Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reality, 1950's style. And a good story too., February 2, 2003
I saw this film back in 1959 when it first came out and I also read Rona Jaffe's book on which it was based. It was about the world of New York secretaries. And it seemed to speak directly to me as I was then working as a secretary for a large management-consulting firm. I loved it then because it seemed so real. Now, 44 years later, I'm reminded of that reality. I remember wearing white gloves and a hat to work each day, even in the summer. I remember setting my hair in pincurls. I remember my electric typewriter, which was the latest technological advance. I was married then and remember being addressed as "Mrs." by my boss, even though I was only 19 years old. All the secretaries had desks next to each other in one open room; it was years before the advent of cubicles made famous by the Dilbert cartoon. And years before any of my fellow co-workers aspired to anything other than marriage and children. The one female executive was pitied and looked at as a sour old maid. In the film Joan Crawford is cast as that one office "witch", who had not married because she was involved with a married man and was paying for her bad decision. Indeed, there was more than one married man involved in affairs in the film, but it was always the woman who was made to suffer. Hope Lange had the role of the young hopeful who, because of being jilted by her boyfriend, starts to achieve some success in business. Then there is Diane Baker, fresh faced and innocent at the beginning, but whose life is almost ruined by the wrong man. Most pitiful of all though is Suzy Parker, who gives up her secretarial job to be an actress and is used and then dropped by an important director. The men are all cads with the exception of Stephen Boyd who accuses Hope Lange of wanting to achieve success because she's afraid of being a "real woman". Brian Ahern is a lecher who is always pinching the girls; their reaction though is typical of the times --they just laugh it off and don't take him seriously. Robert Evans is a seducer with no morals. And Louis Jourdan is the director who keeps a girl around only for as long as she amuses him. This is a film that could never have be made today. All the women are secretaries. All the men are bosses. Everyone is white and middle class. They all have the same values. However, in spite of all that, it is a really good story. It moves fast and held my interest throughout. And the acting is quite good. In a limited way I found myself really caring about the characters. I really do know people who were just like those depicted on the screen. Therefore, I recommend this video - even if it's for no other reason to see what life was like back in 1959.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
See you in the snake pit... , September 4, 2006
I first watched this movie because cinamatic legand Joan Crawford was one of the stars in it. Joan plays Amanda Farrow, a rather bossy publishing executive. However, her part is small and the movie has little to do with her character. It's a fine picture, though.
At first glance, "The Best of Everything" looks like "9 to 5" meets "The Devil Wears Prada." But after the first twenty minutes I was convinced that this was a much more complicated tale about relationships taking place in the Big Apple.
The main plot focused on three clerical workers at the same publishing firm, played by Hope Lange, Diane Baker, and Suzy Parker. Each women has their own trials and tribulations. But I think the one thing that they all have in common is that the men in their lives are all cads. I would say that just about all the men in this film are rather unsympathetic and uncaring. Is this how men really were in the 1950's? I hope not.
Normally I'd reserve two maybe three stars for a picture like this. But since it's Joan's "last great picture" (not counting "Baby Jane," of course) it deserves four.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I rented it and did NOT want to give it back!, September 16, 2000
By A Customer
As a big fan of the classics, I enjoy watching films from silent to the 1960s; however, I don't know how this one escaped me until recently. I rented this movie and saw it over 10 times before reluctantly returning it to the video store. I enjoyed the heartwarming portrayal by Hope Lange, who is now one of my favorite actresses. This movie is about the adventures and tribulations three young women go through at a time when being a secretary was both glamourous and hard work and no guidelines for office politics were set. Although for the 1950s, some content would be considered racy and daring, but for today's standards some people can wrongly consider it "corny" which I disagree. It was a different time then but yet similar in the way we all pursue the best of everything in what we do. Saying that, I do recommend this charming, witty and heartwarming film for those who would appreciate seeing another era in time when young women pursued their dreams and goals. Rent it or buy it. I now own a copy. It's worth seeing!
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