Everytime a woman turns her face away because she's tired or unwilling - there's someone waiting like me!

Robert Preston plays the flip side of his eternally ebullient Professor Harold Hill in Dark at the Top of the Stairs. Preston portrays an early 20th-century harness salesman, fully aware that his product is rapidly becoming obsolete. He tries to compensate for his own lack of self-esteem by cheating on his patient wife Dorothy McGuire; Preston's "other woman" is played by Angela Lansbury. Meanwhile, daughter Shirley Knight falls in love with Jewish boy Lee Kinsolving, who kills himself in the face of relentless bigotry. And McGuire's sister Eve Arden is stuck in a loveless marriage with spineless Frank Overton. Robert Eyer plays the young alter-ego of William Inge, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning play on which this film is based. Eyer's fear of the "dark at the top of the stairs" is meant to be symbolic of the other characters' inner demons, a fact that Inge drives home every three minutes or so. In typical Inge fashion, an unlikely happy ending is reached just before "The End." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Oklahoma in the 1920s, Ruben Flood loses his job as a traveling salesman, when the company goes bankrupt. This adds to his worries at home. His wife Cora is frigid because of trying to make ends meet. His teenage daughter Reenie is afraid of going out on dates, but eventually makes friends with a troubled Jewish boy Sammy, and his son is a mama's boy. He finally storms out of the house when Cora falsely accuses him of having an affair with Mavis Pruitt. Written by Will Gilbert

Director:Delbert Mann

Writers:Harriet Frank Jr. (writer)
William Inge (play)

Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
Robert Preston ... Rubin Flood
Dorothy McGuire ... Cora Flood
Eve Arden ... Lottie Lacey
Angela Lansbury ... Mavis Pruitt, Beauty Parlor Proprietress
Shirley Knight ... Reenie Flood
Lee Kinsolving ... Sammy Golden
Frank Overton ... Morris Lacey
Robert Eyer ... Sonny Flood
Penny Parker ... Flirt Conroy
Ken Lynch ... Harry Ralston
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bobby Beakman ... Boy (uncredited)
Paul Birch ... Jonah Mills, Rancher (uncredited)
Helen Brown ... Mrs. Haycox (uncredited)
Michael Chain ... Boy (uncredited)
Paul Comi ... Jenkins (uncredited)
John Elman ... Boy (uncredited)
Ben Erway ... Joseph Moody (uncredited)
Butch Hengen ... Boy (uncredited)
Stoddard W. Kerby ... Cadet (uncredited)
Jean Paul King ... Boy (uncredited)
Peg La Centra ... Edna Harper (uncredited)
Nelson Leigh ... Ed Peabody (uncredited)
Mary Patton ... Mrs. Ralston (uncredited)
Addison Richards ... Harris (uncredited)
Charles Seel ... Percy Weems (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy ... George Williams, Banker (uncredited)
Helen Wallace ... Lydia Harper (uncredited)
Robin Warga ... Harold (uncredited)
Dennis Whitcomb ... Punky Givens (uncredited)

Runtime:124 min
Country:USA
Language:English
Color:Color (Technicolor)
Sound Mix:Mono (RCA Sound Recording)
Certification:Finland:K-16