Patterns (film)
| Patterns | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Fielder Cook |
| Produced by | Michael Myerberg Jed Harris |
| Screenplay by | Rod Serling |
| Story by | Rod Serling |
| Starring |
Van Heflin Everett Sloane Ed Begley |
| Cinematography | Boris Kaufman |
| Edited by | Dave Kummins Carl Lerner |
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Production
company |
Jed Harris
Michael Myerberg |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Patterns is a 1956 film directed by Fielder Cook and starring Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, and Ed Begley. The screenplay by Rod Serling was an adaptation of his teleplay Patterns originally telecast January 12, 1955 on the Kraft Television Theatre, which starred Sloane, Begley and Richard Kiley.
Most of the scenes are set in the corporate boardroom and surrounding offices of Ramsey & Co., a Manhattan industrial empire headed by the ruthless Walter Ramsey. He recruits youthful industrial engineer Fred Staples, whose performance at a company Ramsey has recently acquired has impressed the boss. Ramsey is grooming Staples 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 he does everything in his power to sabotage and humiliate his subordinate into resigning. The old man stubbornly refuses to give in. Staples has mixed feelings about the messy situation, ambition conflicting with 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. In the end, Ramsey persuades him to stay, telling him that he is the only one who can function at Briggs's level, and that he would not be able to reach his full potential anywhere else. Staples accepts a promotion and double his salary and stock options, but warns Ramsey that he will actively work to replace Ramsey in the company. Staples also tells Ramsey of Briggs' "one little dream" of someday walking in and breaking Ramsey's jaw. He now reserves that dream for himself. Ramsey says he'll have it written into the contract agreement and will attach a special rider giving him the same privilege. Ramsey notes that Briggs' son will be "provided for" and Staples asks if that will let him sleep better tonight. Ramsey smiles and says, "It begins."
Apart from establishing shots on New York City streets, the film's screenplay makes a couple of major changes from the teleplay - after the death of Andy Sloane, Fred Staples is shown at a bar, where his wife comes to pick him up and take him home, insisting he is in no condition to drive. Staples is more insistent in the film than in the play that he and his wife leave town, even telling her to pack. The final confrontation between Staples and Ramsey takes place the next day, not immediately afterwards. For the film, "Andy Sloane's" name was altered to "Bill Briggs." Also, Ramsey and Company" is depicted as a huge corporate machine, with expansive quarters downtown. And the company does things "in a big way." In the teleplay, Staples tells Ramsey he and his wife have "found a house", but the film version has Staples moving into a big home more or less provided by the company, and stocked with "all the essentials" including beer in the ice box and food in the freezer.
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