EXECUTIVE SUITE COMMENTARY
Added 1/30/2010
Star-studded story of how a new CEO was selected when the one man company's one man died. Good, although somewhat dated.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Craftsman vs. businessmen
Added 12/26/2009
"Executive Suite" (1954: dir.: Robert Wise): The chief executive of a furniture enterprise suddenly deceases, and the while film deals with the question who will be his successor. The decisive meeting will take place in the "Executive Suite"... This is an outstanding ensemble film in which about ten persons each have an important part (e.g. William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck, Nina Foch, Water Pidgeon, Dean Jagger, Shelley Winters, Fredric March). They all give excellent performances. Especially the women are great in showing how emotional feelings have to be hidden in the world top management. Stanwyck, Foch and Winters each have a significant scene with a "silent scream" which is more touching than any overacting. Furthermore, the picture is perfectly constructed with all its linked subplots culminating in the final meeting, using no musical soundtrack at all, but the dramatic sound of a nearby huge bell. And the plot is more up-to-date than ever: Holden is the only engineer in the board of directors, mainly composed by mere accountants. Should one stick to the product to be sold or should one only stick to profit? "Wall Street"-director Oliver Stone explains in the audio commentary that in the fifties, the great US enterprises were taken over by a second generation of managers who had not built them up and who had no knowledge about the fabrication of their products. This is still worth watching and should be presented to all bankers from New York to Frankfurt.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Great Old Classic with an unbeatable moral
Added 9/5/2009
Old America was created by people with strong moral beliefs. Beliefs that affected everything they did. They were willing to take risks for what they believed in and providence paid them dividends. This is a heart warming classic of a battle for control of a company. The people are real, they question themselves and their ability while others are quick to seek personal gain in the present circumstance. Something we have lost or forgotten. I highly recommend this movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Awful Movie - very slow, very tedious, very somber - could only watch half
Added 7/13/2009
The death of the president of a large furniture company... there's the premise of a riveting drama. This was one of the most tedious old movies I've ever seen. I was bitterly disappointed because the cast is an all-star cast. Many old movies are slower than movies today at getting going with the drama, but this one was the worst of them all. There was absolutely nothing about the man who died for the audience to care. He wasn't a famous person. His character hadn't been developed before he died. Nothing. Even the people who have to deal with his death are dull as dishwater.
The actual "drama" is so light. The tension isn't thick. The 'plot' is dragged out with no end in sight. There are no interesting characters. Emotions are toned down. The script isn't clever or interesting. Everybody is in a bad mood. It's all somber and sober. It's like watching a funeral in slow motion. I couldn't watch even half of it.
You won't be surprised to learn that a TV show spin-off of this dull flick died quickly. Note that nobody else has ever since Executive Suite tried to make a similar movie--certainly no remake. There are dramatic business films out there like Wall Street. They have so many qualities that are absent from Executive Suite.
Who might like this? Business school students. Owners of large furniture companies.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Follow the Money Trail
Added 5/23/2009
Executive Suite The range of personality traits are about as broad and infectious as the plot itself in the hard-hitting gritty performances dominating this indiscreet defection into the greedy world of big business, with one of the finer casts relating to rare solid films of the "corporate-finance" genre, at the helm. Flagged by a 'driven' Bill Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Pidgeon, Frederic March, Paul Douglas, Nina Foch, and others, the story moves quickly, the players are calculating, and the results are dynamic. A gripping film with an almost sensitive underside which pays homage to those who work hard, and in the end, find just reward. Pay careful attention to this one. The range of human emotions are knit very tightly in a harsh, but realistic, truth.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
