Queen Bee

Queen Bee is a 1955 American drama directed by Ranald MacDougall, who also wrote the screenplay. It centres on Eva Phillips, the wealthy and domineering mistress of a Southern plantation-style home, whose charm masks a talent for manipulation. Her husband Avery owns a prosperous mill, but life with Eva has driven him to drink and bitter resignation. The household includes Avery's sister Carol Lee, and when Carol becomes engaged, Eva sets out to break the match because the groom, Judson Prentiss, was once her own lover. Meanwhile Jennifer Stewart, a younger cousin from New York, arrives for a visit and gradually sees through Eva's performance of gracious hospitality, and her presence begins to shift the balance of power in the house.

The film was produced by Jerry Wald for Columbia Pictures and runs 95 minutes. Joan Crawford plays Eva, with Barry Sullivan as Avery, John Ireland as Judson, Lucy Marlow as Jennifer, Betsy Palmer as Carol Lee and William Leslie as Ty McKinnon. It was the first feature MacDougall directed, followed by The World, the Flesh and the Devil in 1959.

On IMDb it holds a 6.7 rating from around 3,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.3 from a much smaller group of 38 voters. The audience scores are moderate and broadly consistent across both platforms, though the IMDb sample is far larger.