Having spent a good part of my working life in large corporations, I appreciated that writer Rod Serling never fell into the trap of shallow stereotypes and superficiality in his treatment of this company and the people who worked within it and who were dependent upon it for their livelihoods. Having grown up as a Twilight Zone junkie (original series) during the early 1960's, Rod Serling as a writer has never disappointed me. His original screenplay here only demonstrates the wide range of his writing ability far beyond the science fiction and horror genres with which he is usually associated. The script is crisp, intelligent, and quite powerful.
Van Heflin, who plays the lead role as Fred Staples, is an actor who I never appreciated until late in my movie viewing life. Shame on me. I can't explain this other than the fact that I didn't see either "3:10 to Yuma" or "Act of Violence" until well into middle age, and I can thank Turner Classic Movies for finally introducing me to these films, to Van Heflin, and to much, much more than that. Heflin is a very natural, often understated professional. When I see him in a movie, his portrayals appear very real to me, as if he isn't reading the lines of a script written by someone else but rather speaking his own words very credibly and seamlessly. I think that this is what excellent acting is all about. Ed Begley, Sr. also appears in one of the best roles of his career, if not the very best, as Bill Briggs, the corporate executive who is being replaced by Staples and who is humiliated and degraded as a human being during the ugly process. Everett Sloan is perfectly cast as Mr. Ramsey, the egotistical, ruthless CEO who brutally intimidates any subordinate who stands in the way of his corporate goals and vision. Elizabeth Wilson, as the loyal secretary awkwardly transferred from Briggs, her beloved, longtime boss, to Staples, the new darling on the block, and Beatrice Straight, as Staples' sympathetic, sensible wife, both provide outstanding support.
I also liked how the director, Fielder Cook, created the fast pace of the corporation, at least at the height of its activity during normal business hours. I'm sorry that I missed Richard Kiley as Staples in the original play written for television. He is an actor who successfully played a wide range of characters from the very naive, inexperienced teacher in "Blackboard Jungle", to the crime-busting lawyer in "The Phenix City Story", and finally to the charismatic Don Quixote in the musical "Man of La Mancha".
The nightmarish view from the straining eyes of a stricken Biggs as his colleagues helplessly peer over him is very distressful. I recognize Mr. Serling's very distinctive influence here at a very critical moment in the film. Beyond this movie, the writer was among the most brilliant and creative contributors to the much missed "golden age of television".
