The office scenes really remind me of the office layout in Mad Men. Even down to the fonts used on the doors and the typrwriter covers that were used.
MM is set in 1960 so I guess they got it just right. I'll bet this picture was part of the research....
Probably not. This movie is set in the 50's, MM in the 60's. Any office, be that New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, St Louis or LA in the time period was virtually all the same. Watch any movie of the period you'll see the same. Look at How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - you'll see the same.
shareMM may not have borrowed the sets but they borrowed everything else. MM reeks of Best of Everything. Different times - -4 years? Different industries--Publishing versus advertising? Come on. It's so obvious. No one calls them on it 'cause no one has ever seen Best of Everything. But I bet Mr Weiner has seen it...more than once.
shareThey actual make reference to The Best Of Everything in Season one episode six of Mad Men
shareYes, Don Draper is looking at a paperback of the Rona Jaffe novel which his wife Betty is probably reading and they have a conversation about Joan Crawford in the movie. MM reminded me quite a bit of The Best of Everything.
shareHow true!
shareMM is set in 1960 so I guess they got it just right. I'll bet this picture was part of the research....
Probably not
I had exactly the same response to the set. I also felt the same about the way office relationships are portrayed, so formal when addressing one another and then so sexist behind the women's backs. As for BOE & MM being set in different times: BOE was made in 1959 and the first season of MM took place in 1960, hardly different times.
shareI'm sure it was an inspiration, along with a few other movies. This movie was released in '59 and Mad Men begins in '60, so not a lot of difference. As soon as this movie started I thought Ah, ha! MM.
I had the same thought too the first time I saw this movie. My guess is that Matt Weiner sat down with the production design team, showed them the first glimpse of the office, and said, "re-create this on our set." The Sterling Cooper office in the first season is a little smaller than the publishers office in "The Best of Everything," but it's the same/similar furniture, and the fonts are identical.
Most offices don't get new furniture every year, so you have to figure that many offices will keep the furniture for multiple years, hence an office in 1960 having a very 1950s look to it.
"Forget reality, give me a picture"-Remington Steele
If TBOE didn't exist Mad Men would look just the same. That's how styish offices looked in the late 50's and early 60's. You can see it in movies, tv shows (like Bewitched) and print ads.
"Who put the pineapple juice in my pineapple juice?"
mad men stole a lot from this movie and does it really poorly
I'm taking my talents to South Beach.
I completely agree that Mad Men borrows heavily from The Best of Everything. The set is strikingly similar. For another thing, I have always thought that Peggy was modeled as a young version of Amanda Farrow. As I have watched Mad Men, I have always known that she's basically going to succeed because what they were showing us was how Amanda Farrow made it to her position in TBOE. It's hilarious that only Matthew Weiner and those of use who have seen The Best of Everything know this. I also think that Joan borrows heavily from Greg (Suzy Parker).
At least there will be plenty implied.
Yes, the two sets are nearly identical (despite this popular look for offices of the time in NYC). Best of Everything is a definite MM inspiration...but I've often thought that Mad Men was simply "Bewitched" played as drama without the magic element. Don is Darrin, Roger is Larry, Betty is Samantha (look alikes)...etc.
shareThanks for the post, I enjoy MM.
If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world
You were on to something back in 2008!!!
In a 2015 Vanity Fair interview with Matthew Weiner, he lists movies that he made the cast and crew watch. TBOE is one of those movies.
Here's the article. http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/mad-men-matthew-weiner-movies