The Film Detective is bringing Rod Serling’s Patterns to Blu-ray for the first time ever on September 27th. The Film Detective entered the Blu-ray market just about a year ago and Patterns will mark what I believe to be their 10th release. Thus far they’ve done an amazing job releasing lesser appreciated titles like A Bucket of Blood and Dementia 13, so I’m glad (and not surprised) to see them give Patterns a go.
When a businessman is recruited by a high-powered New York City corporation, he finds his ethics and ambition at odds in Patterns, available on Blu-ray for the first time Sept. 27 from The Film Detective (distributed by Allied Vaughn).
Rod Serling’s (The Twilight Zone, Planet of the Apes, Seven Days in May, Requiem for a Heavyweight) tale of ruthless men and ambitious women clawing for control of a billion-dollar empire first aired live in January 1955 on Kraft Television Theater. The hard-hitting teleplay was such a success – earning Serling instant acclaim and the first of his six Emmy awards – that producers Jed Harris (Operation Mad Ball, The Light Touch, Broadway) and Michael Myerberg (Hansel and Gretel) with director Fielder Cook (Seize the Day, A Big Hand for the Little Lady) helmed a big screen feature for United Artists, using most of the original cast.
The result was an acid-etched chronicle of the cutthroat corporate world, starring Van Heflin, Everett Sloane and Ed Begley, with cinematography by Oscar-winner Boris Kaufman (On the Waterfront, 12 Angry Men). Now, presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio, this gripping drama has received The Film Detective treatment, offering lossless DTS-HD sound and picture quality like never before.
In Patterns, businessman Fred Staples (Heflin, Airport, 3:10 to Yuma, Shane, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers) is plunged into the rough-and-tumble of office politics at his new job when he discovers that he is meant to replace the decent-but-ailing vice president, Bill Briggs (Begley, Hang ’Em High, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, 12 Angry Men, Guiding Light). A battle of wills ensues between Fred and the company’s ruthless president, Mr. Ramsey (Sloane, Lust for Life, The Lady From Shanghai, Citizen Kane), who is intent on humiliating Bill into resigning. Despite the urgings of his pragmatic wife, Nancy (Beatrice Straight, Poltergeist, Endless Love, Network, The Nun’s Story), Fred resists losing his soul to the cold calculations of naked ambition. This is boardroom bloodletting, the American way!
Patterns is presented with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and original sound.
