Another Man's Poison

"She Had Everything You Could Give A Woman To Torment A Man!"

1951 1h 30m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 52

CrimeDrama

Synopsis

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Mystery novelist Janet Frobisher, lives in an isolated house, having been separated for years from her criminal husband. She has fallen in love with her secretary's fiancé and when her estranged husband unexpectedly returns, Janet poisons him, but just as she's about to dispose of the body, one of her husband's criminal cohorts also shows up.

“She Had Everything You Could Give A Woman To Torment A Man!”

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Cast

Bette Davis
Janet Frobisher
Gary Merrill
George Bates
Emlyn Williams
Dr. Henderson
Anthony Steel
Larry Stevens
Barbara Murray
Chris Dale
Reginald Beckwith
Mr. Bigley
Edna Morris
Mrs. Bunting

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Irving Rapper
Writers: Val Guest
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

75 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Irving Rapper, shot by Robert Krasker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Paul Sawtell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gordon Hales shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bette Davis and Gary Merrill and Emlyn Williams carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "She Had Everything You Could Give A Woman To Torment A Man!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Irving Rapper directs. Robert Krasker behind the camera. Paul Sawtell scores. Gordon Hales cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
275 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Irving Rapper, shot by Robert Krasker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Paul Sawtell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Gordon Hales shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Bette Davis and Gary Merrill and Emlyn Williams carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "She Had Everything You Could Give A Woman To Torment A Man!".
9IMDB entry: tt0044364 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 52 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "countryside", "based on play or musical", "novelist", "seductress".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Original score: Paul Sawtell
Editing: Gordon Hales
Costume design: Julie Harris
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Another Man's Poison (1951)

Also by

Irving Rapper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-05-09
★ 6.5/10
The Dark Recesses of the Female Mind. 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 too 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 that Davis and Merrill (husband and wife at the time) being unhappy – are common place, but it never outstays its welcome by being boring, and ultimately Bette being batty is always good entertainment. 6.5/10

Production companies