SYNOPSICS
Patterns (1956) is a English movie. Fielder Cook has directed this movie. Van Heflin,Everett Sloane,Ed Begley,Beatrice Straight are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1956. Patterns (1956) is considered one of the best Drama movie in India and around the world.
The story of the fierce and corrosive competition that exists in the executive branch of Ramsey & Co., a New York industrial colossus headed by Walter Ramsey, its cold, designing and ruthless chief. It is the saga, too, of Bill Briggs, his longtime second in command, who is swayed by human as well as technological values. And, it is the case of Fred Staples, a comparatively youthful industrial engineer brought in by Ramsey to succeed Briggs. The younger man's views and sensitivities are essentially the same as Briggs'. People are not merely units, they feel. But it is Ramsey's calculated pattern not to fire his aging aide but to create such untenable conditions that he will be forced to resign.
More
Patterns (1956) Reviews
Ruthless men and the women who support them
Well-done story of corporate shark, owner of a vast conglomerate, who tries to break the VP he thinks can no longer do the job. Everett Sloane plays the heartless owner who nurtures his executives with bitter words and daily shouting matches. Ed Begley plays the downtrodden VP; he's more than able to take care of himself, but after years of fighting with Sloane he's exhausted. He's 62 and afraid he won't find another job and refuses to quit; he's worked for the company for 30 years and believes he's got a place there. Van Heflin is the executive brought in to replace Begley, unbeknownst to them both. After Sloane tells him of his plans, Heflin tries to tell the boss that he doesn't want the job. Begley is his friend. But deep down, he finds that he really does want it, just not at that cost. After a particularly brutal meeting where Sloane taunts and belittles Begley, Heflin begs the older man to resign to save his health. Begley staggers out of the meeting and collapses in the classically designed hallway. Heflin's anger is magnificent to behold as he stalks in Sloane's office after the tragedy. He tells the boss what he thinks of him, but Sloane doesn't care. He knows he's a bastard but he has a business to run. Heflin resigns, but Sloane badgers him into staying. Heflin does, but his own gargantuan terms, which include tripling his salary and writing into his contract that he hates Sloane's guts and that he reserves the chance to slug Sloane on the jaw in the future if he so decides, just like Begley always wanted to. He's made his pact with the devil and come out with his pride and ego intact. This is a man's movie. Serling never wrote from the woman's point of view, and the women in this film are there for their men but not real players. Beatrice Straight is tried and true as Heflin's wife. Elizabeth Wilson is Begley's loyal secretary who is transferred to Heflin, and feels like she should quit if she has to change her loyalties; she is remotely treated as a sort of junior executive, given some male qualities by Serling but not strictly one of his womanly pillars. When she begins to like her new boss, she instructs him in all the ways that Sloane will try to drag him down and helps him through the dark waters of executive suite life. This is the same corporate America Serling later wrote about in Twilight Zone and Night Gallery; "Walking Distance", "A Stop at Willoughby", and "They're Tearing Down Tim Reilly's Bar" are his famous trilogy focusing on the career of a harassed corporate pawn who is driven to emotional extremes by the greed and bias of the company and it's president. They are supposed to be based on his own experiences with the upper echelon of the networks, which are still legend. A Serling script of any kind is great, and this film, while difficult to watch since there is so much backstabbing, is an excellent example of how true to life he could be, and how he always rooted for the underdog.
Rod Serling's landmark teleplay still speaks truth to power today.
...Rod Serling is recalled today almost exclusively for his speculative fiction television series "The Twilight Zone" and "Rod Serling's Night Gallery." Perhaps that's understandable, given the out-of-sight-out-of-mind nature of today's audiences, and the fact that the generation Serling first impressed with this lean but powerful work in 1955 on the "Kraft Television Theater" is now well into the process of dying out. Still, the kinetic nature of PATTERNS, either in this theatrical film or in the kinescoped original TV broadcast, is not lost on today's first-time viewers. It helped that two of the three leads in this picture, Everett Sloan and Ed Begley, were carried over from the TV productions (Richard Kiley was replaced in this film by Van Heflin, giving perhaps his single greatest performance). But Serling's screenplay has not lost one bit of its relevance; in fact, I'm surprised nobody's thought of remaking this one...
stunning
I happened to stumble on this on TCM while channel surfing (I had seen the blurb in their program guide and had given it short shrift) and, although ten minutes or so into the movie I was immediately gripped by the acting. I stayed for the whole thing and was amazed at the quality of this practically forgotten movie with script by Rod Serling and superb performances by Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley and Beatrice Straight. Anyone who has been in the business world in even an incidental way will be taken by the way in which Serling has so effectively captured the machinations and power ploys in the corporate world. A bald description of the plot - ceo grooms upcoming exec to replace a company veteran - gives no idea of how exciting the realization is on screen (which is why I skipped past the program guide listing); it is simply gripping. Director Fielder Cook's work subsequent to this has been primarily in television. If you're fortunate to find this rarity scheduled, by all means don't miss it.
I reserve the right to break your jaw.
Patterns centres around the fierce and dog eat dog world of an executive conglomerate company. Written by Rod Serling {he of The Twilight Zone fame} and based on his own play, it's a stunning picture that relies {and succeeds} on spiky dialogue and a trio of superlative acting performances. Not containing any music at all and filmed primarily within the confines of an interior story, Serling and his on form director, Fielder Cook, have crafted probably the essential picture dealing with the harsh and at times brutal realities of big business ladder climbing. Everett Sloane, Ed Begley and Van Heflin really provide the viewers with an acting tour de force. Sloane as the big boss Walter Ramsey, creates a strutting despotic character that is as memorable as it is harsh, here's a man who wont "pattern" a sacking of an employee, he would rather break him into resignation!, a totally vile and cruel "pattern" tactic. Begley {superbly playing weary emotion} plays the genial and honest William Briggs, who upon welcoming Van Heflin's Fred Staples to the company, realises it's likely to be at his own cost, this giving the film a deep emotional "pattern" as Staples {Heflin to me, donning a career high} gets conflicted about his role in this company, this leads us to a truly excellent finale as Heflin and Sloane go at each other with a gripping intensity that many modern actors could do no worse than to take note of, it really is something. A fabulous movie that comes highly recommended to anyone who appreciates dialogue driven films with intelligence pouring from every frame. 9/10
Outstanding film
Patterns is a lesser-known film version of big business intrigue. A much more famous example of this type of film is Executive Suite, but despite that film's big budget and numerous stars, Patterns (with its tight script by Rod Serling and superb acting) blows Executive Suite out of the water. Van Heflin plays a factory manager brought to New York City from Ohio. Everett Sloane plays the ruthless head of the company, and Ed Begley is the harassed company man who is nearing retirement. Sloane hates Begley's outmoded ways of doing business and grooms Heflin to take over. But Heflin and Begley become friends, and Heflin doesn't want to get ahead at the expense of his friend. The dynamic between these three very different characters forms the gripping premise of the film. The best scene is when Begley, having stayed late to finish some work, is contemplating doing terrible things to his boss, Sloane. Heflin drops by to speak with him and sees what a distraught state of mind Begley is in and tries to convince him that he should retire. Begley works himself up into such a state that he begins shouting, but right about then, his son comes by looking for his dad because he promised to take him to a ballgame. Begley doesn't want his son to see him in that state of mind and implores Heflin to tell him he's gone home. From this point the film works toward its powerful climax. Heflin is superb, as are Sloane and Begley. All were very well respected character actors and so it is not correct to say the cast is filled with unknowns. The remainder of the cast is also good but has less to do. Patterns deserves to be better known than it is. Don't miss it.