The Best of Everything is a fine, if not overdrawn, melodrama/big screen soap opera featuring wonderful performances by Hope Lange, Suzy Parker and the deliciously devilish, before The Devil Wears Prada, Joan Crawford who alone makes this a worthwhile watch.
The Best of Everything
(1959)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama
Twilight Time | NR – 121 min. – $29.95 | July 14, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Jean Negulesco Writer(s): Rona Jaffe (novel); Edith Sommer and Mann Rubin (screenplay) Cast: Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Suzy Parker, Martha Hyer, Diane Baker, Joan Crawford DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
** Click Here to Purchase The Best of Everything on Blu-ray from Amazon.com **
THE MOVIE
A juicy melodrama based on Rona Jaffe’s novel about working girls at a 1950s-era New York publishing house, The Best of Everything is brought to the screen by that painterly master of ‘Scope director Jean Negulesco. Starring Hope Lange, Diane Baker, and Suzy Parker as a trio of roomies working under an “exacting” female boss (the one and only JOAN CRAWFORD), the film details their trials and tribulations, both professional and very very personal. Also starring Stephen Boyd, Louis Jourdan and future super-producer Robert Evans as the naughty men in their lives, the film is highlighted by a staggeringly beautiful score from the singular Alfred Newman.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.25/5
Not much to this release though we get the normal 6-page essay booklet, a educational Audio Commentary with Author Rona Jaffe and Film Historian Sylvia Stoddard, a Fox Movietone Newsreel (1:09; HD) and the Original Theatrical Trailer (2:53; HD).
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Twilight Time releases The Best of Everything onto Blu-ray presented in the film’s original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio. The 1080p high-definition transfer (AVC codec) actually looks quite good, far better than I expected. Colors are a bit oversaturated by I’m certain that has to do with the color grading upon in its initial release. Detail levels are decent enough I noticed no major instances of dust marks or scratches.
AUDIO – 3.75/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a bit mixed. While the songs and score come through great, dialogue can be a tad muted at times; same goes for any ambient noises. However, it’s still a fine lossless track and more than serviceable considering the genre and age (going on 66 years).
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Overall, The Best of Everything is a fine, if not overdrawn (a good 10-15 minutes could’ve been removed), melodrama/big screen soap opera featuring wonderful performances by Hope Lange, Suzy Parker and the deliciously devilish, before The Devil Wears Prada, Joan Crawford who alone makes this a worthwhile watch. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time might be basic with a thin selection of bonus material but the video and audio transfers are both well done and certainly better than anything that came before.
Published: 07/16/2015
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.