[.ca] Another Man S Poison (ISBN 630570189X)

THIS MOVIE IS POISON...BUT BETTE DAVIS MAKES IT PALATABLE...:
This film, based upon the play "Deadlock" by Leslie Sands, is not one of those films that will make the viewer stand up and cheer. Were it not for Bette Davis, it would probably not even merit a viewing, so improbable is the script with which she has to work. The other cast members, as well, have thankless roles. Davis lights up the screen as mystery novelist, Janet Frobisher, who lives in isolated splendor on the Yorkshire moors in England. Her nearest neighbor is the local busy body and veterinarian, Dr. Henderson, a role gamely played by Emlyn Williams. Frobisher, a selfish, amoral vixen, falls in love with her secretary's fiance, Larry (Anthony Steele). One little problem stands in her way of eternal bliss. She, herself, is married to a man with a criminal past, one with whom she has had little contact in recent years. In the first few minutes of the film, it is revealed that she has single handedly and cold bloodedly dispatched her husband, who has had the misfortune to show up unexpectedly, to the great beyond. Unfortunately for her, she gets an unwelcome, surprise visitor on the heels of her murderous act, when her husband's partner in crime, George Bates, shows up looking for him. The improbable storyline that follows is kept afloat by Ms. Davis alone. Gary Merrill, the real life husband of Bette Davis at the time, stoically and woodenly plays the thankless role of George Bates. He, as well as the rest of the cast, fades into the background, when on screen with Ms. Davis. Even Ms. Davis, however, is unable to keep this clunker totally afloat. Stagey, with leaden dialogue and a ridiculous premise, this film would have immediately tanked, were it not for the Ms. Davis. Struggling valiantly with this turkey, Ms. Davis smokes, drinks, kills, and loves, as only Ms. Davis can, with over the top acting that manages to make the viewer stay with the film. Davis devotees will, undoubtedly, enjoy this film, despite its many flaws. This no frills DVD offers little more than an extensive list of Ms. Davis' films by way of special features. The sound and picture quality of this ninety minute, black and white film, however, is good.

ONE MAN'S MEAT.....:
The statment, "One man's meat, is another man's poison" is so true and so ironic in this case. I was so intrigued by the mixed (and bad) comments that this movie got, that I had to purchase it myself. Yes, the entire setting is dark and the plot at times bordering on hammy and cheesy, but it's fun to watch all the double crossing attempts and the extent to which persons will go to commit crimes (the characters of course) and hide them. Davis' husband I think is excellent, his rough and ominous disposition adding to the dark humour of the entire piece. Oftimes, we like movies because the critics say that they are good metaphoric vehicles with symbolism and motifs woven into them...whether or not the movie is trash. There are far worse movies that she has done in my estimation (Oh God..."The Anniversary", "The Watcher in the Woods"). "Jezebel" is too long and drawn out and I find "The Nanny" quite annoying. So, in short, what one man enjoys, another will hate, but that doesn't make it bad, it's just taste, or lack of it.

Mediocre, disappointing:
Bette Davis, as we all know, is an American icon, a legendary American movie star, a great American movie actress, winner of multiple Academy Awards and many Academy Award nominations. But this doesn't mean that the acting of the feisty, volatile, tempestuous screen star was always good. She was at her best in the 1930s and 1940s (and in 1950's All About Eve). In some of her work in the 1950s, she lapsed into Bette Davis playing caricatures of Bette Davis, and this is one of those unfortunate occasions (an earlier one is her performance in Beyond the Forest, 1949). The vehicle here is a dated, stagy melodrama which must have looked tired even in 1951, and must have appealed only as a showy vehicle for Davis. She stars here with her recent husband Gary Merrill, after their successful collaboration in All About Eve. Davis still seems to be playing the part of Margo Channing here; it's a very actressy performance. In addition to being over the top, she's over the hill for the part; she looks overweight and overripe (after all, she'd been making movies for 20 years at this point), hardly the femme fatale who could lure handsome young Anthony Steel away from his much more attractive young fiancee Barbara Murray. Bette's overdone, actressy performance, replete with lots of eyeball rolling, cigarette lighting and smoking, and cocktail pouring and drinking, combined with a conventional performance from Merrill and the dated, stagy melodrama, cardboard characters, and obvious contrivances of this play, makes for an undistinguished film that is no credit to the Davis filmography. Even the cinematography (this is an independent British production) is bad; it's too dark and has the grainy look of an early TV kinescope. The only memorable feature is the polished performance of Emlyn Williams as an annoying busybody veterinarian constantly sticking his nose into his neighbors' business.

DULL DAVIS? I'M AFRAID SO.....:
Dreary Davis vehicle which should never have been made. She's a famous authoress living in England who murders an inconvenient ex-husband. She's having it off with her secretary's boyfriend (who's much younger) and thinks she's pulled off the perfect crime (she's a mystery writer) until a former partner of the husband's shows up. He offers to cover for her but things get ridiculously out of hand and he kills her prize horse. This is not good. Then begins a game of wills that ends most ironically as Davis falls prey to her own schemes. She hams it up in this one and leaves no co-star unscathed. Murky b & w photography doesn't help either. It's slow and very stagy throughout. Her then husband Gary Merrill plays the partner and even he seems at a loss over how to cope with the script. If a Davis film can be called a total waste then this is it. Even she can't save it from sinking into tedious boredom. Stick with her other films instead and forget this turkey.

Bette is only the sweet thing in this poison.:
To the point : There is no doubt that Bette Davis is the greatest actress in the world. She was at the right time and the right place, and above all she was talented. Meryl Streep have the same kind of success that Bette had,unfortunately we don't have too many great roles today for great actress like Streep. For you fans, I think you won't find any meat to sink your teeth in Another Man's Posion. If you really want to see Bette's best performance apart from the obvious like All about Eve, Dark Victory, Now Voyager, etc Maybe you should see Mr Skeffington, Dead Ringer, The Anniversary or even Beyond Forest Bette's last film with Warner which she thought was really bad.But, apart form miscasting Joseph Cotten, Bette can turned a bad film to a watch-able one. ...