Inside The Fabian Publishing Company (The Best of Everything)

You want melodrama clothed in beautiful backdrops? Let me introduce you to The Best of Everything, a women's picture/melodrama if ever there was one, and a movie I love to watch again and again. 

gif by me

The Best of Everything follows three young professionals in New York City, all of whom work at the Fabian Publishing Company. They're Caroline (Hope Lange), Gregg (Suzy Parker), and April (Diane Baker), and their personal lives are just as dramatic as their work days. 

And, since it was released on this day in 1959, let's take a look at all the wonderful interiors. Let's dive in!

Even the title card is chic. I love that font. 

So, Fabian Publishing Company is located inside the Seagram Building, which is a mid-century landmark in New York City. 

The interiors are very Mad Men-chic. I love the colours of the office doors and how they contrast to the stark greys of the secretary pool. 

The revolving doors on the main floor. 

Here are all the imprints the Fabian Publishing Company handles. 

You can just catch a glimpse of the secretary telephone on the left-hand side of this picture. Mid-century technology is equally as fascinating to me. 

Of course the fashion editor's office has a salmon pink door. 

It's a chic office, and you know already that Caroline's aspiring to one day have an office of her own. 

The art director has an olive green door...

...and his office décor is more stark and masculine in comparison. 

And Mr. Rice, the editor-in-chief, has the biggest office of all, plus a rotary book rack with all of their titles. 

The secretary pool arriving. I love that blue, green and yellow shirtwaist dress; and the lady with the grey dress in the front right.  

Office life, amirite? 

A look at the kitchen/break room. 

More slices of office life. The lady in red is totally checked out. 

The slate blue décor and styling... They all either blend in or complement it.

Miss Farrow's office may be my favourite set in this movie. She's played by Joan Crawford. 

It's just cluttered enough, with interesting art, and books everywhere. 

More manuscripts on the shelf behind her. 

And Caroline's getting used to the bullpen of secretaries. 

Again, I love the concept of that carousel bookholder behind her. 

And that clock. 

There's a restaurant on the main level of their building, perfectly mid-century in colour and décor. 

This is the interior of Mr. Rice's office. Two telephones! 

And salmon and red accent pieces. 

This is Caroline's room, and it looks just about like what I'd imagine a '50s girl's bedroom would look like. Love the accent lamp and the wallpaper. 

I thank God that I don't have to work every day on a typewriter. That clickety-clacking would get annoying very fast. 

Caroline goes over to Gregg's and April's (co-workers) for dinner and drinks. Now this apartment is chic. I love the soft colours and the pops of mint and pink. 

Plus, more books scattered around. I love the yellow in the kitchen/dining area. 

Eventually, they all decide to live together, so Caroline moves in. 

I love the gingham yellow tablecloth, and the black telephone on the table. 

One of the (very pink) bedrooms. It's so soft and feminine, and that poster of Paris on the wall adds to the vibe. 

Gregg in one of the other bedrooms, filled with playbills and newspapers to show her real career aspirations: she wants to be an actor. 

Another angle on the dining room area. My grandparents had a wall shelving unit like that, though it wasn't decorated with stuffed animals. 

Plus, more books! 

Miss Farrow's cluttered desk, with a rose pink teacup and saucer. I love Joan's necklace. 

This is Mike Rice, he works at the Fabian Publishing Company too, and he's attracted to Caroline. He's at the same bar she and a blind date happen to be at, and when Caroline needs rescuing, guess who's poised to step in? 

(And besides, I love a good bar set-up.)

Caroline and Mike escape to his apartment, where they proceed to get totally plastered. She ends up spending the night, but nothing happens. His apartment is also filled with books and manuscripts and is cluttered in the way a literary type's would be. 

Here they are at the water cooler the next morning, Caroline is totally hungover. It's another angle at the secretary pool, too. 

