''Queen Bee'' is a 1955 American film starring

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

Betsy Palmer Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress, who was known as a regular supporting film and Broadway actress and television guest star, as a panelist on the game show ''I've Got a Secret' ...

, and

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer) Barry Sullivan is ...

. The film was directed by

Ranald MacDougall Ranald MacDougall (March 10, 1915 – December 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter who scripted such films as '' Mildred Pierce'' (1945), '' The Unsuspected'' (1947), ''June Bride'' (1948), and '' The Naked Jungle'' (1954), and shared screenw ...

and produced by

Jerry Wald Jerome Irving Wald (September 16, 1911 – July 13, 1962) was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs. Life and career Early life Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were act ...

. The screenplay by MacDougall was based upon the 1949 novel ''The Queen Bee'' by Edna L. Lee. The film tells the story about a Southern family dominated by a ruthless woman and the havoc her threats and intimidation cause to those around her.

Plot

Eva Phillips (

) dominates her Georgia mansion and her husband Avery (

), an alcoholic mill owner who hates his wife. A cousin, Jennifer Stewart (

Lucy Marlow Lucy Marlow ( Lucy Ann McAleer; November 20, 1932 – December 18, 2018) was an American film and television actress. She may be best-known for playing the role of Helen in the 1955 film ''My Sister Eileen''. Biography Marlow was born in Los Ang ...

), is pressured into moving in with the family, and she watches in horror as Eva maneuvers to prevent the marriage of Avery's sister Carol (

) to Judson Prentiss (

). Carol tells Jennifer to watch out for Eva, and that she read a book about bees and feels that Eva is like a

queen bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...

who stings all her competitors to death. Jennifer refuses to believe such bad sentiments about Eva, and eventually becomes the putative personal assistant to Eva. That same night, Eva and Jud have a meeting in a darkened room where he tells her that their relationship and anything they had together was over because he is marrying Carol. Eva rejects this and begins to

kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

him, but Judson stops kissing her after a few seconds once he realizes that he is falling back into her trap. Meanwhile, Jennifer witnesses this rendezvous from the top of the staircase and is shocked. Jud turns the light on and tells Eva that he is serious, and she warns him that he will ultimately be sorry for refusing her. When Carol and Jud's engagement is announced to Eva, Eva strongly hints at her former affair with Jud, and Carol commits suicide by hanging herself in the barn. Jennifer and Avery are drawn together and share a furtive kiss when he tells her that he is aware of Eva and Jud's past. Eva senses the developing relationship and increases her malevolent actions, and tells Avery to not interact with Jennifer any longer. When he refuses, she threatens a scandalous divorce in the press. Meanwhile, Jud, still guilty over Carol's death, leaves the house for a few weeks, but comes back one day for work. He finds out from Jennifer that it was really Eva who told Carol about his earlier relationship with Eva, not Avery as he had assumed. Now, for different reasons, both men are determined to avenge it. Avery changes his attitude completely, and acts as though he is in love with Eva. She changes her attitude and says that she is done being manipulative because her husband finally loves her. However, Jud sees through the charade and confronts Avery that his true motives for being nice to Eva is so that she will trust him enough so that he can kill her. Jud preempts his plan on the night Avery intends to commit murder-suicide and takes Eva driving. When Eva discerns that he wants her dead, she frantically attacks him, resulting in a crash over a cliff, killing them both. Now, Jennifer and Avery are free to love each other.

Cast

as Eva Phillips *

as Judson Prentiss *

as Carol Lee Phillips *

as Avery Phillips *

as Jennifer Stewart * William Leslie as Ty McKinnon *

Fay Wray Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray attained international r ...

as Sue McKinnon *

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

as Sam the butler (uncredited) * Katherine Anderson as Miss Breen *

Tim Hovey Tim Hovey (June 19, 1945 – September 9, 1989) was a former American child actor during the 1950s. He later became a musician, road manager and an audio engineer for rock bands. Acting career Born in Los Angeles, California, Hovey was dis ...

as Ted Phillips * Linda Bennett as Tessa Phillips

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''The New York Times'' noted " iss Crawfordis the height of mellifluous meanness and frank insincerity." William K. Zinsser of the ''New York Herald Tribune'' wrote "Miss Crawford plays her role with such silky villainy we long to see her dispatched."

Accolades

''Queen Bee'' was nominated in two categories at the

28th Academy Awards The 28th Academy Awards were held on March 21, 1956 to honor the films of 1955, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California. At just 90 minutes, '' Marty'' became the shortest film to win Best Picture, as well as the second to hav ...

in 1956 for Best Cinematography (

Charles Lang Charles Bryant Lang Jr., A.S.C. (March 27, 1902, Bluff, Utah – April 3, 1998, Santa Monica, CaliforniaBest Costume Design, Black-and-White (

Jean Louis Jean Louis (born Jean Louis Berthault; October 5, 1907 – April 20, 1997) was a French-American costume designer. He won an Academy Award for '' The Solid Gold Cadillac'' (1956). Life and career Before coming to Hollywood, he worked in New Yo ...

Home media

''Queen Bee'' was released on Region 1 DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2001. It was also re-released on DVD in the TCM Vault Collection four disc DVD set "Joan Crawford in the 1950s" in November 2012. On November 8, 2013, it was re-released again on DVD as part of Sony Pictures' "Choice Collection" online program. Before all of the DVD releases, the film was put on VHS in the early 1990s.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Bee 1955 films 1955 drama films 1955 directorial debut films American black-and-white films American drama films Columbia Pictures films 1950s English-language films Film noir Films scored by George Duning Films based on American novels Films directed by Ranald MacDougall Films produced by Jerry Wald Films set in Georgia (U.S. state) Films with screenplays by Ranald MacDougall 1950s American films English-language drama films