Nothing But the Best (film)
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''Nothing but the Best'' is a 1964 British
black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...
directed by
Clive Donner Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010)Ronald Berganbr>Obituary: Clive Donner ''The Guardian'', 7 September 2010 was a British film director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as ''The Caretaker'' ...
based on the 1952 short story 'The Best of Everything' by Stanley Ellin.


Plot

James, a young man starting with a large London firm of estate agents and auctioneers, is ambitious to get to the top. In a cheap café, he meets Charles, a drunken layabout who has everything James wants: effortless upper-class arrogance and impeccable tailoring. In return for a room to live in and loans for drink and betting, Charles agrees to tutor James in the life skills he thinks he needs to succeed. By bluff and sabotage, James rises in his firm, catching the eye of the owner and of his only daughter Ann. Disaster threatens when Charles has a big win and wants to end the deal. James hastily strangles him and his landlady agrees to hide the corpse in her cellar in return for continuing their sexual liaison. After a long courtship, Ann agrees to marry James and her father makes him a partner in the business. Having conveniently sent his lower-middle-class parents to Australia, James anticipates his success being crowned by a grand society wedding. Ann's father confesses that he has a totally disreputable son they never see called Charles and developers who have bought the house of James' former landlady find a corpse in the cellar.


Selected cast


References


External links

* * 1964 films 1960s black comedy films 1960s thriller films British black comedy films British satirical films British thriller films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Clive Donner Films shot at Associated British Studios British independent films Films based on short fiction Films scored by Ron Grainer 1964 comedy films 1964 drama films Films set in London 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-comedy-film-stub