Meanwhile, Gregg's at a dinner party hosted by Miss Farrow (she's practically the only person Joan's character likes). They both look so elegant in shades of red. Miss Farrow's apartment is plain except for the pops of red and orange and the (unfortunate) décor choices. 

Here's a view of her kitchen, which is (like all kitchens in the '50s?) blue. 

Gregg takes off with her director, David, who shows up to spring her from Miss Farrow's apartment. 

They take off while Miss Farrow's still in the kitchen and alight with some liquor for their après-diner escapades. 

What does a pretentious director's apartment look like? Here's one side of it... 

...and here's the other. 

Miss Farrow matches the wall. 

Meanwhile, the naïve April finds herself in hot water with a spoiled rich boy named Dexter, who only wants her so they can have sex. 

What does a spoiled playboy's apartment look like? There's one side of it... 

...and there's the other. 

At a wedding, April discovers that she's pregnant by Dexter. 

All of the décor in the home is very charming, by the way. 

Caroline and Mike at the apartment after dark. Still soft, and I love that palm tree painting under the lamp. 

My grandparents had throw pillows like that. They were super comfy (but sometimes left a button impression on your face depending on how long you laid on one)! 

Back to Gregg and back to David's apartment. This time, though...she's sneaking in. The play she'd been cast in? She lost the part because she wasn't that good of an actress, but she's still obsessed with him. Now we see more of a stuffy director's apartment from one side... 

...and another. 

Here's his sparse bedroom. 

And here he is, escorting her out. Louis Jourdan, man. What a run of douche characters he played! 

Here's another glimpse of the front room of the girls' apartment. I love the styling so much, and the idea of having a bay window in my house someday (pipe dream if ever I heard one!). 

Because I love cityscapes, too, here's the exterior of Caroline, Gregg, and April's apartment. It looks lively and charming. It'd be fun to sit on a fire escape or the roof and listen to the city around you. 

Their little kitchenette area is hidden by a rose pink curtain, an idea I love (if ever I live somewhere with a kitchenette in lieu of a full-blown kitchen).

Back to the office, and a side of Miss Farrow's office we haven't seen before. Of course, it's covered in more books. 

Another glimpse of Gregg's room. I love that couch print! 

Gregg and April have a meal together one last time, and we get a glimpse inside the kitchenette from this angle. 

If you're worried about April and Dexter, don't be: she was pregnant and nearly tricked into getting an abortion, but when she got distraught over being tricked by him (he tricked her into thinking they were getting married until she got in the car and he started driving), she leapt from the car and lost the baby. Now she's dating a physician who was taking care of her. 

Here she is with Caroline. Neither know that this is the last time they'll see her alive. 

More knick-knacks on the shelf behind Gregg. 

Speaking of Caroline, she's meeting with her ex-fiancé, Eddie. In an earlier picture, before she moved in with Gregg and April, his photo is on her desk. They were engaged but he left her to marry another woman. 

Now he's back in town and wanted to meet her. Caroline thinks it's to tell her that he's breaking it off with his wife and wants to get back together with her. But Eddie's actually there to ask her to be a mistress. 

All this is happening on the same night that Gregg goes back to David's apartment one last time, and then, spooked that she's about to be caught again, falls from the fire escape to her death. 

On the professional front, Caroline gets Miss Farrow's job, for a brief moment, after the latter leaves to get married. Here she is in her new office, that's still chaotically organized, but slightly less so than that of her predecessor's. 

But it doesn't last long: Miss Farrow's marriage falls apart very quickly and she's back to her old job in no time (which Caroline happily relinquishes). 

As she leaves (note the black hat for mourning Gregg), she runs into Mike outside and they, presumably, rekindle their relationship. 

THE END!

I took all the screencaps in this post.

Read the Apartment Therapy posts for Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Ladies Man, Bachelor in Paradise, Pillow Talk, Any Wednesday, The Thrill of It All!, Critic's Choice, Gidget, and Boys' Night Out!