Recent Radcliffe College graduate Caroline Bender is hired as a secretary at Fabian Publishing Company. She works for Amanda Farrow, a bitter, demanding, jealous middle-aged editor who resents Caroline and suspects she wants her job. She is having an affair with a married man, and it is not going well. Caroline meets two other young women in the typing pool— April Morrison, a naïve, enthusiastic girl from Colorado, and Gregg Adams, a glamorous aspiring actress. They invite Caroline, who is commuting from her family's home In Connecticut, to share their tiny apartment.
April is assigned to work for the lecherous editor-in-chief, Mr. Shalimar, who persuades her to work late one night in a ploy to seduce her. When she rejects him, he is undaunted and also continues to pursue other young female employees. At an alcohol-fueled office party, an intoxicated Mr. Shalimar makes sexual overtures to Barbara Lamont while they are alone in her office. Sidney Carter, a co-worker with whom she is having an affair, intervenes after he hears Barbara yelling. Shalimar shows no remorse over the incident and suggests that, because Lamont has been married and divorced, she should expect such advances from male co-workers.
Gregg is cast in a play directed by David Savage and the two become lovers. Gregg is demoted to understudy when she repeatedly flubs her lines. She becomes obsessed with David, and she is eventually replaced in the play. After David ends his affair with Gregg, she becomes mentally unstable and starts stalking him. While lurking outside his apartment, she is startled by a boisterous neighbor and panics. Gregg flees to a fire escape and falls to her death when her high-heeled shoe gets caught in the grating.
April meets Dexter Key, a spoiled playboy, at a company picnic. They start to date, and Dexter threatens to dump the romantic April unless she agrees to have sex. When April becomes pregnant, Dexter persuades her to elope. Once they are en route, Dexter admits his marriage proposal is a ruse: He is driving her to a doctor for an abortion. Distraught at the idea of ending her pregnancy, April leaps from Dexter's moving car. She survives, but the impact causes a miscarriage and hospitalization. April becomes romantically involved with her attending physician.
Caroline, upset after her fiancé Eddie Harris marries another woman, goes on a blind date with Paul Landis, arranged by their mothers. The date ends awkwardly when Caroline spots a co-worker, Mike Rice. After Paul leaves, Mike and Caroline get drunk, and she falls asleep at his apartment. At the office the next day, a badly hungover Caroline is worried she and Mike had sex, but he assures her nothing happened.
While working for Amanda Farrow, Caroline adds her own editorial comments to the manuscripts submitted by writers. Shalimar takes notice of Caroline's comments and promotes her to the position of manuscript reader. When Caroline thanks Farrow for recommending her as a reader, Farrow admits she advised Shalimar not to promote her. Later Mike disparages Caroline's ambition and advises her not to become career-driven, but to seek marriage instead.
Mike and Caroline consider becoming involved romantically, but their plans are interrupted by Eddie, who dines with Caroline while in New York on a business trip. Thinking Eddie wants to leave his wife and marry her, Caroline visits his hotel room; she leaves after Eddie reveals he has no intention of divorcing his rich wife and only wants Caroline to be his mistress.
When Farrow quits her job to marry and move to St. Louis, Caroline takes her place at Fabian. Caroline relinquishes the position when Farrow returns to New York after her marriage fails because, she tells Caroline, she no longer had enough to give.
While leaving the office one day, Caroline bumps into Mike on the street. She removes the hat she is wearing and locks eyes with him; they walk away together as the film ends.
20th Century Fox producer Jerry Wald announced he was buying the rights to the novel of the same name in April 1958. In his first interview about the film adaption, Wald said: "There are 10 roles in this for young people, and I hope to get some of our outstanding actors such as Lee Remick, Hope Lange, Diane Varsi, Suzy Parker, Robert Evans, Lee Philips and Bob Wagner."[3] In further early casting considerations, Wald mentioned Joanne Woodward, Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Margaret Truman.[4]Rona Jaffe officially sold the rights to her book for $100,000 in November 1958.[5] She did not want any part in writing the screenplay, but instead wanted a cameo role: "I want to appear in the movie in a walk-on part. I would just appear briefly as one of the office's pool of stenographers", she said.[6]
Martin Ritt initially was set to direct, but he was replaced by Jean Negulesco in January 1959 reportedly because Ritt was upset with the casting of Suzy Parker. Ritt dismissed this rumor, saying the script was not his "cup of tea".[7] When she learned that Wald was sick, Parker agreed to do the film, reporting for work in January 1959.[8] (Parker had agreed to take the role in the summer of 1958, but a broken arm and a 14-month recovery delayed her appearance.)[9] On playing a neurotic actress, Parker commented: "I know the type extremely well."[10]
During casting, several actors were considered, cast and replaced. In August 1958, Diane Varsi and Lee Remick were, along with Suzy Parker, attached to star in the film, but Varsi and Remick withdrew.[11] Remick was forced to leave production in early 1959 due to physical problems. In September 1958, Julia Meade signed on for the film, planning to make her screen debut.[12] She ultimately did not appear in the film. In January 1959, the unknown actress Diane Hartman was cast as Barbara Lamont, but she was replaced by Martha Hyer.[13]Jack Warden agreed to a co-starring role in March 1959, but he did not appear in the film.[14] Less than a month later, Jean Peters was planning to make her comeback in this film.[15] Had Peters not been replaced, it would have been her fifth film under the direction of Negulesco. Another actress cast in March 1959 without appearing in the film was June Blair, who was set to play one of the starring roles.[which?][16]
Joan Crawford was cast in May 1959, 10 days before shooting began.[17] This was the first time she had accepted a supporting role since the silent era. Crawford was in heavy debt after the death of her fourth husband Alfred Steele, and needed the money.[18] She commented on her role: "I'm on the screen only seven minutes. But I liked the part, and I want to do other movies and TV films if I can find what I want." She had recently been elected to the board of directors of Pepsi-Cola and planned to spend more time promoting the soft drink.[19] Crawford insisted on having a Pepsi-Cola machine placed in the secretaries break room in the film.[20] According to Diane Baker, much of Crawford's character was cut from the finished film, including a show-stopping drunk scene. This was reportedly due to the film's length.[21]
The title song for the film was composed by Newman, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and performed by Johnny Mathis. Producer Jerry Wald first showed interest in Mathis for the title song in August 1958.[23]
The music, as recorded for the motion picture, was released on CD by Film Score Monthly in 2002.
