Patterns (1956)

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Patterns (1956) – F. Cook

Film version of Rod Serling’s Emmy-winning teleplay targeting the cutthroat world of business and the moral lapses of those at the top (or the lapses necessary to get to the top).  Also known as “Patterns of Power”, as in “behavioural patterns”, we are treated to the machinations that CEO Walter Ramsey (Everett Sloan) goes through in order to force Bill Briggs (Ed Begley Sr.) to resign as Vice President. You see, Briggs is too humane, carrying about people and not just profits, and Ramsey is not.  We follow Fred Staples (Van Heflin) who is brought in from Ohio to the New York City headquarters as he discovers that he is meant to replace Briggs, even though Briggs has not left. This puts Staples into a moral quandary which he tries to solve by befriending Briggs and giving him credit at every opportunity, especially with the boss (although he does catch himself damning Briggs with faint praise at times).  When Ramsey eventually hounds Briggs to the point of nervous breakdown, Staples tries to take a stand but finds himself agreeing to take over as Vice President, telling Ramsey he’ll always speak truth to power.  Since this is Serling, we can’t exactly take Staples at face value; we wonder whether it is even possible not to be influenced by money and power, not to lose one’s focus on people when profits are at stake, not to play politics with coworkers’ lives.  Powerhouse acting by all concerned (particularly Begley) and a sharp script keep things tense and biting, never didactic.  Still relevant today.