Like a lot of American movies in the fifties, "Patterns" began life as a television play. It's unusual in that it's a film about corporate business and a very realistic one, a subject that in itself was hardly a box-office draw. Van Heflin is the out-of-towner who begins work in a large New York corporation only to find he's being groomed to take over from a man who's been with the firm for over 30 years, (Ed Begley), and who is now being unceremoniously side-lined and pushed towards the door by cold-hearted boss, Everett Sloane.
With a cast that also includes future Oscar-winner Beatrice Straight and Elizabeth Wilson you know it's going to be a well-acted drama and, of course, it is and with a Rod Serling script it's also an intelligent and well-written one. The drama comes from the fact that Heflin is a decent guy who likes the man he's pushing out and can clearly see what's happening. The director was Fielder Cook and this was his first film but he never went on to have the career of a Lumet or a Frankenhimer, spending most of his life in television. Hardly ever revived, this is a film worth seeking out.
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