Mystery writer Janet Frobisher (Davis) receives an unexpected, unannounced late night visitor---one George Bates (Merrill), who is looking for Frobisher's estranged husband, George Preston. Bates and Preston had pulled off a robbery together, with Bates being fingered as the shooting suspect, and hoping to clear himself, he is in search of Preston. Only problem is, Janet killed her husband that very morning.
Convinced that the answer to his problems is to pose as Preston, Bates disposes of the body and then begins to masquerade as Janet's husband. The charade is very much against Janet's will, however, as she not only despises Bates, but is also involved with another man. She is determined to get Bates out of her life for good, and accomplishing that may just prove to be her undoing.
While Another Man's Poison sounds like an extremely interesting film, the plot is painfully slow-moving; also, much as I hate to say it, I found zero chemistry between Davis and Merrill. While they had sizzled together in All About Eve, that same fire just wasn't anywhere to be found in this film. Bette, as always, was in top form, but even a fabulous actress can't redeem a bad script or an agonizingly slow-moving plot. The final four or five minutes, when all the twists and turns play out, is the most interesting part of this film.
As a major-huge Bette Davis fan, I absolutely had to view this movie, and I figure all Davis fans probably feel similarly. So if you want to give this one a try, HERE is its YouTube link, where you will find the film in its entirety.
Happy viewing!!
