Patterns (film)

Patterns is a 1956 film directed by Fielder Cook and starring Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, and Ed Begley. The screenplay by Rod Serling was an adaptation of his teleplay Patterns originally telecast January 12, 1955 on the Kraft Television Theatre, which starred Sloane, Begley and Richard Kiley.

While Sloane and Begley reprised their roles, Heflin replaced Kiley in the role of upandcoming executive Fred Staples, though at 46, he was arguably a little too old to play a junior executive. But Serling also changed Staples character. Instead of a juniorlevel manager of a small factory that had done some subcontracting work for Ramsey, he was now shown as the manager of a presumably much larger facility taken over by Ramsey and Company, and whose performance there in keeping the factory afloat during that period impressed Ramsey enough to hire Staples direct. And, in the teleplay, the other execs talk of having expected a much older man. That was also omitted from the film version.Most of the scenes are set in the corporate boardroom and surrounding offices of Ramsey amp Co., a Manhattan industrial empire headed by the ruthless Walter Ramsey. He recruits youthful industrial engineer Fred Staples, whose performance at a company Ramsey has recently acquired has impressed the boss. Ramsey is grooming Staples to replace the aging Bill Briggs as the second in command at the company. ........

Source: Wikipedia