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[[Image:Executive_Suite.jpg|150px|right]]'''Executive Suite''' is a 1954 [[motion picture]] about the succession struggle and associated intrigues involving a fictitious Fortune 500 [[corporation]] and its leading personnel after its president suddenly dies.
== Plot summary ==
Avery Bullard, President of Tredway Corporation, bids farewell to his investment banker in [[New York City]], sends a telegram to his headquarters in Millburgh, [[Pennsylvania]] calling a meeting of his executive committee, steps out onto [[Wall Street]] to hail a [[taxi]]--and then suffers a [[stroke]] and dies. From the investment banker's office, one of Tredway's directors witnesses the death and orders a massive short sale of the company's stock. In Millburgh, when the story breaks, five Vice Presidents--each of whom has his own particular ambitions and struggles--begin vying for the succession. To make matters worse, the remaining member of the board of directors--Julia O. Tredway, daughter of the late founder and companion to the now-deceased Mr. Bullard--contemplates a full liquidation of her company stake.
Who among the Vice Presidents will win the Presidency? Who among them really has the best interests of the company at heart? What will happen to the workforce at Tredway, currently the major employer of the town?
== Cast of characters ==
* [[Raoul Freeman]] as Avery Bullard, President, Tredway Corporation, Millburgh, PA. The few scenes that include Mr. Bullard are all shot from his POV, up to the moment of his death.
* :[[Nina Foch]] as Miss Erica Martin, his secretary.
* [[William Holden]] as McDonald "Don" Walling, Vice-President in Charge of Design and Development, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[June Allyson]] as Mary Walling, his wife.
* :[[Tim Considine]] as Mike Walling, his son.
* [[Barbara Stanwyck]] as Julia O. Tredway
* [[Walter Pidgeon]] as Frederick Y. Alderson, Vice-President and Treasurer, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[Virginia Brissac]] as Edith Alderson, his wife.
* [[Fredric March]] as Loren Phineas Shaw, Vice-President and Controller, Tredway Corporation.
* [[Paul Douglas]] as J. Walter Dudley, Vice-President for Sales, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[Shelley Winters]] as Eva Bardeman, his secretary and companion.
* [[Dean Jagger]] as Jesse O. Grimm, Vice-President for Manufacturing, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[Mary Adams]] as Sara Grimm, his wife.
* [[Louis Calhern]] as George Nyle Caswell, member, Board of Directors, Tredway Corporation--and also an executive at Julius Steigel and Company, Investment Bankers, New York, [[New York State|NY]]
* :[[Edgar Stehli]] as Julius Steigel, his boss.
* :[[Lucille Knoch]] as George Caswell's wife.
* [[Chet Huntley]] providing introductory voice-over narration.
=== Motivations of the characters ===
Avery Bullard's motivations remain a mystery, as does the secret of his actual preference of a successor, a preference that he takes with him to his grave.
Don Walling came to Tredway as Bullard's chief designer--but lately Bullard has grown distant from him and has not supported him as promised against the penny-pinching policies of Loren Shaw, the company controller. Bullard's death leaves open the questions of succession, the company's future, and Don's own future with Tredway.
Julia Tredway's father committed suicide during the Depression when Tredway faced bankruptcy. Avery Bullard stepped in, saved the company, romanced Julia--and then ignored her. Now that he's dead, Julia has lost interest in the company and even contemplates following her father out of his old office window.
Fred Alderson has stayed close to Bullard for fifteen years, but only lately realizes that Bullard did not prefer him for the presidency. With Bullard dead, Alderson, a nearly broken man, scrambles to find a successor whom he can support--any successor but Shaw.
Loren P. Shaw, CPA (a certification he earned in night school), came to Tredway with the aid of George Caswell. He has worked himself up mostly by intrigue and personal spying. He knows ''everyone'''s secrets and weaknesses, and can play people as though they were musical instruments--except for Don Walling, whom he regards as no threat because he is "too young" for that.
J. Walter Dudley has a wife who is bored with waiting at home, and seeks solace in the arms of his secretary. More than that, he has never fought a real battle in his life. This makes him more vulnerable to a gossip-spy like Shaw than anyone else at Tredway.
Jesse O. Grimm built the company's manufacturing base, and resents young "slide-rule experts" like Don Walling. Neither has he much use for Shaw--but he wants nothing more than to retire, and has lost interest in the company that had been his love.
George Caswell is a high-liver always looking for "easy money." He makes an "insider trade" the like of which would get a man arrested today, and even in the era in which this story took place, the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] would take a dim view of his activities--a fact Shaw knows and keeps track of. Caswell crassly plays on his voting power to extort from Shaw a promise to sell him some company stock cheap so that he can cover a short sale that would otherwise spell disaster for him.
== Background and Production ==
This film was based on the 1952 [[novel]] of the same title by author Cameron Hawley. Perhaps in the certain knowledge that a novel with such a multiplicity of characters would prove difficult to follow, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios]] opted for an all-star cast. The cast list for this film includes at least ten of the most famous and highly-paid stars of the MGM stable, many of whom had already been leading men and women in many other films. The director was [[Robert Wise]], another [[Hollywood]] veteran.
== Releases ==
[[Image:La_Tour_des_Ambitieux.jpg|150px|right]]
This film was released in the United States on April 30, 1954, and worldwide shortly thereafter. It appeared in French-speaking and Spanish-speaking parts of the world under titles that translated as "The Tower of the Ambitious Ones."
== Awards and Nominations ==
Nina Foch received a nomination for an [[Academy Award]] for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her excellent portrait of the leading secretary, Erica Martin. By one account, she had resented the peremptory order she had received to appear in this film in such a "small" role--and responded by making her role into one that was anything but small. Her Academy Award nomination shows that at least some of her colleagues understood and appreciated what she did.
