Details

Release year: 1960

Storyline

In Oklahoma in the 1920s, Rubin Flood (Robert Preston) loses his job as a travelling salesman when the company goes bankrupt. This adds to his worries at home. His wife Cora (Dorothy McGuire) is frigid because of trying to make ends meet. His teenage daughter Reenie (Shirley Knight) is afraid of going out on dates, but eventually makes friends with a troubled Jewish boy Sammy Golden (Lee Kinsolving), and his son is a mama's boy. He finally storms out of the house when Cora falsely accuses him of having an affair with Mavis Pruitt (Dame Angela Lansbury).

Top credits

Directors

Delbert Mann

Writers

Cast

Robert Preston — Rubin Flood
Dorothy McGuire — Cora Flood
Eve Arden — Lottie Lacey
Angela Lansbury — Mavis Pruitt

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Awards

0 wins & 1 nomination

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Did you know

• When asked which one of her movies stands out to her, Dame Angela Lansbury cited this movie, saying, "That's one I felt we did a good job with, one that didn't get the attention it deserved."

• The original Broadway production of "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" by William Inge opened at the Music Box Theater in New York City on December 5, 1957, and ran for four hundred sixty-eight performances. It was nominated for five Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Featured Actor (Pat Hingle), Best Featured Actress (Eileen Heckart), Best Scenic Design, and Best Director (Elia Kazan). Frank Overton re-created his stage role as Morris Lacey in this movie. On stage, Teresa Wright originated the role of Cora Flood. Kazan later directed Inge's original, Oscar winning screenplay, Splendor in the Grass (1961).

• Set in the 1920s, several stars of the day are mentioned: Norma Talmadge, Marion Davies, Rudolph Valentino, John Gilbert, William S. Hart, Pearl White, Marilyn Miller, and Mabel Normand.