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The Best of Everything
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- Published: 08-05-2015, 08:25 AM
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Best of Everything, The
Released by: Twilight Time
Released on: July 14, 2015
Director: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Brett Halsey, Diane Baker, Suzy Parker, Martha Hyer, Brian Aherne, Robert Evans, Louis Jourdan, Joan Crawford
Year: 1959
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
Radcliffe graduate Caroline Bender (Hope Lange) finds secretarial work at Fabian Publishing Company on Manhattan's Park Avenue, a firm with divisions devoted to everything from cheap editions of classic literature, to contemporary fiction, to magazines for teenagers. Heading up the latter department is editor Mike Rice (Stephen Boyd), who develops a more-than-professional interest in Caroline, despite her plans to marry her fiancé, Eddie Harris (Brett Halsey), upon his return from a year's study in England. Caroline moves from her parents' home into an apartment with two of her new co-workers: April Morrison (Diane Baker), an innocent from Colorado who's being played by a married philanderer, and "actress" Gregg Adams (Suzy Parker), who's sleeping with/stalking Broadway director David Savage (Louis Jourdan) in pursuit of her big break. Ruling the publishing roost is married, middle-aged horndog Fred Shalimar (Brian Aherne), who sees the female clerical staff—in particular single mother Barbara Lamont (Martha Hyer)—as a job perk. At his side is dragon lady Amanda Farrow (Joan Crawford), sharp, driven, and professionally successful, wringing what personal happiness she can from her role as a married higher-up's mistress.
Producer Jerry Wald, no doubt emboldened by the success of 1957's Oscar-nominated Peyton Place, snatched up the rights to Rona Jaffe's 1958 debut novel The Best of Everything before it even hit print. His gamble paid off when the novel spent much of the year on the New York Times bestseller list. The film adaptation was highly hyped, with Hollywood's rumor mill claiming, at various points, that Debbie Reynolds, Lee Remick, Joanne Woodward, and Audrey Hepburn were on-board. (Of those four, only Remick was actually, briefly, cast.) In the end, Peyton Place's own Hope Lange was awarded the lead, with Ben-Hur's Stephen Boyd cast as, well, the only male in the film with a discernable sense of decency. Louis Jourdan and Robert Evans were enlisted to two-time Suzy Parker and Diane Baker, respectively.
Finally, less than two weeks before filming commenced, Joan Crawford became involved, putting an end to her two-year hiatus from the screen. (Crawford allegedly claimed, then later denied, that the death of her fourth husband had left her deeply in debt.) Whatever Crawford's motivation for taking the role, Amanda Farrow marked an official end to the noted actress's days as a leading player in A pictures, apart from the mega-successful What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), which led to a series of low-budget horror films, most of which were made for William Castle. (She is also rumored to have done an unpaid, uncredited screenplay revision, possibly out of gratitude for Wald having produced her 1945 comeback, Mildred Pierce.)
By most accounts, Crawford was treated somewhat shabbily by second-choice director Jean Negulesco. First choice Martin Ritt, who maintained a respectable directing career until his death in 1990, quit in protest over either the script or the casting of Suzy Parker, depending on which account one believes. It's said that Negulesco routinely favored Lange over Crawford in the frequent on-set disputes between the two actresses. That seems likely, given that Crawford's role was inarguably lessened as the production proceeded. Reviews at the time pointedly noted her limited participation, and she did not return to the screen for another three years, for her artistic swan song, the aforementioned Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, starring alongside a scene-stealing Bette Davis.
Much like its soap operatic predecessor, The Best of Everything is a fun film, a window into a decade of yesteryear that has been hyped by its generation as the greatest ever. Yet, simmering beneath the surface were the same hopes and fears, successes and failures, rights and wrongs faced by members of any other generation, a fact that Wald and his screenwriters completely understood—and did so at a time when polite society didn't talk about such things as marital infidelity, premarital sex, abortion, and sexual harassment in the workplace. The Best of Everything has it all in spades, done up as a respectable melodrama for women, the literary equivalent of a Nurse novel, though one taking a more adult approach. The goings-on can best be compared to a long episode of AMC's Mad Men, but from the perspective of the period itself. Though it runs over two hours, it feels much faster, thanks to the conviction with which everyone plays it, from the producer down to the actors and everyone in between.
The film received two Oscar nominations—one for the eponymous title song, composed by Alfred Newman and Sammy Cahn and sung by Johnny Mathis, and one for Adele Palmer's costume design. In 1970, ABC adapted the film into a daytime serial, featuring The Bad Seed's enfant terrible, Patty McCormack. It ran for a total of 126 episodes.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Best of Everything has been released by boutique label Twilight Time with an MPEG-4 AVC encode in 1080p high definition. The release is limited to 3,000 units. The film is presented in 2.35:1 on a 50GB disc, a smart move given its lengthy running time (121 minutes). As a result, there are no compression issues or artifacts. Detail is nice, as one would expect from a Fox remaster, perfectly showcasing Palmer's costumes and Lyle R. Wheeler and Jack Martin Smith's 'mid-century modern' set designs, which cloak the proceedings in an aura of professionalism befitting the film's plot. Color tends toward blue, but this may be as much a part of Leonard Doss's original color consultancy as it is modern timing. The inherent grain structure looks natural and complements the colors to create a perfectly filmic look. In fact, the transfer is so good that even stock footage of cityscapes and people meandering through crowds looks sharp and detailed.
Twilight Time has provided The Best of Everything with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The film is mostly dialogue, with the occasional pop song popping up. Sound is not compressed or problematic in any way, and the track does justice to Alfred Newman's score as well as to the dialogue. There's also a secondary track in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 featuring the score in isolation. Thankfully, it includes Johnny Mathis's now-classic title song in all its pristine glory. Subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired are also included. The third track is a commentary track ported over from Fox's DVD release and featuring film historian Sylvia Stoddard, who begins it by discussing in depth the film and its background; she also delves into the societal view of working women at the time. Novelist Rona Jaffe takes part in the track as well. Both commentators speak from prepared remarks and appear to have been recorded separately, with each track edited together into a uniform whole. The track is tight and controlled, with no wasted space.
Extras include the original theatrical trailer (2:53) and a Fox Movietone newsreel (1:09). The trailer focuses on the adult nature of the film and is clearly aimed at a female market (though the film ultimately appealed to people of both genders). The newsreel consists mostly of stars and their partners walking the red carpet, posing for the press, and signing autographs.
The disc also features a catalogue of Twilight Time releases, which includes a listing of titles that have gone into moratorium.
Rounding out the package is an eight-page booklet with liner notes written by the incomparable Julie Kirgo, whose work reads like prose while retaining its informative bent. She covers some of the same ground as the commentary, though much more beautifully and succinctly, with a few addendums of her own.
The Final Word:
The Best of Everything is a snapshot of working women in the late 1950s, one that isn't afraid to deal with the tough subjects of the time, including extramarital affairs and abortion. It plays out like an extended episode of Mad Men, the difference being that it was actually made in the 1950s! Twilight Time's release features a gorgeous transfer and good sound, as well as some nice extras, the best of which is its commentary track and Julie Kirgo's liner notes.
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