I've been humbled! I thought of myself as a movie buff. This one slipped past me. I'm a fan of Ford and everyone in this movie. I must admit I had never heard of this movie. Terrific story telling! The music brought back a lot of memories. The old saying "they don't make 'em like that anymore" certainly applies to this one. Telling a good story and characters you care about is more important than spending $100 million. Some of our current film makers could learn from this movie. You can entertain people sitting around a camp fire telling stories. Just tell a good one and make them care. I'll be adding this film to my library!
50 Reviews
Irish heartbeats
dbdumonteil26 July 2007
Although the film has a running time of two hours+ ,for it tells the story of a man's entire life ,from his enlistment (and even before) to his old age,there is never a dull moment .
John Ford was one of the most wonderful storytellers that ever was.The first part of the film is made of trivia,but everything is endearing ,moving .Take the dad's and the brother's arrival:no syrupy violins and choirs needed: the Irish are doing Mary's cooking justice and they are not in a hurry to hug Marty.The same goes for Marty/Mary when they fall in love:what could be more down to earth than this kitchen ?And however something vibrates ,as the love they all feel for the country they left behind.
The second part deals with wars and if the tone has changed ,the spirit remains intact:what could be more prosaic than burning Mary's toilet to celebrate the end of WW?Although the hero experiments tragedy ,Ford always avoids pathos and melodrama: the child's death during the celebration is given a sober treatment.Mary's passing is perhaps the most beautiful scene in the whole movie,being Fordesque to the core (remember the death of the mother in "three godfathers") and her fleeting reappearance at the very end of the movie is not irrelevant.
A life is made of small joys and big griefs.
John Ford was one of the most wonderful storytellers that ever was.The first part of the film is made of trivia,but everything is endearing ,moving .Take the dad's and the brother's arrival:no syrupy violins and choirs needed: the Irish are doing Mary's cooking justice and they are not in a hurry to hug Marty.The same goes for Marty/Mary when they fall in love:what could be more down to earth than this kitchen ?And however something vibrates ,as the love they all feel for the country they left behind.
The second part deals with wars and if the tone has changed ,the spirit remains intact:what could be more prosaic than burning Mary's toilet to celebrate the end of WW?Although the hero experiments tragedy ,Ford always avoids pathos and melodrama: the child's death during the celebration is given a sober treatment.Mary's passing is perhaps the most beautiful scene in the whole movie,being Fordesque to the core (remember the death of the mother in "three godfathers") and her fleeting reappearance at the very end of the movie is not irrelevant.
A life is made of small joys and big griefs.
good movie
KyleFurr224 September 2005
This is a very underrated movie from John Ford and a lot of Ford fans don't think much of it. It's not considered one of his best movies and this came out the same year as Mister Roberts. The movie starts out with Tyrone Power coming to America from Ireland and winds up washing dishes at West Point. Power hates washing dishes at gets a better job at West Point as an assistant to Ward Bond, who is head of the athletic department. The movie starts in the year 1911 and has a brief overview of his life at West Point until the 1950's. Power winds up getting married to Maureen O'Hara, who is a maid to Bond, and Power wants to go back to Ireland because of his family. It's a great movie and doesn't even seem that long at over two hours long.
One of Ford's Finest!!!
tuffy-jo7 February 2003
If you like Irish character studies you'll love this movie. This movie follows in flash back 50 years in the true-life story of Irish immigrant Martin Maher. Tyrone Power plays Martin wonderfully. When Martin arrives in America he takes a civilian waiter job at the US Military Academy at West Point. Docked for "breakage", he joins the Army and works at several different jobs at the Point. The last job being assistant to the "Master of the Sword" played by the very versatile Ford stock company player (Ward Bond). At West Point, Martin meets and marries the love of his life Mary O'Donnell marvelously brought to life by Maureen O'Hara. Martin and Mary setup housekeeping and are able to bring Martin's father Old Martin (Donald Crisp) and brother Dinny to America. When Old Martin first meets Mary he is impressed when he asks if she still `Has the Irish' and she is able to speak in Gaelic.
