Acteurist Oeuvre-view – Dorothy McGuire – Part 11: THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (1960) & SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1960)

There's Sometimes a Buggy

In this Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode, Dorothy McGuire's string of interesting wife roles gets tangled up by two of the most sexist films Elise has ever seen in her life, Delbert Mann's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (based on the play by William Inge) and Disney's The Swiss Family Robinson. The Dark at the Top of the Stairs nevertheless gives us a lot to discuss in terms of psychiatric concepts and ideas about gender roles in 1950s America, as well as providing McGuire with one of the better acting opportunities of this part of her career. Also, we decide that Swiss Family Robinson should be cancelled.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 45s: THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (1960) [dir. Delbert Mann]

0h 38m 29s: SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1960) [dir. Ken Annakin]

0h 51m 15s: THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (1960) [dir. Delbert Mann] – final thoughts

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* Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring

* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s

* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)

* Read Elise’s piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again”

* Check out Dave’s Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!

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