Nothing But the Best

I last saw this movie over 40 years ago and remember it vividly. I have waited for years for it to appear on DVD and at last I have it. I was surprised to find it has dated but still works very well due to the wonderful performances of Alan Bates and Denholm Elliott coupled with a sharp and witty script from Frederic Raphael. Millicent Martin holds up well in what I think was her first movie as Bates' love interest. it is an excellent black comedy where the viewer roots for the anti-hero throughout with very little censure on his wrongdoings. Alan Bates was a superb actor with real charisma you can only watch him on screen. The film is populated with terrific British actors like Harry Andrews and James Villiers. I even spotted Patti Boyd as an extra in the cafe scene, which rooted the movie firmly in the sixties. Why this has not appeared on TV or on VHS/ DVD in the intervening years since its original release is beyond me.

Alan Bates is the scoundrel here who thinks he is about to get away with anything. Everything is wrong with him except his ambitions. In order to climb the social ladder to riches and success he not just uses any dirty tricks to get along on the way, but his knack is simply to follow the mainstream of general hypocrisy, consistent deceit by means of sticking to lies, outrageous audacity and the general euphemistic way of life ignoring all that is out of any private interest to you. Everything here is permanent dishonesty, and for its blatant shamelessness the film is actually shocking in its horrible satire of upper class business life, while you must admit that it is extremely well done, in perfect cleverness, wit and elegance. All the actors are perfect, and you don't even feel sorry for Denholm Elliott who actually did nothing to help himself except in digging his own grave, while Alan Bates' acting is a marvel of sticking to a masked role. Millicent Martin actually suits him, it is even suggested that she sees him through and appreciates his charade, and you are used to Denholm Elliott as the perfect loser. In brief, in spite of its revolting immorality, the film is thoroughly enjoyable for its virtuosity in cleverness and elegance.

Although this film appears on TV only rarely, I remember almost everything about it from my most recent of several viewings 10 years ago. A young Alan Bates plays an ambitious but lower middle-class clerk in a posh and stuffy London commercial real estate firm. Doomed to menial work by his low class, Bates encounters a poor and alcoholic -- but decidedly upper class -- Denholm Elliot, and makes him a proposition: free room and board and booze money in exchange for lessons on how to dress, talk and act like a proper "Public School" upper-class chap able to socialize with the ruling classes and thus climb the ladder of success. As his lessons progress, apt pupil Bates becomes more and more involved in the lifestyle of his betters, and romantically involved with a beautiful blonde to the manor born. When Denholm Elliot decides to move on with his life and take back his Saville Row suit, gold half-hunter watch and other accoutrements lent to Bates, there's only one thing for Bates to do: murder poor Denholm (and then roger their suspicious but lustful landlady to buy her silence). Things get REALLY fun from here on in, and the question is, will Alan Bates will get caught, or will he get the girl, the partnership position, the Rolls Royce and the country manor? Witty, well-acted, fast-paced, one of the best, most sparkling British comedies of the 60s, and well worth lobbying for to be released on video or DVD!

I liked this a lot and the situation in England is still the same, the correct old school tie, accent and connections are still required to get on in life in business. Pauline Delaney who played Alan bates' landlady played Alfred Burke's landlady in "Public Eye so I wonder if her part here got her the later part. Full of upper class twits with Alan Bates trying to climb the greasy pole with some coaching from a "Toff". A bit like "My Fair Lady" in that sense. In glorious colour and well worth watching not just for the excellent story but the street scenes full of what are now classic cars of a time gone by.

NOTHING BUT THE BEST is an acerbic black comedy about a scoundrel's attempts to rise to the top and make a name for himself, at the expense of all those around him. Alan Bates takes the lead of the amoral protagonist, a character who takes ruthlessness to the next level, and he's here surrounded by a strong supporting cast that includes Denholm Elliott at his most sympathetically decadent and James Villiers at his oiliest. The humour is quite subtle here and the film does take a murderous angle around the middle section, which makes for an unnerving, challenging viewing at times.

What a superb film in my opinion difficult to beat. The British system slyly used to the main characters advantage . Alan Bates and Denholm Elliot excel in this classy tongue in cheek rendition of how to succeed. A film worthy of release particularly since the demise of both main stars.