Reception
In The New York Times, 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 talkily lumbers onto the plane of soap opera, under Mr. Negulesco's reverential guidance."[24]
Paul Beckley ended his review in the New York Herald Tribune with: "...Miss Crawford comes near making the rest of the picture look like a distraction."[25]
Crawford's peripheral role in the film generated much criticism. The men she was involved with romantically never appeared on the screen, and many of her scenes were cut, as mentioned above.
Elda Furry, known professionally as Hedda Hopper, was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, over 35 million people read her columns.
Louella Rose Oettinger, known professionally as Louella Parsons, was an American gossip columnist and a screenwriter. At her peak, her columns were read by 20 million people in 700 newspapers worldwide.
Jerome Irving Wald was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs.
Wild in the Country is a 1961 American musical-drama film directed by Philip Dunne and starring Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, and Millie Perkins. Based on the 1958 novel The Lost Country by J. R. Salamanca, the screenplay concerns a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career. The screenplay was written by playwright Clifford Odets.
Diane Carol Baker is an American actress, producer and educator whose career spanned nearly 50 years.
Christina Crawford is an American author and actress, best known for her 1978 memoir and exposé, Mommie Dearest, which described the alleged abuse she was subjected to by her adoptive mother, film star Joan Crawford.
Joan Evans was an American film actress known for Roseanna McCoy, Skirts Ahoy! and co-starred with Audie Murphy in the movie, Column South. She was married to Kirby Weatherly in August 1952.
Bella Darvi was a Polish film actress and stage performer who was active in France and the United States.
Mary Janice Rule was an American actress and psychotherapist, earning her PhD while still acting, then acting occasionally while working in her new profession.
The Best of Everything (1958) is Rona Jaffe's first novel. It is the story of five young employees of a New York publishing company.
The 17th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1959 films, were held on March 10, 1960.
In Love and War is a 1958 American CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color film set in World War II, directed by Philip Dunne. It is based on the 1957 novel The Big War by Anton Myrer. Myrer was a former Marine wounded during the Second Battle of Guam in 1944.
Diane Jean McBain was an American actress who, as a Warner Brothers contract player, reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s. She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the 1960–1962 television series Surfside 6 and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in 1966's Spinout.
Ten North Frederick is a 1958 American drama film in CinemaScope written and directed by Philip Dunne and starring Gary Cooper. The screenplay is based on the 1955 novel of the same name by John O'Hara.
Return to Peyton Place is a 1961 American drama film in color by De Luxe and CinemaScope, produced by Jerry Wald, directed by José Ferrer, and starring Carol Lynley, Tuesday Weld, Jeff Chandler, Eleanor Parker, Mary Astor, and Robert Sterling. The screenplay by Ronald Alexander is based on the 1959 novel Return to Peyton Place by Grace Metalious. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and is a sequel to their earlier film Peyton Place (1957).
Hound-Dog Man is a 1959 American musical comedy drama film directed by Don Siegel, based on the 1947 novel by Fred Gipson, and starring Fabian, Carol Lynley, and Stuart Whitman.
The Sound and the Fury is a 1959 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt. It is loosely based on the 1929 novel of the same title by William Faulkner.
Valentino is a 1951 American biographical film directed by Lewis Allen and starring Eleanor Parker.
Mardi Gras is a 1958 American musical comedy film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Pat Boone and Christine Carère.
13 West Street is a 1962 American neo noir crime film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Rod Steiger and Alan Ladd whose own production company produced the film. It was based on the 1957 novel The Tiger Among Us (1957) by Leigh Brackett, who called the film "very, very dull".
References
↑ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN978-0-8108-4244-1. p252
↑ Kendall, Lukas (2002). "The Best of Everything". Film Score Monthly (CD insert notes). 4 (11). Alfred Newman. Culver City, California, U.S.A.: 5, 10.
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