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Another Man's Poison

     Hey, everyone. This evening I watched an excellent, and bizarre, older movie from 1951. It is titled Another Man's Poison and stars the late and great Bette Davis and the talented Gary Merrill. Merill plays a bank robber named George Bates. He has robbed a bank with Janet Frobisher's husband and is supposed to meet Frobisher at his estate. When he gets there he discovers that Frobisher's wife (Bette Davis) has disposed of his friend by poisoning him. She is a successful author and the marriage has been on the rocks, much like their house.
     Janet is a master manipulator and cons George into disposing of her husband's body. George, in turn, gets to pose as Mr. Frobisher, without the side benefits he might have liked. The byplay between two evil people who will stop at nothing to escape justice and enjoy their undeserved rewards from life is very entertaining.
    As the show proceeds, there are more twists to the plot than a piggy's tail. For instance, a nosy, irritating veterinarian hangs around asking nosy questions. Janet has an affair with her secretary's handsome betrothed and cheerfully plots to kill George and probably every one else in England. I would love to tell you some of the plans they lay, but that wouldn't be fair. Rather, let me encourage you to watch this excellent show and don't let the initial slow pace cause you to shut the tape off.
     Bette Davis was an odd sort of person, I think. No woman alive or dead could play the role of a dangerous, insane person like her. She reminds me so much of a lady I actually knew quite well. Those wild eyes, especially. Despite Bette's talent, I rarely watch her shows simply because she scares the crap out of me and reminds me of another woman who scares the crap out of me. Really, isn't that a tribute to an actress's skill? I think so.
     Perhaps you've heard the old pop song, Bette Davis Eyes, from several decades ago. It is a heck of a song and I gather that the writer of it had experience with a woman similar to the one I'm talking about. I am so glad that no such woman is here tonight... at the author's green retreat.
     I'm CE Wills.
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