Patterns (1956)

When Fred Staples is recruited onto the board of a high-powered New York corporation, he finds his ethics and ambition at odds.

Director:

Fielder Cook

Writer:

Rod Serling (original story and screen play)

Stars:

Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Van Heflin	...	Fred Staples
Everett Sloane	...	Walter Ramsey
Ed Begley	...	William Briggs
Beatrice Straight	...	Nancy Staples
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Marge Fleming
Joanna Roos	...	Miss Margaret Lanier
Valerie Cossart	...	Miss Stevens
Eleni Kiamos	...	Sylvia Trammel
Ronnie Welsh	...	Paul Briggs
Shirley Standlee	...	Miss Hill
Andrew Duggan	...	Mr. Jameson
Jack Livesey	...	Mr. Vanderventer (as Jack Livesy)
John Seymour	...	Mr. Gordon
James Kelly	...	Mr. Latham
John Shelly	...	Mr. Grannigan

Storyline

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 positions that he will be forced to resign.

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Plot Keywords:

ambition | new york city | secretary | ruthlessness | heart condition | 

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Taglines:

Ruthless Men And Ambitious Women...Clawing For Control Of A Billion Dollar Empire!!!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1956 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Morgen trifft es dich

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jed Harris, Michael Myerberg

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Look closely during the breakfast scene: the report that Briggs is leafing through is very clearly made up of script pages.

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Goofs

The dialog in the final scenes, starting with Staples' conversation with his wife in a coffee shop near his office, indicate the events take place well into the evening. However, the exterior shot linking this scene with Staples' confrontation with Ramsey in the Ramsey & Company building, as well as the exterior shot that follows the confrontation, were both taken in broad daylight.

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Quotes

Fred Staples: I just hope Mr. Ramsey remembers hiring me.
William Briggs: [Ominously] Mr. Ramsey rarely forgets anything.

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Connections

Referenced in American Masters: Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (1995)

User Reviews

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...