The Best of Everything

Caroline Bender, a recent Radcliffe College graduate, is hired as a secretary at Fabian Publishing Company. She begins working under Amanda Farrow, a bitter editor who resents Caroline and suspects she wants Farrow's job. The hire marks the start of a tense, gendered power dynamic in the office.

Amanda is having an affair with a married man, and her professional demeanor is steeped in insecurity and jealousy. She resents Caroline as a potential rival and questions her ambition to rise in the company. The atmosphere in the office grows charged with manipulation and rivalry.

Caroline meets two other junior staffers, April Morrison and Gregg Adams, in the typing pool. They invite her to share their tiny apartment since she commutes from Connecticut. The trio's dynamic becomes a recurring backdrop for both friendship and competition.

Caroline's fiancé Eddie Harris marries another woman, triggering a cascade of romantic misadventures. At her mothers' arrangement, Caroline goes on a blind date with Paul Landers. The date leaves her unsettled and sets up later complications in her love life.

After the date, Caroline and coworker Mike Rice drink and end up at his apartment. She falls asleep there and fears they may have slept together. The next morning, Mike reassures her that nothing happened.

Caroline adds her own editorial comments to manuscripts, showing initiative and insight. Shalimar notices her potential and promotes her to the role of manuscript reader. The promotion signals Caroline's rising ambitions within the publishing house.

When Caroline thanks Farrow for recommending her as a reader, Farrow confesses she advised Shalimar not to promote her. The revelation exposes a hidden rift and complicates Caroline's ascent. It foreshadows fragile loyalties at the top of the ladder.

Mike disparages Caroline's ambition, advising her to seek marriage rather than a career. His cynicism reflects the era's gendered expectations and puts pressure on Caroline's professional goals. The conversation underscores the ongoing tension between romance and career in her life.

April Morrison is assigned to work for editor-in-chief Mr. Shalimar, who uses late-night hours to pursue her. When she resists, he persists, revealing the toxic sexual politics of the office. The situation adds another layer of danger for the young women in the company.

At an alcohol-fueled office party, Mr. Shalimar makes sexual overtures to Barbara Lamont. Sidney Carter intervenes after he overhears her protests. Shalimar shows no remorse and implies that Barbara should expect such behavior from male colleagues.

Gregg Adams is cast in a play and begins an affair with its director, David Savage. She is demoted when she flubs her lines and becomes consumed by the relationship. After David ends the affair, Gregg stalks him; during a chaotic moment on the street, she panics and falls to her death when her high-heeled shoe gets caught in a fire grate.

April begins dating Dexter Key, a playboy who pressures her to have sex. When she becomes pregnant, he tricks her into agreeing to elope and take her to a doctor for an abortion. Distraught, April leaps from a moving car, suffers a miscarriage, and is hospitalized, later forming a bond with her attending physician.

While in New York on business, Eddie Harris dines with Caroline and hints at leaving his wife. He returns to the hotel later and reveals he has no intention of divorcing, wanting Caroline to be his mistress. This encounter crushes Caroline's hopes of a stable, exclusive romance with him.

When Farrow quits her job to marry and move to St. Louis, Caroline temporarily takes over her duties. Later, Farrow returns to New York after the marriage falls apart and says she no longer has enough to give, signaling another shift in power at Fabian. Caroline's position becomes unsettled once again.

Leaving the office, Caroline bumps into Mike on the street and removes her hat, locking eyes with him. They walk away together, and the film ends on a note of fragile romance between them. The final image ties together Caroline's career and personal life in a hopeful, uncertain balance.