Another Man's Poison

Another Man's Poison is directed by Irving Rapper and adapted to screenplay by Val Guest from the play "Deadlock" written by Leslie Sands. It stars Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Emlyn Williams, Anthony Steel and Barbara Murray. Music is by John Greenwood and Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Robert Krasker.

A whole bunch of fun if expectation levels are correctly set. Another Man's Poison is essentially a one set piece (confirming its stage origins), with primary focus on just five people and a horse. It's a tale of murder, deception and carnal desires, the latter of which is wrung out via Janet Frobisher's (Davis) affair with a much younger man who happens to be the intended of her secretary.

Frobisher is quite frankly a bitch, something which Davis attacks with relish and no little amount of histrionic camp. She's the fulcrum of the story, but all the other key characters here are either stupid, ignorant, devious or all three in one go! Oh yes, this is a regular hot- bed of people you really wouldn't want to be hanging around with for long.

It's these characterisations that along with Krasker's photography just about earns the pic its film noir badge. The script isn't up to much - where stories about changes being made by Williams and Davis and Merrill (hubbie and wife) being unhappy – are common place, but it never outstays its welcome by being boring and Bette being batty is always good entertainment. 6.5/10

Janet Frobisher (Bette Davis) is home when a strange man bursts into her home. George Bates (Gary Merrill) demands to know where Mr. Frobisher is but Janet is evasive. So, George explains that he and her husband were involved in a robbery and the husband killed someone...and he wants to get a hold of him in order to prove he didn't do the killing. But, it's too late, and Janet introduces George to her husband....and he's quite dead! It seems she was sick of the jerk and after slapping her around, she poisoned him! What an interesting pair we meet at the beginning of the picture!

As for George, he's not about to just leave and decides to stick around...telling folks he's Mr. Frobisher. Considering that none of the neighbors ever met the man, it's an easy ruse. And, he knows Janet won't betray him because he knows about that pesky dead body sitting in the study!

While I really enjoyed Merrill's and Davis' characters (both were deliciously evil) and I do recommend the film, it is not perfect. It was originally a play and it's pretty obvious since the film is very talky and a bit claustrophobic. But the ending...well...that makes up for a lot!

Okay, it's not an Oscar-winner, but this movie is a lot of fun, especially if you're a Bette Davis fan. The setting, a spooky, isolated British mansion, is strongly portrayed; by the end, you really feel like you've spent time some time within the oak-paneled walls. Bette looks just like she did in "All About Eve" -- same hairstyle and similar wardrobe, so it's easy to imagine that this could have been a Margo Channing movie. And of course her costar is Garry Merrill, with whom she also starred in "Eve." This was adapted from a stage play, so I think it's interesting to pay attention to the structure and limited changes of location, which are an indicator of its stage pedigree. This one shows up on TCM once in a while; sit back and enjoy.

Overblown melodrama with Bette pulling out all the stops and putting any idea of subtlety aside. If you enjoy films where she turns in that sort of performance as opposed to her quieter work in films like Dark Victory or Watch on the Rhine than this is for you. Reunited with her Now, Voyager director but certainly not on a script of that calibre he seems unable to rein her in, everybody else tries to compete and while the rest of the cast turn in decent performances when Bette struts into view blowing smoke and popping her eyes no one else stands a chance. Filmed directly after one of her best performances in All About Eve and with new husband Gary Merrill in tow she apparently didn't think much of the script and as she sometimes did when faced with less than stellar material she plays to the balconies. Deliciously grand and over the top.

I agree with other reviewers who found merit in this film. Maybe because I watched it "on a dark and stormy night," I found the film to have quite a few endearing qualities, including a sufficiently gloomy and Gothic setting, solid acting, a big dash of melodrama (sometimes unintentionally funny), some brilliant catch phrases, a couple of handsome equines, some much-needed tawdriness, intriguing real world background, an astute and meddling detective type, and of course Bette as the menacing, manipulative author of thrillers (undoubtedly as sordid as her behavior). I mean, what's not to like? Sure, the plot has some real twists that are beyond suspending disbelief, and the quality of the film isn't the best, but if you're a fan of the genre or Bette, then this is a must see. But first, pour yourself a stiff drink. Preferably, direct from the bottle.