Top Secret Affair (1957)

Unhappy about the appointment of an army general to the chairmanship of an atomic energy committee, a publishing empire female tycoon invites the general at her country estate in an effort to entrap him and ruin his reputation.

Director:

H.C. Potter

Writers:

John P. Marquand (novel), Roland Kibbee

Stars:

Susan Hayward, Kirk Douglas, Paul Stewart

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Susan Hayward	...	Dorothy 'Dottie' Peale
Kirk Douglas	...	Maj. Gen. Melville A. Goodwin
Paul Stewart	...	Phil Bentley
Jim Backus	...	Col. Homer W. Gooch
John Cromwell	...	General Daniel A. Grimshaw
Roland Winters	...	Sen. Burdick
Arthur Gould-Porter	...	Holmes, Dottie's Butler
Michael Fox	...	Reporter Laszlo 'Lotzie' Kovach
Frank Gerstle	...	Sgt. Kruger
Charles Lane	...	Bill Hadley

Storyline

The head of a large publishing empire is dismayed when a top army general is about to be appointed to an atomic energy committee. She's determined to discredit him prior to the appointment and invites him to spend the weekend at her country home where she's arranged many traps.

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Plot Keywords:

tape recorder | atomic testing | secret | based on novel | u.s. army general | 

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Taglines:

SHE WAS OUT TO GET THE GENERAL...But in the mix-up wound-up getting got herself!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Melville Goodwin, USA

Filming Locations:

Santa Maria, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carrollton Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Under the title "Melville Goodwin, USA", the film was to star Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall - both of whom had already filmed costume and makeup tests - but Bogart's terminal illness forced his withdrawal from the project. He was replaced by Kirk Douglas. Bacall withdrew shortly afterward, opting instead to remain at home with her dying husband, and was replaced by Susan Hayward.

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Goofs

Douglas gives Susan a pistol and said it was a Luger. It was actually a Walther P-38.

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Connections

Version of Pulitzer Prize Playhouse: Melville Goodwin, U.S.A. (1952)

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Soundtracks

Caissons Go Rolling Along
Music by John Philip Sousa from material by Edmund L. Gruber
Sung by Kirk Douglas

User Reviews

Starts out strong, finishes up weak.

This movie starts out like the kind of romantic comedy that Hollywood often does well. Susan Hayward is a powerful publisher who wants to discredit an army general (Kirk Douglas) in her magazine. For the first part of the movie, while their relationship is more adversarial, the film moves along fine and is both amusing and enjoyable. However, as the relationship changes and the story gets more complicated, the movie starts to run out of steam. This is a strange phenomenon, as one can almost pinpoint the exact moment when the air starts to go out of the balloon.

On the plus side, the film has two top-notch stars and a fine supporting cast including Paul Stewart and Jim Backus. But since, in my opinion, the film gets weaker instead of stronger as it goes along I can only give it a marginal recommendation.