The Best of Everything

A star-studded cast enlivens this glossy '50s soap opera, based on a novel by Rona Jaffe. The action unfolds at the Gotham-based Fabian Publishing, where numerous women work as typists under the aegis of power-wielding, shark-like editor Amanda Farrow (Joan Crawford). Farrow has achieved wealth and ...more

Although there are a number of problems with The Best of Everything, the biggest is that the creators emphasized the "everything" over the "best." Even at 135 minutes, there simply is too much going on in this overblown, over-the-top soap opera look at career gals in 1950s Manhattan. No one expects an exploitive melodrama to really delve into its themes and characters the way a serious drama would, but the viewer does have the right to expect some realistic detail. This doesn't matter so much at ...more