can`t make men work for money alone - you starve their souls when you try it, and you can starve a company to death the same way.
McDonald Walling: [picking up a small, flimsy table] And that`s when we started doing things like this: the KF line. Walt, are your boys proud when they go out and sell this stuff? When they know the finish is going to crack, the veneer split off and the legs come loose?
Loren Phineas Shaw: Wait a minute, wait a minute. That`s priced merchandise - it serves a definite purpose in the profit structure of this company. We`re not cheating anyone.
McDonald Walling: Ourselves!
Loren Phineas Shaw: At that price, the customer knows exactly what he is going to get.
McDonald Walling: This!
[flips the table over, and easily tears off one of its legs]
McDonald Walling: This is what Tredway has come to mean!
[violently throws the leg against the wall]
McDonald Walling: And what do you suppose the people think of us when they buy it? How do you suppose the men in the factories feel when they make it? What must they think of a management that is willing to stoop to selling this kind of junk in order to add a dime a year to the dividend?
Trivia When William Holden returns home from the airport in this MGM film, we hear his baseball playing son singing off-camera the tune to "Singing In the Rain," music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by the head of the studio`s celebrated musical unit, Arthur Freed. The song appears in many a film from The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) to A Clockwork Orange (1971), and most famously in the Gene Kelly MGM film of the same name. According to Oliver Stone, who did the commentary on the DVD for this film, the beginning was narrated by Edward R. Murrow. For years it was believed that NBC news anchor Chet Huntley, who narrates the opening of the film, also played Avery Bullard, when in fact he did not. The role was played by Raoul Freeman. Neither Huntley nor Freeman received screen credit. The entire story takes place during the 24 hour period from Friday afternoon, June 19 1953 to Saturday afternoon, June 20 1953. Producer John Houseman wanted Henry Fonda for the role of McDonald Walling. Fonda turned him down to star in a Broadway musical that never reached the stage. This was one of the few Hollywood films of the era not to have a musical score. The opening credits are shown to the accompaniment of traffic noises and the tolling of a bell. | ||
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