Bette Davis ... Janet Frobisher
Gary Merrill ... George Bates
Emlyn Williams ... Dr. Henderson
Anthony Steel ... Larry Stevens
Barbara Murray ... Chris Dale


It's fascinating to watch the wife and husband duo go at each other playing anything but a loving married couple. What makes this, of all of Bette Davis' movies rich is that the set is her own home; and, what a place it is. Not a palace, but a very British type of country home.

Davis' & Merrill's acting is superb; the plot is thick; the script worthy of Davis' fantastic articulation & conveyance of attitudes contrary enough to part the Red Sea.

Everyone's got their favorite Bette Davis film, if they're a fan of the US classics from Warner Bros.. Mine is this "Poison...," because it's the 4th time the dynamic duo act together but the first time they both have leading roles; it's filmed in their own home which reveals so much about Davis' tastes & I could feel her comfort with the set; the mystery.crime.drama is unsettling; and to the end, I watched wondering how Davis would get out of the ugly situation in which Merrill's held her.

There's something very different about this movie because Davis put on the production herself outside of a domineering studio. Considering the year & women's social inferiority in the workplace, even in Hollywood, it's remarkable that Davis pulled "Poison..." off so well.