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You won't be disappointed!

Very well executed

Excellent adaptation.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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.

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.

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.

I saw this film in 1964 when it was first released; and it is still the only film that I have sat through for two consecutive showings. I thought it was brilliant, sharp and very funny. Alan Bates, then a major international star, was at his very best: funny, cynical, cold, vicious, everything the role required. The supporting cast - led by Millicent Martin, Harry Andrews, Denholm Elliott - were also superb.Jimmy Brewster (Bates) is, to use the derogatory upper-class term, "an ambitious yob", a working-class chap toiling anonymously at his desk in a large real-estate company and wanting better things, when one day he has an accidental encounter in a restaurant with Charlie Prince (Elliott), the disgraced son of Brewster's employer. As Charlie puts it, "One day a black cloud appeared in my office, and shortly after that I departed under it." Charlie is a worthless wastrel, but he has one skill: he can show Jimmy how to dress and talk properly and to be a "gentleman". The trade-off is that Jimmy will give Charlie a place to live and money for expenses. Charlie is a good teacher and Jimmy is a brilliant student, conning everyone in sight, slowly climbing the ladder to success. Then one day, Charlie asks Jimmy to lay a large bet for him - with Jimmy's money - on a horse, and the horse wins, at astronomical odds. Charlie is very much in the money again, and decides he doesn't need Jimmy any longer. But Jimmy turns the tables, does away with Charlie, and keeps the money for himself. And continues his climb up the corporate and social ladders, all the way to the top. Along the way he woos Charlie's sister, Ann (Millicent Martin), and marries her. In a memorable scene, while courting Ann, Jimmy takes her to massive country estate that is conveniently empty, pretending that it belongs to his family. Ann looks at the magnificent place, suitably impressed, smiles at Jimmy and delivers one of the best lines in the film: "Darling, how did you know my size?"And then Charlie's body is found, and perhaps the ruthless, if charming, Jimmy is about to come a-cropper. Or perhaps not.It's a brilliant film on all levels. The great tragedy is that it appears to be no longer available, on film or on video/DVD. If I could find the magic lamp, and be granted one filmic wish, "Nothing But The Best" would be in general distribution on DVD next week.