The Best of Everything (1959)

'Caroline' (Hope Lange) is at a loose end with her boyfriend (Brett Halsey) studying in the UK, so she takes up an opportunity to work at the esteemed 'Fabian' publishing company. She is to be secretary to one of it's editors, 'Miss Farrow' (Joan Crawford) and day one isn't exactly stellar. Her new boss turns out to be something of an harridan. Abrupt, rude and aloof: she offers 'Caroline' none of the welcome or sympathies she might have expected from a female boss. The more she looks a round her, the more she realises that most of the other ladies in the place are either content with their respective lot or just waiting until the wedding bells ring and their families duly follow. She quite swiftly befriends would-be actress 'Gregg' (Suzy Parker) and the fairly naive 'April' (Diane Baker) whilst learning the ropes of a business that has more than it's fair share of quirky characters and back-stabbing executives. 'Caroline' also finds that it's not just her professional life that is turbulent, and gradually she begins to realise that if she plays the game, uses her head and her own skills - well, there is no reason why she can't become an editor too. Never far from this increasing maelstrom of temperament and ambition, is the bottle-loving 'Mike' (Stephen Boyd) whom 'Caroline' turns to for comfort and whom is clearly fond of her - but can anything come of that? At it's best, this quite potently illustrates the prevalence of sexist attitudes and of the distinct lack of meritocracy involved in enduring the day-to-day grind and when hoping for any sort of promotion, and it is never better than the scenes between Lange and Crawford. Sadly, though, it rather hasn't the courage of it's initial convictions and strays too close, too often, to the melodramatic for me - especially as the love lives of the three women begin to subsume the more interesting and characterful rat-race elements. Still, it is good to watch a film where the leading women not only own the story but also the screen, too, and though I didn't care much for Sammy Cahn's cheesy title song, this was better than the standard drama I was expecting.