''Patterns'', also known as ''Patterns of Power'', is a 1956 American "boardroom drama" film starring

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...

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 (Gers ...

, and

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 ...

; and directed by

Fielder Cook Fielder Cook (March 9, 1923 – June 20, 2003) was an American television and film director, producer, and writer whose 1971 television film ''The Homecoming: A Christmas Story'' spawned the series ''The Waltons''. Biography and career Born in ...

. The screenplay was by

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...

, who adapted it from his 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 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Imperial Chees ...

'' with Sloane, Begley and

Richard Kiley Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, film and television actor and singer. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley ...

Plot

Ruthless Walter Ramsey runs Ramsey & Co., a Manhattan-based industrial empire he inherited from his father. He brings Fred Staples, a youthful industrial engineer whose performance at a company Ramsey has recently acquired has impressed him, in for a top executive job at the headquarters. Though Staples is initially clueless, 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 decades, having worked for and admired the company's founder, Ramsey's father. His concern for the employees clashes repeatedly with Ramsey's ruthless methods. Ramsey will not fire Briggs outright but does everything in his power to sabotage and humiliate him into resigning. The old man stubbornly refuses to give in. Staples is torn by the messy situation, his ambition conflicting with his sympathy for Briggs. The stress gets to Briggs, who collapses after a confrontation with Ramsey and later dies. This causes a heated showdown between Ramsey and Staples, in which Staples announces he is quitting. Ramsey rebukes him, asserting only men with his talent have what it takes to make a corporation like Ramsey & Company succeed. He offers Briggs' job and an enormous increase in salary to Staples, who resists. Ramsey increases the fever of his pitch, adding that Staples will never be able to reach his full potential anywhere else. Staples counters with double his salary, stock options, and the right to punch Ramsey in the jaw if he feels so inclined — adding that he will do all he can to replace him. Ramsey enthusiastically agrees to all of the conditions.

Cast

as Fred Staples *

as Walter Ramsey *

as William Briggs *

Beatrice Straight Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an American theatre, film and television actress and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was an Academy Award and Tony Award winner as well as an Emmy Award nominee. ...

as Nancy Staples, Fred's wife *

Elizabeth Wilson Elizabeth Welter Wilson (April 4, 1921 – May 9, 2015) was an American actress whose career spanned nearly 70 years, including memorable roles in film and television. In 1972 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for ...

as Marge Fleming, Briggs' loyal secretary, who is reassigned to Staples *

Joanna Roos Joanna Roos (born Dorothy Roos, January 11, 1901 – May 13, 1989) was an American Broadway, radio, and television actress and a playwright. She was born in Brooklyn in 1901 and attended Syracuse University as well as Yvette Guilbert's School in ...

as Miss Margaret Lanier, Ramsey's secretary * Valerie Cossart as Miss Stevens * Eleni Kiamos as Sylvia Trammel * Ronnie Welsh as Paul Briggs, William's teenage son * Shirley Standlee as Miss Hill *

Andrew Duggan Andrew Duggan (December 28, 1923 – May 15, 1988) was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage. Background Duggan was born in ...

as Mr. Jameson *

Jack Livesey Jack Edwards Livesey (11 June 1901 – 12 October 1961) was a British film actor. He was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, the son of Sam Livesey, the brother of Barry Livesey, and the cousin and step-brother of Roger Livesey. He died in B ...

as Mr. Vanderventer * John Seymour as Mr. Gordon * James Kelly as Mr. Latham * John Shelly as Mr. Grannigan

Reception

Critical response

Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film an A and highly praised it in his 2002 Ozus review: :"''Patterns'' is based on the teleplay of Rod Serling which was aired live on TV in January of 1955 on Kraft Television Theater, 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 Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name) Shane is mainly a masculine g ...

'' (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, people are still perceived as secondary to making a profit no matter what." In the April 27, 2008, edition of ''TV Week'', the television critic

Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...

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.

References

External links

* * * *
''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 Atl ...