Patterns (1956)

	Directed by: Fielder Cook	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Patterns RUNNING TIME 84 minutes
	Produced by: Michael Myerberg Jed Harris
	Written by: Rod Serling

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Fred Staples	Van Heflin	½
Walter Ramsey	Everett Sloane
William Briggs	Ed Begley
Nancy Staples	Beatrice Straight
Marge Fleming	Elizabeth Wilson	½
Miss Margaret Lanier	Joanna Roos	-

Review

Rod Serling's tale of boardroom machinations and power struggles in the corporate world in 1950s New York City is a stirring interpersonal drama centered around its three principals characters, all of whom are executives in the Manhattan-based Ramsey & Co.: Walter Ramsey (Everett Sloane), the company's ruthless director, William Briggs (Ed Begley), his long-serving Vice President, and Fred Staples (Van Heflin), a youngish, talented executive newly brought in from an acquired company, and who soon finds himself in the middle of a game of power and positioning. In certain segments, Serling's intelligent dialogue-based script reaches a potency akin to James Foley's Glengarry Glen Ross. Adapted for the big screen after having already been created and broadcast as a teleplay the year before, Patterns' production values are basic but neat. However, the ethical discussions on offer are essentially timeless, and the filmmakers' ability to strip the characters down through the implied and the undercommunicated is close to groundbreaking. All three lead actors give powerful, sizzling performances, but Heflin adds a naturalness which probably will resonate more with modern viewers.