"The Long Gray Line" (1955), directed by John Ford, is the real life story about an Irish immigrant named Martin Maher (played by Tyrone Power) who comes to West Point, the United States Military Academy, in 1898 in search of work. Starting as a dishwasher who eventually enlists the army in order to get better treatment, Martin ends up becoming an athletics instructor, a non-commissioned officer, husband to an immigrant cook also from Ireland (played by Maureen O'Hara), and a childless father to dozens of cadets brought to adulthood at West Point during a career of 50 years. The story unfolds as a lengthy flashback sequence which is framed by Martin in his 70's meeting the President, a West Point graduate and a personal friend, about his approaching retirement which Martin is not too happy about given that West Point is all he has.
Legendary director John Ford's first film in CinemaScope, "The Long Gray Line" may at first glance give the impression of patriotic grandiose and visual flamboyance. Such magnitude certainly echoes in some of the film's shots of the titular gray lines of cadets and especially the nostalgic opening shot of graduates-to-be singing the hymn "The Corps." However, this is really not the case when it comes to the whole of the picture. On the contrary, "The Long Gray Line" might just be one of Ford's smallest, most understated, films in terms of tone and style.
Ford seems to turn the typical visual language of the newly established CinemaScope aspect ratio, practically created for grand horizontal landscape shots, into a poetics of everyday life and private emotions. An astonishing quality of calmness characterizes the entire film, creating a sense of reminiscence emanating from the frame story. Ford's editing rhythm is remarkably slow with some scenes executed with barely more than one shot. Typically for the CinemaScope format, Ford prefers larger shot scales to close-ups and he prioritizes two-shot compositions to shot-reverse-shot sequences commonly used for scenes with a lot of dialogue in films of the time with a narrower aspect ratio.
Consider, for an example, the scene where Martin demands a straight answer from the red-haired female cook named Mary who has not said one word to him despite there being a definite spark of mutual interest between the two. The scene concludes with their first kiss which marks a turning point from the courtship of the story to their relationship. The scene lasts for roughly four minutes and it has been executed with just three shots: the first is a two-shot of Martin and Mary sitting on a porch bench and it lasts just below two minutes; the second two-shot provides a brief broader view of the porch with both of them standing up from the bench and it lasts roughly ten seconds; the third is a two-shot that shows the pair on the porch stairs and it lasts for a minute and a half. There is a moment in the last shot of the scene where Mary points outside the screen space to a place that could be theirs one day, reaffirming the certainty of her feelings toward Martin despite her initial lack of communication, but Ford resists the convention to cut to a reverse point of view shot of the place. The camera remains on the amorous couple, placing an emphasis on their feelings and their hopes for the future rather than what is actually there.
The film is filled with wonderfully executed moments like these. A scene where Martin and Mary look at the cadets from a hospital window after a personal tragedy has hit them, again executed with just two two-shots and a resistance to cut to a reverse point of view shot, is utterly unsentimental and non-melodramatic. The absence of the youth they are gazing at and the presence of a line of shadow that cuts across Martin's face, looking away from Mary, say more than the dialogue.
It is in scenes like these where the film's heart lies. Ford harnesses the CinemaScope aesthetics into a mature language of intimacy. In line with such an approach, it is only appropriate that "The Long Gray Line" also comes across as an untypical biopic. Rather than being a portrayal of a great man of military history, the film is very much the tale of an ordinary man who happened to end up at the military, started there as an outsider, but then the place became his whole life. Regardless of whether this corresponds to the actual life of the real Martin Maher, it is the story that interests Ford. This aspect of ordinariness, coincidence, and the emotions that go with them also give the film a universal appeal beyond the sub-genre of military training films. "The Long Gray Line" is characterized by a deep wisdom about such a life, with its tragedies of loss and triumphs of unexpected joys, whose unannounced greatness Ford's picture celebrates.
Legendary director John Ford's first film in CinemaScope, "The Long Gray Line" may at first glance give the impression of patriotic grandiose and visual flamboyance. Such magnitude certainly echoes in some of the film's shots of the titular gray lines of cadets and especially the nostalgic opening shot of graduates-to-be singing the hymn "The Corps." However, this is really not the case when it comes to the whole of the picture. On the contrary, "The Long Gray Line" might just be one of Ford's smallest, most understated, films in terms of tone and style.
Ford seems to turn the typical visual language of the newly established CinemaScope aspect ratio, practically created for grand horizontal landscape shots, into a poetics of everyday life and private emotions. An astonishing quality of calmness characterizes the entire film, creating a sense of reminiscence emanating from the frame story. Ford's editing rhythm is remarkably slow with some scenes executed with barely more than one shot. Typically for the CinemaScope format, Ford prefers larger shot scales to close-ups and he prioritizes two-shot compositions to shot-reverse-shot sequences commonly used for scenes with a lot of dialogue in films of the time with a narrower aspect ratio.
Consider, for an example, the scene where Martin demands a straight answer from the red-haired female cook named Mary who has not said one word to him despite there being a definite spark of mutual interest between the two. The scene concludes with their first kiss which marks a turning point from the courtship of the story to their relationship. The scene lasts for roughly four minutes and it has been executed with just three shots: the first is a two-shot of Martin and Mary sitting on a porch bench and it lasts just below two minutes; the second two-shot provides a brief broader view of the porch with both of them standing up from the bench and it lasts roughly ten seconds; the third is a two-shot that shows the pair on the porch stairs and it lasts for a minute and a half. There is a moment in the last shot of the scene where Mary points outside the screen space to a place that could be theirs one day, reaffirming the certainty of her feelings toward Martin despite her initial lack of communication, but Ford resists the convention to cut to a reverse point of view shot of the place. The camera remains on the amorous couple, placing an emphasis on their feelings and their hopes for the future rather than what is actually there.
The film is filled with wonderfully executed moments like these. A scene where Martin and Mary look at the cadets from a hospital window after a personal tragedy has hit them, again executed with just two two-shots and a resistance to cut to a reverse point of view shot, is utterly unsentimental and non-melodramatic. The absence of the youth they are gazing at and the presence of a line of shadow that cuts across Martin's face, looking away from Mary, say more than the dialogue.
It is in scenes like these where the film's heart lies. Ford harnesses the CinemaScope aesthetics into a mature language of intimacy. In line with such an approach, it is only appropriate that "The Long Gray Line" also comes across as an untypical biopic. Rather than being a portrayal of a great man of military history, the film is very much the tale of an ordinary man who happened to end up at the military, started there as an outsider, but then the place became his whole life. Regardless of whether this corresponds to the actual life of the real Martin Maher, it is the story that interests Ford. This aspect of ordinariness, coincidence, and the emotions that go with them also give the film a universal appeal beyond the sub-genre of military training films. "The Long Gray Line" is characterized by a deep wisdom about such a life, with its tragedies of loss and triumphs of unexpected joys, whose unannounced greatness Ford's picture celebrates.