I know todays movie audience has much different tastes than they did in 1956, but personally I still want a good story, dynamic acting and sharp dialog. Patterns delivers, and I can't believe I just saw this excellent film for the first time. Rod Serling is a master when it comes to delving into the depths of the human psyche in a way that is interesting and profound...and truly transcends time. Patterns is a character study laced with a lot of potent commentary as it explores the lives of three men at the top of a large corporation.
Walter Ramsey (Everett Sloane) runs the company his father built, and has just hired Fred Staples (Van Heflin) away from a small firm in Ohio. Fred forms a friendship with the number two man Bill Braggs (Ed Begley), a long time employee who lately has had health problems. After Fred embellishes some of Bill's ideas as they combine on an annual business plan, he thinks he's getting too much of the credit and that Bill's ideas aren't appreciated enough and starts asking questions.
It ends up that Ramsey is trying to force Bill out by continually browbeating and embarrassing him so he can replace him with Fred. Fred is furious that he is being used by the boss and defends Bill and urges him to stand up for himself. Bill says something like "this is too big of a job to walk away from, I won't resign...and he won't fire me after 30 years". Fred is caught between his quiet ambition and his loyalty to a friend, but one thing seems sure...a big confrontation is coming.
I think one reason there are so many special effects and shootouts in movies today is because the actors can't command the screen the way their counterparts from previous eras did. It's a pleasure watching this powerhouse trio and they are each excellent, but Begley (cast against type) stands out to me as the jaded, defeated Bill; it shows how little some things change as Bill laments about the new meaning of corporate growth and tells of how Ramseys' father used to walk the factory floor and knew all the employees on a first name basis. That confrontation between Fred and Bill is so compelling and well-acted...it reminded me that I had worked in companies like this, where the 2nd generation took over and destroyed the organizations culture to make few more dollars.
Patterns has a lot to say about corporate America as well as the human condition and reminds us that much of the disease that has rotted the soul out of our country didn't necessarily start in the Reagan era but a few decades earlier. Leave it to Rod Serling to put it on the screen better than anyone else...he was a true genius and Patterns proves this once again.
Walter Ramsey (Everett Sloane) runs the company his father built, and has just hired Fred Staples (Van Heflin) away from a small firm in Ohio. Fred forms a friendship with the number two man Bill Braggs (Ed Begley), a long time employee who lately has had health problems. After Fred embellishes some of Bill's ideas as they combine on an annual business plan, he thinks he's getting too much of the credit and that Bill's ideas aren't appreciated enough and starts asking questions.
It ends up that Ramsey is trying to force Bill out by continually browbeating and embarrassing him so he can replace him with Fred. Fred is furious that he is being used by the boss and defends Bill and urges him to stand up for himself. Bill says something like "this is too big of a job to walk away from, I won't resign...and he won't fire me after 30 years". Fred is caught between his quiet ambition and his loyalty to a friend, but one thing seems sure...a big confrontation is coming.
I think one reason there are so many special effects and shootouts in movies today is because the actors can't command the screen the way their counterparts from previous eras did. It's a pleasure watching this powerhouse trio and they are each excellent, but Begley (cast against type) stands out to me as the jaded, defeated Bill; it shows how little some things change as Bill laments about the new meaning of corporate growth and tells of how Ramseys' father used to walk the factory floor and knew all the employees on a first name basis. That confrontation between Fred and Bill is so compelling and well-acted...it reminded me that I had worked in companies like this, where the 2nd generation took over and destroyed the organizations culture to make few more dollars.
Patterns has a lot to say about corporate America as well as the human condition and reminds us that much of the disease that has rotted the soul out of our country didn't necessarily start in the Reagan era but a few decades earlier. Leave it to Rod Serling to put it on the screen better than anyone else...he was a true genius and Patterns proves this once again.