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Post by topbilled on Apr 2, 2023 20:19:28 GMT
Is there still a Beekman Hospital in Manhattan? It was merged in NY Presbyterian years ago. I forget when. Thanks for the info.
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Post by Fading Fast on Apr 2, 2023 20:19:42 GMT
Van Heflin is closer to Ramsey than he'd like to admit .
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Post by topbilled on Apr 2, 2023 20:20:02 GMT
"All things are negotiable."
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Post by Fading Fast on Apr 2, 2023 20:20:17 GMT
It was merged in NY Presbyterian years ago. I forget when. Thanks for the info. I should add, "I think."
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Post by Fading Fast on Apr 2, 2023 20:21:27 GMT
What an awesome lobby. That's a side exit they used at the end.
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Post by topbilled on Apr 2, 2023 20:22:22 GMT
Such a great film. Thanks Fading Fast.
I actually like this one better than EXECUTIVE SUITE.
Superb acting all around.
I appreciated the secretaries' roles a bit more this time...they add a lot in subtle ways.
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Post by Fading Fast on Apr 2, 2023 20:25:05 GMT
Such a great film. Thanks Fading Fast.
I actually like this one better than EXECUTIVE SUITE.
Superb acting all around.
I appreciated the secretaries' roles a bit more this time...they add a lot in subtle ways. Really glad you enjoyed it. I had a great time sharing it with both of you. I see more angles to it when we talk about it.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Apr 2, 2023 20:28:26 GMT
Yes, great film! I even started to like Nancy by the end. I think she was just trying to be supportive, but she thought he needed support to put himself forward when he really wanted her to support him in doing the right thing.
I hope they come back to Ohio.
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Post by Fading Fast on Apr 2, 2023 21:07:39 GMT
I wrote the below review awhile back.
Patterns from 1956 with Van Heflin, Ed Begley and Everett Sloane
Patterns, a business boardroom drama, started life as a teleplay written by the, at that time, relatively unknown Rod Serling. Its success prompted Hollywood to make it into a low-budget, but well-cast movie that foreshadowed the haymaker style of dialogue writing and delivery that's become the norm of business and political movies and television shows today.
Van Heflin plays a smart and relatively young executive whose success running a regional plant prompts his hiring into the executive suite of the Wall Street headquarters of a large company. As the movie opens, we see him being introduced to his fellow executives while he's ushered into his well-appointed office. Equally inviting, the company found, furnished and decorated an attractive home for him and his wife.
The bonhomie of the first day is quickly shattered, though, when at his inaugural executive meeting, the head of the company, played by Everett Sloane, viciously browbeats Van Heflin's new partner, an older executive played by Ed Begley.
Heflin is stunned as he realizes he's in some sort of corporate thunderdome where he doesn't know the rules or the players - it's a heck of a first day at work.
It takes a bit for the puzzle to become clear to Heflin, but he eventually realizes that he was brought in, in part, to replace Begley, not work with him. This is made harder for Heflin as he begins to like and respect Begley, a tired executive now cracking under Sloane's abuse.
Heflin finds no solace at home from his social-climbing and greedy wife who wants her husband to be as cutthroat as necessary to get ahead; she even helps throw Begley under the bus behind her husband's back.
Sitting at the center of this executive suite war is Everett Sloane whose business philosophy is a dark combination of Nietzsche, Machiavelli and Scrooge where the only measure of a man's worth is his ability to compete better, manage better and drive the business better than the next man.
In this contrived setup, Begley is a sympathetic character shown to be a caring father whose confidence is being systematically undermined, while Van Heflin is the moral outsider who sees the injustice. Sloane, more a caricature than character, takes joy in maliciously destroying Begley under the pretext of doing what's right for the business.
The dialogue throughout is smart and powerful in the modern way that characters spit out complex philosophical thoughts in long flawless speeches seemingly on the fly. When Van Heflin and Sloane have the climatic face off the entire movie has been leading up to, the scene will have you gripping the arms of your chair over what is, effectively, two men fighting about the role of an executive.
Kudos to writer Rod Serling for creating an exaggerated but compelling look at business-leadership philosophy, a subject that usually has one's head bobbing forward and eyelids closing.
All our sympathies, here, are with Begley and Heflin because Serling set it up that way, but the reality is Begley should have resigned as, it was noted, he'd have his pension and wouldn't have the shame of being fired. The few people who get to the top of a company are expected to perform like professional ballplayers and when they can't, they should be replaced.
Every employee and every shareholder of the company relies on the top executives to make critical decisions that ensure the survival and success of the company. Executive jobs come with plenty of pay and perks, including attractive retirement packages in exchange for an unforgiving demand for top performance.
So while Patterns tells a compelling story that shows business in an unflattering light - Sloane's character is loathsome - had the facts remained unchanged, but the characters tweaked, we'd see a completely different picture.
Had Sloane been a gentler version of himself trying to kindly encourage Begley, a man whose day at the top of the business world had passed, to retire comfortably and had Begley been shown to be an greedy executive not willing to give up his luxurious perks and high compensation, our sympathies would switch sides, but the facts would not be that different.
Patterns is impressive for what it does with actors, dialogue and not much else. There are a few story-framing New York City location shots, but the bulk of the action takes place on a foreboding executive floor. Serling tossed in a loyal-to-Begley secretary and a loving son, but they are just props to further sway our emotions to Begley.
The picture is contrived and aggressively tendentious, but the viewer can still form his own opinions about right and wrong. Patterns the movie works, though, for the same reason most good movies work, you care about the characters and conflict in this well-written and well-acted boardroom drama.
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