Threads - BLU-RAY

Sydney Pollack's feature-film debut deals with a woman, played by Anne Bancroft (THE GRADUATE), who takes an overdose of prescription pills and calls a crisis clinic for help. Sidney Poitier (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT), plays a college volunteer who tries to keep the suicidal woman on the line while asking the police to trace the call. Stirling Silliphant (THE TOWERING INFERNO) wrote the screenplay based upon an actual incident reported in Time Magazine. THE SLENDER THREAD boasts a strong supporting cast featuring Telly Savalas, Steven Hill, Ed Asner and Dabney Coleman, with a rousing score by Quincy Jones (THE GETAWAY) and great black-and-white cinematography by Loyal Griggs (Shane).

Rod Serling's tale of ruthless men and ambitious women clawing for control of a billion dollar empire first aired in Jan 1955 on Kraft Television Theater. The hard-hitting teleplay was such a success, earning Serling instant acclaim and the first of his six Emmy awards, that producers Jed Harris and Michael Myerberg helmed a big screen feature with the same director (Fielder Cook) and most of the same cast for United Artists. The result was an acid-etched chronicle of the cutthroat corporate world starring Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, and Ed Begley, with cinematography by Oscar winner Boris Kaufman (On The Waterfront, 12 Angry Men). This is boardroom bloodletting, the American way!

This incisive social drama boasts a screenplay by Rod Serling that was previously produced as a 1955 episode of InchKraft Television TheatreInch with much of the same cast. Fred Staples (Van Heflin) is a young and ambitious industrial engineer who finds his ethics put to the test when his ruthless boss (Everett Sloane) taps him to replace an aging executive (Ed Begley). Beatrice Straight, Elizabeth Wilson also star. 83 min. Standard; Soundtrack English.