[[Category:Movies]]
== Plot summary ==
Avery Bullard, President of Tredway Corporation, bids farewell to his investment banker in [[New York City]], sends a telegram to his headquarters in Millburgh, [[Pennsylvania]] calling a meeting of his executive committee, steps out onto [[Wall Street]] to hail a [[taxi]]--and then suffers a [[stroke]] and dies. From the investment banker's office, one of Tredway's directors witnesses the death and orders a massive short sale of the company's stock. In Millburgh, when the story breaks, five Vice Presidents--each of whom has his own particular ambitions and struggles--begin vying for the succession. To make matters worse, the remaining member of the board of directors--Julia O. Tredway, daughter of the late founder and companion to the now-deceased Mr. Bullard--contemplates a full liquidation of her company stake.
Who among the Vice Presidents will win the Presidency? Who among them really has the best interests of the company at heart? What will happen to the workforce at Tredway, currently the major employer of the town?
== Cast of characters ==
* [[Raoul Freeman]] as Avery Bullard, President, Tredway Corporation, Millburgh, PA. The few scenes that include Mr. Bullard are all shot from his POV, up to the moment of his death.
* :[[Nina Foch]] as Miss Erica Martin, his secretary.
* [[William Holden]] as McDonald "Don" Walling, Vice-President in Charge of Design and Development, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[June Allyson]] as Mary Walling, his wife.
* :[[Tim Considine]] as Mike Walling, his son.
* [[Barbara Stanwyck]] as Julia O. Tredway
* [[Walter Pidgeon]] as Frederick Y. Alderson, Vice-President and Treasurer, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[Virginia Brissac]] as Edith Alderson, his wife.
* [[Fredric March]] as Loren Phineas Shaw, Vice-President and Controller, Tredway Corporation.
* [[Paul Douglas]] as J. Walter Dudley, Vice-President for Sales, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[Shelley Winters]] as Eva Bardeman, his secretary and companion.
* [[Dean Jagger]] as Jesse O. Grimm, Vice-President for Manufacturing, Tredway Corporation.
* :[[Mary Adams]] as Sara Grimm, his wife.
* [[Louis Calhern]] as George Nyle Caswell, member, Board of Directors, Tredway Corporation--and also an executive at Julius Steigel and Company, Investment Bankers, New York, [[New York State|NY]]
* :[[Edgar Stehli]] as Julius Steigel, his boss.
* :[[Lucille Knoch]] as George Caswell's wife.
* [[Chet Huntley]] providing introductory voice-over narration.
=== Motivations of the characters ===
Avery Bullard's motivations remain a mystery, as does the secret of his actual preference of a successor, a preference that he takes with him to his grave.
Don Walling came to Tredway as Bullard's chief designer--but lately Bullard has grown distant from him and has not supported him as promised against the penny-pinching policies of Loren Shaw, the company controller. Bullard's death leaves open the questions of succession, the company's future, and Don's own future with Tredway.
Julia Tredway's father committed suicide during the Depression when Tredway faced bankruptcy. Avery Bullard stepped in, saved the company, romanced Julia--and then ignored her. Now that he's dead, Julia has lost interest in the company and even contemplates following her father out of his old office window.
Fred Alderson has stayed close to Bullard for fifteen years, but only lately realizes that Bullard did not prefer him for the presidency. With Bullard dead, Alderson, a nearly broken man, scrambles to find a successor whom he can support--any successor but Shaw.
Loren P. Shaw, CPA (a certification he earned in night school), came to Tredway with the aid of George Caswell. He has worked himself up mostly by intrigue and personal spying. He knows ''everyone'''s secrets and weaknesses, and can play people as though they were musical instruments--except for Don Walling, whom he regards as no threat because he is "too young" for that.
J. Walter Dudley has a wife who is bored with waiting at home, and seeks solace in the arms of his secretary. More than that, he has never fought a real battle in his life. This makes him more vulnerable to a gossip-spy like Shaw than anyone else at Tredway.
Jesse O. Grimm built the company's manufacturing base, and resents young "slide-rule experts" like Don Walling. Neither has he much use for Shaw--but he wants nothing more than to retire, and has lost interest in the company that had been his love.
George Caswell is a high-liver always looking for "easy money." He makes an "insider trade" the like of which would get a man arrested today, and even in the era in which this story took place, the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] would take a dim view of his activities--a fact Shaw knows and keeps track of. Caswell crassly plays on his voting power to extort from Shaw a promise to sell him some company stock cheap so that he can cover a short sale that would otherwise spell disaster for him.
== Background and Production ==
This film was based on the 1952 [[novel]] of the same title by author Cameron Hawley. Perhaps in the certain knowledge that a novel with such a multiplicity of characters would prove difficult to follow, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios]] opted for an all-star cast. The cast list for this film includes at least ten of the most famous and highly-paid stars of the MGM stable, many of whom had already been leading men and women in many other films. The director was [[Robert Wise]], another [[Hollywood]] veteran.
== Releases ==
[[Image:La_Tour_des_Ambitieux.jpg|150px|right]]
This film was released in the United States on April 30, 1954, and worldwide shortly thereafter. It appeared in French-speaking and Spanish-speaking parts of the world under titles that translated as "The Tower of the Ambitious Ones."
== Awards and Nominations ==
Nina Foch received a nomination for an [[Academy Award]] for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her excellent portrait of the leading secretary, Erica Martin. By one account, she had resented the peremptory order she had received to appear in this film in such a "small" role--and responded by making her role into one that was anything but small. Her Academy Award nomination shows that at least some of her colleagues understood and appreciated what she did.
[[Category:Movies]]