The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

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The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is a 1960 film with Dorothy McGuire, Robert Preston, Shirley Knight, Eve Arden, Lee Kinsolving, and Angela Lansbury. It was adapted from a 1957 play by William Inge.

After losing his job as a salesman, Rueben Flood (Robert Preston) finds himself pulled in several directions at once--trying to deal with a wife who shuns intimacy and mistakes his joblessness for stinginess (Dorothy McGuire) a shy daughter (Shirley Knight) who is trying to prepare for her first dance, a pre-teen son who runs to his mama instead of dealing with bullies--as well as trying to find a a job. He tries to comfort himself with a childhood friend that the town rumor mill believes is a loose woman. (Angela Lansbury). In addition to the themes of modernization (i.e., not enough demand for horse harness, and the impending arrival of the oil industry), Inge's characters all face one set of demons or another on their way to the film's conclusion. There isn't a wasted character or scene to be found. Robert Preston is dynamic as Rueben Flood, and Shirley Knight was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Reenie.