Themes: Office Politics, Rise and Fall Stories, Work Ethics
Main Cast: Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Suzy Parker, Martha Hyer, Diane Baker
Release Year: 1959
Country: US
Run Time: 135 minutes
Plot
A star-studded cast enlivens this glossy '50s soap opera, based on a novel by Rona Jaffe. The action unfolds at the Gotham-based Fabian Publishing, where numerous women work as typists under the aegis of power-wielding, shark-like editor Amanda Farrow (Joan Crawford). Farrow has achieved wealth and success, but is far from idolized by her underlings, who understand clearly that their boss has chalked up all of her accomplishments at the expense of a satisfying personal life. Caroline Bender (Hope Lange) is a recent graduate of a prestigious women's college whose sole desire in life is to marry her college sweetheart Eddie (Brett Halsey; she admits openly that she cares little for power, ambition or career advancement. She gets a job in the secretarial pool of Fabian Publishing and soon takes an apartment with some female co-workers. Caroline quickly realizes that she has a catbird seat to witness the romantic entanglements and office politics of Fabian's many female employees. Farrow is having an affair with a mysterious married man, and Caroline's roommates have tales of their own to tell: April (Diane Baker) has become pregnant by the unscrupulous Dexter (Robert Evans), who suggests she have an abortion; and Gregg (Suzy Parker) has become involved with smooth-talking Broadway director David Wilder Savage (Louis Jourdan), not the most faithful man in the world. Robert Evans's career as an actor came to an end after this film, and he later enjoyed success as a studio head at Paramount Pictures in the 1970s, supervising The Godfather, and serving as producer of such films as Chinatown and Marathon Man. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Although there are a number of problems with The Best of Everything, the biggest is that the creators emphasized the "everything" over the "best." Even at 135 minutes, there simply is too much going on in this overblown, over-the-top soap opera look at career gals in 1950s Manhattan. No one expects an exploitive melodrama to really delve into its themes and characters the way a serious drama would, but the viewer does have the right to expect some realistic detail. This doesn't matter so much at first, as the high-gloss sheen of the production (director Jean Negulesco certainly knew the way this kind of movie should look) and the oh-so-1950s corporate atmosphere are a lot of fun -- and it doesn't hurt that the younger members of the cast are so incredibly attractive. But pretty soon the unrelenting unreality and the sappy dialogue start to wear on the viewer. Even Joan Crawford, in high-camp dudgeon and with some choice bitchy asides ("rabbit-faced wife," indeed!), can't keep the film from dragging as it nears the finish line. Contemporary audiences will find some of the goings-on so ridiculous as to be entertaining, which is probably the film's saving grace -- that and its oh-so-chic glamour outfits for these typical working girls. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Brian Aherne - Mr. Shalimar; Joan Crawford - Amanda Farrow; Robert Evans - Dexter Key; Brett Halsey - Eddie; Donald Harron - Sidney Carter; Sue Carson - Mary Agnes; Linda Hutchings - Jane; Lionel Kane - Paul; Ted Otis - Ronnie Wood; Louis Jourdan - David Savage; Alena Murray - Girl in Typing Pool; Rachel Stephens - Girl in Typing Pool; Julie Payne - Girls in Typing Pool; David Hoffman - Joe; Theodora Davitt - Margo Stewart
Credit
Adele Palmer - Costume Designer, Jean Negulesco - Director, Robert L. Simpson - Editor, Alfred Newman - Composer (Music Score), Sammy Cahn - Songwriter, Alfred Newman - Songwriter, William C. Mellor - Cinematographer, Jerry Wald - Producer, Mann Rubin - Screenwriter, Edith R. Sommer - Screenwriter, Rona Jaffe - Book Author
The Best of Everything (1959) is a 20th Century-Foxfeature film starring Hope Lange, Diane Baker, Suzy Parker, and Joan Crawford in a story about the professional careers and private lives of three women who share a small apartment in New York City and work together in a paperback publishing firm. The screenplay was written by Edith Sommer and Mann Rubin based upon the 1958 novel of the same name by Rona Jaffe. The film was directed by Jean Negulesco and produced by Jerry Wald. Alfred Newman wrote the musical score, the last under his longtime contract as Fox's musical director. The film has been released to VHS and DVD.
Caroline Bender (Lange) is an ambitious young secretary in a publishing firm who, when jilted, finds consolation in the arms of editor Mike Rice (Stephen Boyd). Gregg Adams (Parker) is a typist and an aspiring actress romantically involved with stage director David Savage (Louis Jourdan). When the director dumps her, she is devastated, falls from a fire escape and dies. April Morrison (Baker) winds up pregnant, and jumps from a car when her unborn infant's father Dexter Key (Robert Evans) urges an abortion. All three women are under the supervision of editor Amanda Farrow (Joan Crawford), an exacting professional and a frustrated woman who marries, leaves the firm, and returns when she finds the simple life of home and marriage not to her liking. Others in the cast include Martha Hyer as Barbara Lamont, Brian Aherne as Mr. Shalimar, Brett Halsey as Eddie Harris, and Donald Harron.
Production notes
Crawford's peripheral role in the film generated much criticism. The men she was involved with romantically never appeared on the screen, and several of her scenes—including, according to co-star Diane Baker, a superbly acted drunk episode—were cut, reportedly due to the film's length.[1]
Music
The score was composed and conducted by Alfred Newman, with orchestrations by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer. Additional development of Newman's themes were done by Cyril Mockridge for two scenes, and the songs "Again" and "Kiss Them for Me," both by Lionel Newman; and "Something's Gotta Give" by Johnny Mercer are used as source music.[2]
The title song for the film was composed by Newman, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and performed by Johnny Mathis.
The music, as recorded for the motion picture, was released on cd in 2002, on Film Score Monthly records.
Reception
In the New York Times of 9 October 1959, critic Howard Thompson described the film as a "handsome but curiously unstimulating drama" and noted, "the casting is dandy" with kudos to Lange. Commenting on Joan Crawford, the critic described her performance as "suave trouping". Thompson pointed out that, "...for all its knowing air and chic appointments, the picture lumbers onto the plane of soap opera, under Mr. Negulesco's reverential guidance." ."[3]
^ Quirk, Lawrence J.. The Films of Joan Crawford. The Citadel Press, 1968.
^Kendall, Lukas (2002). Release notes for The Best of Everything by Alfred Newman, p. 5, 10 (CD insert notes). Culver City, California, U.S.A.: Film Score Monthly (Vol. 4, No. 11).