A film from the "Swinging London" era and, like much of the output pertaining to that camp, one that feels quite dated when viewed today. It nevertheless maintains a sense of style throughout (Nicolas Roeg was the cinematographer) and the familiar plot (following the exploits of a social climber in the none-too-exciting world of high-finance – suffice to say that it is sometimes hard to discern the exact function of the various minor characters the protagonist comes into contact with!) still works thanks to the blackly comic vein in Frederic Raphael's script and Alan Bates' central performance as the cocky anti-hero. Even so, the supporting cast is just as notable – highlighting in particular Denholm Elliott (as Bates' 'tutor' in the money-making ways and whom he later callously disposes of), Millicent Martin (as the high-society girl he sets his sights on: she also sings the title number!), Harry Andrews (as the latter's father and Bates' boss), Pauline Delany (as Bates' ageing landlady and occasional fling) and James Villiers (as, typically, an upper-class twit and Martin's intended). The inherent amorality at work anticipates ALFIE (1966) in many ways (incidentally, Martin turned up here as well): though a box-office smash and a multi-Oscar nominee, I had actually found that film to be similarly overrated. The twist involving Elliott's true identity – which threatens to expose Bates for what he is, but which he still manages to turn in his favor (since the script clearly wants us to root for him) – does end proceedings on a high note in this case. For the record, this seems to be another ultra-rare title, having acquired it via a less-than-optimal copy culled from an old TV broadcast

The year before he won an Oscar for "Darling", Frederic Raphael adapted Stanley Ellin's short story "Nothing But the Best" for the screen. It was a kind of comic "Room at the Top" directed by that fine and underrated director Clive Donner and photographed by none other than Nicolas Roeg. Alan Bates is the social climbing Jimmy Brewster who does marry the boss' daughter, (Millicent Martin, very good), on his way up the ladder but still has to indulge in a spot of murder as well. It's got a terrific supporting cast that includes Denholm Elliot at his Machiavellian best as Bates' tutor in the art of social mobility, Harry Andrews as his boss and, best of all, Pauline Delaney as an over-sexed landlady. It all adds up to a delightfully sharp satire yet hardly anyone has seen it. Seek it out because, apart from anything else, it's also one of the great London films.

I haven't see this movie for years but remember loving it. It is devilishly clever and beautifully filmed, with a great cast, especially Alan Bates. I had forgotten the name of it and now that I have found it, I plan to buy it for my personal collection. Let's face it, you almost can't go wrong with a British comedy and this is one of the best.

Jimmy Brewster is London's answer to Joe Lampton.He has a few less rough edges perhaps,and is not such a blatant sexual predator,but his ambitions are the same.Like Lampton he has seen how the other half live and he wants a slice of the pie.How he pursues these ambitions and where they take him form the basis for "Nothing but the best". He befriends down-at-heel public school man Charlie Prince(Mr Denholm Elliot)who teaches him how to look,sound and behave like a gentleman,thus segueing rather neatly from "Room at the top" to "My Fair Lady". There is also an historical allusion here,Charlie Prince - Prince Charlie, Jimmy Brewster - King James,mix it up a bit,and you've got a Young Pretender supplanting the true king.Forty years down the line it's hard to say if any of this was intended,but it certainly added to my enjoyment. When Prince ,using Brewster's money,wins a fortune at the track,Brewster murders him and keeps it for himself.Now he has the last essential attribute of a gentleman,an unending supply of cash,and his new life can begin.And,of course,so it would in real life,but this is the movies(and it's 1964)and his come - uppance must,at the very least,be a strong possibility. Mr Alan Bates plays Jimmy Brewster with evident relish,enjoying a rare opportunity to display his talent for light comedy. "Nothing but the best" is a clever,literate,well acted British film. It follows then that it is hardly ever seen on TV,and,in consequence, largely forgotten.When I see that "Are you being served?"or "Confessions of a Window Cleaner" are about to be shown for the hundredth time I am reassured that the TV companies have faith in the adage that no one ever lost money underestimating public taste.