PATTERNS (1956)

Fred Staples (Van Heflin), manager of a plant owned by a big NYC conglomerate, is promoted to the executive suite of the parent company. He doesn't know that ruthless CEO Walter Ramsey (Everett Sloan) brought him in to replace ageing Bill Briggs (Ed Begley in a rare good guy role), whom Ramsey is driving out by constant humiliation and criticism, pitting Staples' ambition against his humanitarian concern for Briggs. The brilliant script by Rod Serling unmercifully and realistically portrays the ugly infighting and survival-of-the-fittest competition in Big Business--a rarity in the complacent Fifties. The acting, especially by Sloan, Begley and Beatrice Straight as Staples' wife, is superb, as is the on-site cinematography in NYC's financial district. This is a Grade A drama that you won't forget.


Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu,
E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu...
E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu
Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.