If you start out watching The Long Gray Line and think it's a silly comedy, keep watching. This touching biopic of Martin Maher, a man who spent fifty years at West Point, gets better, I promise.
Tyrone Power stars as the Irish immigrant who, upon his coming to America, immediately goes to West Point for a job as a dishwasher. He keeps breaking plates, which come out of his paycheck, so he joins the army to avoid paying damages. I know, it sounds silly. And when he first sees Maureen O'Hara, they both give each other cow eyes and forget how to speak-which is equally silly. Once Tyrone and Maureen get married, the movie turns into a serious drama. I've seen a lot of Tyrone Power movies, and while he's pretty inoffensive, I've never thought of him as an especially strong actor. In The Long Gray Line, he shows his hidden talents. He gives an excellent performance, developing his character and keeping his memories on the surface as he ages. Without giving the story away, I'll just say the film gets more touching as it continues. You might need a Kleenex.
Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Robert Francis, Philip Carey, Patrick Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Peter Graves, William Leslie, and Harry Carey Jr. support Tyrone in smaller roles, each of them memorable and vital to the story. Some are family, some are fellow soldiers, but all show the impact one man had on the many different generations that came to West Point. If you like military biopics or Tyrone Power, you're not going to want to miss this one.
Tyrone Power stars as the Irish immigrant who, upon his coming to America, immediately goes to West Point for a job as a dishwasher. He keeps breaking plates, which come out of his paycheck, so he joins the army to avoid paying damages. I know, it sounds silly. And when he first sees Maureen O'Hara, they both give each other cow eyes and forget how to speak-which is equally silly. Once Tyrone and Maureen get married, the movie turns into a serious drama. I've seen a lot of Tyrone Power movies, and while he's pretty inoffensive, I've never thought of him as an especially strong actor. In The Long Gray Line, he shows his hidden talents. He gives an excellent performance, developing his character and keeping his memories on the surface as he ages. Without giving the story away, I'll just say the film gets more touching as it continues. You might need a Kleenex.
Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Robert Francis, Philip Carey, Patrick Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Peter Graves, William Leslie, and Harry Carey Jr. support Tyrone in smaller roles, each of them memorable and vital to the story. Some are family, some are fellow soldiers, but all show the impact one man had on the many different generations that came to West Point. If you like military biopics or Tyrone Power, you're not going to want to miss this one.