''Patterns'' (sometimes referred to as ''Patterns of Power'') is a 1956 American "boardroom drama" film directed by
Fielder Cook, and starring
Van Heflin,
Everett Sloane
Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television.
Early life
Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gerst ...
,
Ed Begley
Edward James Begley Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film '' Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1962) an ...
,
Beatrice Straight
Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an American theatre, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was both an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, as well as a Primetime Em ...
, and
Elizabeth Wilson
Elizabeth Welter Wilson (April 4, 1921 – May 9, 2015) was an American actress whose career spanned nearly 60 years, including memorable roles in film and television. In 1972 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for ...
. The screenplay was adapted by
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...
from his 1955
teleplay of the same name, which was originally broadcast January 12, 1955, on the ''
Kraft Television Theatre
''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947, on NBC, airing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Impe ...
'' with several of the same actors (including Sloane, Begley, and Wilson), though
Richard Kiley was replaced by Heflin for the film.
Plot
Ruthless Walter Ramsey runs Ramsey & Company, a Manhattan-based industrial empire that he inherited from his father. He brings Fred Staples, a youthful industrial engineer whose performance at an Ohio factory that Ramsey recently acquired has impressed him, in for a top executive job at the headquarters. Though Staples is initially unaware, Ramsey is grooming him to replace the aging Bill Briggs as the second-in-command at the company.
Briggs has been with the firm for forty years, having worked for and admired the company's founder, Ramsey's father. He cares greatly about his work, regularly prioritizing it above spending time with his teenage son, but his concern for people clashes repeatedly with Ramsey's heartless "modern" approach to business. Not wanting to fire Briggs outright, Ramsey, instead, does everything in his power to sabotage and humiliate Briggs into resigning. The old man stubbornly refuses to give in, but the stress gets to him, and he starts to drink, which does not help his already-deteriorating health. Staples is torn by the messy situation, his sympathy for Briggs in conflict with his ambition, which is supported by his wife.
At a board meeting, while discussing a report Briggs and Staples wrote together, Ramsey praises Staples for making Briggs' old, well-intentioned, but unworkable, ideas practical, and there is a heated exchange. Shortly after leaving the room, Briggs collapses, and he soon dies in the hospital.
Fed up, Staples goes to tell Ramsey off and announce he is quitting. Ramsey rebukes him, asserting that a corporation like Ramsey & Company needs men with their talent in order to succeed. He offers Briggs' job to Staples at double his present salary, double his stock options, and an unlimited expense account, but Staples resists. Undeterred, Ramsey increases the fever of his pitch, adding that Staples will never be able to reach his full potential anywhere else. When Staples counters that he hates Ramsey and would not be Ramsey's whipping boy, but would constantly argue and fight and try to take the presidency for himself, Ramsey, seemingly energized by someone who can work at his level and challenge him, says he is willing to continue under these conditions. Staples leaves and tells his wife that he is staying on, as that way there is at least a chance he can influence things for the better.
Cast
Reception
Critical response
In a 2002 review on ''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'', film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film an "A" grade and highly praised it, writing:
:"''Patterns'' is based on the teleplay of Rod Serling which was aired live on TV in January of 1955 on
''Kraft Television Theatre'', and was so-well received that it was repeated four weeks later. That was something not done during that period. This brilliant script by the creator of the ''
Twilight Zone'', Rod Serling, is considered by many as the finest piece of writing he has ever done and brought him instant acclaim. It is ably directed by Fielder Cook
..The ensemble cast is superb, with special kudos to Van Heflin, Ed Begley, Beatrice Straight and Everett Sloane. This is Van Heflin's finest role since ''
Shane'' (1953)."
Added Schwartz:
:"It's a forceful melodrama, that takes the viewer into the pits of a big corporation's board room politics, backstabbing, and the tough way of doing business. Things have changed since the 1950s which make some things outdated, but the film still has its finger on the savage nature of the business world. Even when a company is not as corrupt as an
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...
, people are still perceived as secondary to making a profit no matter what."
[
In the April 27, 2008, edition of '' TVWeek'', the television critic ]Tom Shales
Thomas William Shales (November 3, 1944 – January 13, 2024) was an American writer and television critic.
He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1 ...
compared the movie unfavorably to the live TV production:
:Some people thought live TV was the beginning of a truly new storytelling medium—one uniquely suited to intimate, unadorned, psychological dramas—but it turned out to be a beginning with a tiny middle and a rushed end. ..''Patterns'' was so well-received that Kraft mounted a live repeat of the show a month later, and the intimate TV show was turned into a less intimate (and somehow less satisfying) movie in 1956. Except for the use of terms like “mimeographed” and “teletype,” little about the drama seems dated, unless one is of the opinion that corporate politics and boardroom bloodletting no longer exist. ..With minimally judicious scene-setting (shots of clocks, a building directory, a switchboard) and a rapid introduction of characters, Serling pulls a viewer almost immediately into his story, a tale of corporate morality—or the lack of it—and such everyday battles as the ones waged between conscience and ambition.
See also
* List of American films of 1956
References
External links
*
*
''Patterns'' at AllMovie
''Patterns''
at the TCM Movie Database
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...
*
''Patterns''
plot summary at Classic Film Guide
*
{{Fielder Cook
1956 films
1956 drama films
American business films
American drama films
American black-and-white films
Films about businesspeople
Films based on television plays
Films directed by Fielder Cook
Films set in New York City
Films with screenplays by Rod Serling
United Artists films
1956 directorial debut films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films
English-language drama films