A Family trials and tribulations in '20s Oklahoma. Preston gives a poignant portrayal of a husband who chooses the warmth of another woman over his cold wife and familial duties. 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. His daughter falls in love with a Jewish boy who commits suicide due to anti-Semitic pressure. Meanwhile, young Sonny must come to terms with the evil he imagines to exist in the dark at the top of the stairs. An emotional but wonderful movie and very well performed by Dorothy McGuire,Angela Lansbury and Robert Preston.

Events take place in a small town atmosphere. Rubin (Robert Preston), being a family man, faces the bleak fact of losing his job when business takes a downturn, and at middle age it's not so easy for him to cope. His wife Cora (Dorothy McGuire) as well as their two children, each have needs of their own. When Rubin goes off for four days and returns to argue and confront his wife with his needs, she in turn reveals what is troubling her, money, that they seem to argue over all the time. Sounds very familiar!I think Robert Preston turns in a fine dramatic performance and fits the role perfectly. His next film was to be The Music Man so he obviously carried over all that dynamic energy to a musical, a very versatile man.Eve Arden, as Lottie, is always too talkative, seeming to wonder aloud on every thought that comes into her head. Eventually she pours out her troubles to Cora while on a visit and this bonds them closer as sisters since both are having difficulties in their marriage.Mavis (Angela Lansbury) is very friendly to Rubin, almost becoming the "other woman" but he's not really ready to cross that line. She's a very understanding and wise lady as it turns out later.It's interesting to get a glimpse into the lives of each character, young and old -- a slice of life, you might say, and to observe the prejudices of the day as they are played out. I think in many ways we've learned to be more tolerant in our time.

Robert Preston will be forever remembered as "The Music Man"-and well he should be. However, he gave many other fine performances, and one of the best was as Rubin Flood in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.Dwight McDonald once wrote an essay mocking "Ingeland and Kazanistan", and he may have had a point. At the same time, the series of films based on William Inges plays includes some of the best dramas of the fifties and early sixties..still, perhaps the most underrated period of Amnerican film.This film is not just an example of sentimental "americana". Though set in the past, it is not an exercise in simplistic nostalgia. Instead it reveals the sexual repression, Anti-Semitism,and snobbery which poisoned American life in the early part of this century.However, it does not simply look at the past from a standpoint of smug superiority. Instead, it suggests the dignity and inner strength of these people, as they struggled with economic and moral uncertainty.It has a superficially "happy' ending', yet it is still a sad and troubling portrait of the fragility of quotidian existence.

One of the most simple yet moving of William Inge's plays is presented here with some of the finest American actors to grace the screen. This is American cinema at its greatest. Anything else I could say would sound even more trite. If you can find this film (it's never been released on video as far as I know) give it a try. I was able to tape it off of Encore once, and I am forever grateful that they aired it.