- The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
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The Dark at the Top of the Stairs 
Movie posterDirected by Delbert Mann Produced by Michael Garrison Written by Harriet Frank Jr.
Irving Ravetch
William Inge (play)Starring Robert Preston
Dorothy McGuireRelease date(s) September 22, 1960 Running time 124 minutes Country United States Language English The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is a 1957 play by William Inge about family conflicts during the early 1920s in a small Oklahoma town. It won the Tony Award for Best Play and was made into a film in 1960.
Contents
Plot
The drama centers on Rubin Flood, who loses his salesman job. While searching for a new job, he must deal with his wife, Cora, who shuns intimacy and mistakes his joblessness for stinginess, his shy daughter who prepares for her first dance and his pre-teen son who runs to his mother instead of dealing with bullies. He tries to find comfort with a friend, Mavis Pruitt, thus setting off rumors of an untoward relationship. In addition to the themes of modernization (i.e., not enough demand for horse harness, and the impending arrival of the oil industry)
Play
Directed by Elia Kazan, the play opened December 5, 1957, at New York's Music Box Theatre and ran for a total of 468 performances, closing on January 17, 1959. The drama was reworked by Inge from his earlier play, Farther Off from Heaven, first staged in 1947 at Margo Jones' Theatre '47 in Dallas, Texas.
Opening night cast:
- Eileen Heckart as Lottie Lacey
- Pat Hingle as Rubin Flood
- Teresa Wright as Cora Flood
- Timmy Everett as Sammy Goldenbaum
- Frank Overton as Morris Lacey
- Anthony Ray as Chauffeur
- Evans Evans as Flirt Conroy
- Carl Reindel as Punky Givens
- Judith Robinson as Reenie Flood
- Charles Saari as Sonny Flood
- Jonathan Shawn as Boy Offstage[1]
It was nominated for five Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Featured Actor (Pat Hingle), Best Featured Actress (Eileen Heckart), Best Scenic Design (Ben Edwards), Best Director (Elia Kazan) and won Best Play. Timmy Everett won a Theatre World Award.
Film
Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch adapted Inge's play into a 1960 film directed by Delbert Mann.
- Dorothy McGuire as Cora Flood
- Robert Preston as Rubin Flood
- Shirley Knight as Reenie Flood
- Eve Arden as Lottie Lacey
- Robert Eyer as Sonny Flood
- Frank Overton as Morris Lacey
- Lee Kinsolving as Sammy Goldenbaum
- Angela Lansbury as Mavis Pruitt
- Ken Lynch as Harry Ralston[2]
Variety gave the film a favorable review, noting that it was "well cast and persuasively acted".[3] Shirley Knight earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as "Reenie Flood".
References
- ^ William Inge. "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs". Internet Broadway Database. http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2661. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
- ^ "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053750. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
- ^ Variety, January 1, 1960.
Films directed by Delbert Mann 1950s 1960s The Dark at the Top of the Stairs • Lover Come Back • The Outsider • That Touch of Mink • A Gathering of Eagles • Quick, Before It Melts • Dear Heart • Mister Buddwing • Fitzwilly • The Pink Jungle1970s 1980s BrontëTelevision "Lights Out" (1949) • "The Philco Television Playhouse" (1949 - 1955) • "Goodyear Television Playhouse" (1951 - 1955) • "Producers' Showcase" (1955) • "Playwrights '56" (1955 - 1956) • "Ford Star Jubilee" (1956) • "Omnibus" (1956 - 1957) • "The DuPont Show of the Month" (1958) • "Playhouse 90" (1958 - 1959) • "NBC Sunday Showcase" (1959) • "Startime" (1960) • Heidi (1968) • "CBS Playhouse" (1968) • David Copperfield (1969) • Jane Eyre (1970) • She Waits (1972) • No Place to Run (1972) • The Man Without a Country (1973) • The First Woman President (1974) • The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond (1975) • A Girl Named Sooner (1975) • Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976) • Tell Me My Name (1977) • Breaking Up (1978) • Home to Stay (1978) • Tom and Joann (1978) • Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery (1978) • Torn Between Two Lovers (1979) • All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) • To Find My Son (1980) • "Insight" (1981) • All the Way Home (1981) • The Member of the Wedding (1982) • The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983) • Love Leads the Way: A True Story (1984) • A Death in California (1985) • The Last Days of Patton (1986) • The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story (1976) • Tell Me My Name (1977) • Breaking Up (1986) • April Morning (1988) • Ironclads (1991) • Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore (1992) • Incident in a Small Town (1994) • Lily in Winter (1994)Categories:- English-language films
- 1960 films
- 1957 plays
- Films directed by Delbert Mann
- Plays by William Inge
- 1920s in fiction
- Oklahoma in fiction
- Plays set in the United States
- Plays adapted into films
- Tony Award winning plays
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