Monday, February 05, 2018
The Best of Everything
- Commentary: What am I doing with this disgustingly dated soap opera in my collection? Why would I deign to own it? Good question. It belongs to that category of movies which includes the likes of Valley of the Dolls, the better of which is, for instance, The Group. The Best of Everything, even though in many circles it is considered a classic of the genre, it is also, in my opinion, one of the worst. And one of the most fascinating. I was not raised by this era's dictates, although I have an elder sister who got in on some of them and I remember my mother's fascination with, for instance, gloves, hats and dresses of the style featured in the movies. I escaped all that, somehow. But it is the memory of my mother's fondness for the fashion and attitudes of this era (even though she was not a classic 50's woman, or mother) that allows me to be captivated by this movie. This movie is a perfect encapsulation of what it was like to be a young woman in the 50's. It is what the women of Mona Lisa Smile imagined for themselves and often achieved. The interesting thing about this movie is that it was made, picture perfect and spot-on, as the era was waning, unbeknownst to the characters in the movie or the eager viewers in 1959. The women portrayed in this movie, a mere few years later, read The Feminine Mystique, The Second Sex (usually in that order), and catalyzed Second Wave Feminism.
I, born in 1951, announced stalwartly to my mother when I was tottering on puberty, in the early 60's, that I was not going to get married or have children because I wanted to have sex with more than one man in my life. I was too young to understand that this was not my primary reason for shying away from marriage, children, mutual housekeeping, but I got the trajectory of my life right, blessedly. Not a 50's attitude, but surely an attitude marking the era in which I came of age.
Because I saw enough of the dregs of the 50's women's lives, though, despite the fact that I was never interested in that, I was (and still am) drawn to considering the life that us young women of the 60's were eschewing. I think it has something to do with how era begets era. This movie is an encapsulation of the era that birthed mine. I think my attraction to this movie is based on that recognition. The following snippet of conversation between Mike Rice (played by Stephen Boyd), an editor-in-chief of a Fabian publication, and Caroline Bender (played by Hope Lange and possessing an interesting and appropos-to-the-period character last name), a secretary at Fabian later promoted to reader, then editor, illustrates what the era previous to mine wanted from its women:
Mike Rice: Don't you get caught, Caroline.
Caroline Bender: Caught in what, Mr. Rice?
Mike Rice: In a bind, Caroline. Or in a bottle, Caroline. In Fabian's (the publishing company for which they both work) publishers of quality, Caroline. Get out quick. Work six months or a year. Prove whatever you have to prove. Then marry the med student or the law student and "love" happily ever after.
Caroline Bender: I plan to.
Mike Rice: No business career? No fame? No fortune?
Caroline Bender: No.
Mike Rice: No ambition?
Caroline Bender: None.
Mike Rice: How Wonderful.
I remember the first time I saw this movie, when my mother was alive, I was flabbergasted at the structure of women's lives it displayed and guffawed as I told my Florida sister about the movie. I no longer guffaw when I watch it. I, rather, contemplate it and how it is, exactly, that my generation and generations since emerged from it. And wonder, are we likely to repeat it in some future incarnation?
Update 8/3/21: You'll notice, since I wrote this, I've acquired The Group and Valley of the Dolls. With pleasure. Extra credit question: What does this say about me?
Update 6/4/22: I'm telling you, everything in this movie is up for analyzation grabs. As I'm entering this in my movie journal I notice that "the boss" of Fabian Publishing is named "Fred Shalimar". Shalimar is the name of a suffocatingly heavy perfume that was popular in the late 50's and early 60's (and other periods of time). Much to my chagrin, I proudly owned a bottle when I was a young teenager; saved my own money for it; loved it so much I took it on vacation, one year. It broke under the lack of pressurization in the airplane baggage hold (and stunk up everything in my suitcase, by the way, which was fine with me). I immediately replaced it at our first vacation stop, Honolulu, HI.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Hope Lange Caroline Bender Stephen Boyd Mike Rice Suzy Parker Gregg Adams Martha Hyer Barbara Lamont Diane Baker April Morrison Brian Aherne Fred Shalimar Robert Evans Dexter Key Brett Halsey Eddie Harris Donald Harron Sydney Carter Louis Jourdan David Savage Joan Crawford Amanda Farrow Ted Otis Dr. Ronnie Wood
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1959
Directed by Jean Negulesco.
Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, drama4, joan-crawford, popcorn-and-soda2, romance1