As the movie unfolds you will really care about Martin, Mary, old Martin and the cadets Martin helps through the Academy. Due to talent of the director John Ford and cast, the characters appear to be real people--not just a bunch of actors who made a movie. You'll be fascinated by the class "The Stars Fell On " (graduating class of Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, etc.) This movie will stir up patriotic feelings, but also shows the high cost of war. You will smile and just might shed a tear before this one is over. You will not regret the time spent with Martin Maher--and may find yourself thinking about this movie for a long time after you see it. This is indeed, one of Pappy Ford's finest.
As the movie unfolds you will really care about Martin, Mary, old Martin and the cadets Martin helps through the Academy. Due to talent of the director John Ford and cast, the characters appear to be real people--not just a bunch of actors who made a movie. You'll be fascinated by the class "The Stars Fell On " (graduating class of Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, etc.) This movie will stir up patriotic feelings, but also shows the high cost of war. You will smile and just might shed a tear before this one is over. You will not regret the time spent with Martin Maher--and may find yourself thinking about this movie for a long time after you see it. This is indeed, one of Pappy Ford's finest.
Surprisingly touching biopic
HotToastyRag17 May 2018
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.
It took him 40 years or so to get the hang of it.
bkoganbing8 July 2005
Sergeant Martin Maher is in to see President Eisenhower who he knew back in the day when Ike was a West Point Cadet. The army wants to mandatorily retire him. So as Marty pleads his case before the country's most famous West Point Graduate, we're flashed back to the day as a fresh Irish immigrant he arrives at West Point to work as a waiter in their mess.
And the rest of the film is taken up with the telling of Martin Maher's remarkable story which he wrote in a book entitled Bringing Up the Brass on which this film is based. The subject is a can't miss project for John Ford with two of his dearest loves involved, Irish and military tradition.
Tyrone Power who had played in lots of costume pictures as the dashing hero at his home studio of 20th Century Fox, got a chance to do a real character part here. His skill as a player makes us completely believe that he ages during the film from his twenties to his seventies. Of course makeup helped, but I doubt if certain actors could have brought it off.
Maureen O'Hara matches Power equally as Mary O'Donnell the fresh and fiery colleen who marries him. Her relationship with John Ford as she tells in her recent memoirs had its ups and downs, but she respected his talent and gives one of her best acted roles. And O'Hara adored Tyrone Power, she says of him he was a tease at times, loved to play practical jokes, but a fine man and a thorough professional at his job.
The supporting cast is the usual familiar faces in a John Ford production. I would have to single out Ward Bond as the head of West Point's Athletic Department who Power goes to work for as the best of the group. Also note Donald Crisp as Power's father, one of Crisp's best screen parts.
Tyrone Power was very proud of this film, it was a personal favorite and he and John Ford wanted to work together again. They did, but only with Power's voice providing the narration for an anthology film of three Irish stories in The Rising of the Moon in 1957. Tyrone Power's sudden and tragic death in 1958 put an end to what might have been a great actor/director collaboration.
At the beginning of the flashback, Power tells the actor playing Ike that it took him forty years or so to get the hang of the army. At the end he says that now everything he's ever known and loved is in that institution known as West Point. As Power says it, I defy anyone to remain dry eyed.
And the rest of the film is taken up with the telling of Martin Maher's remarkable story which he wrote in a book entitled Bringing Up the Brass on which this film is based. The subject is a can't miss project for John Ford with two of his dearest loves involved, Irish and military tradition.
Tyrone Power who had played in lots of costume pictures as the dashing hero at his home studio of 20th Century Fox, got a chance to do a real character part here. His skill as a player makes us completely believe that he ages during the film from his twenties to his seventies. Of course makeup helped, but I doubt if certain actors could have brought it off.
Maureen O'Hara matches Power equally as Mary O'Donnell the fresh and fiery colleen who marries him. Her relationship with John Ford as she tells in her recent memoirs had its ups and downs, but she respected his talent and gives one of her best acted roles. And O'Hara adored Tyrone Power, she says of him he was a tease at times, loved to play practical jokes, but a fine man and a thorough professional at his job.
The supporting cast is the usual familiar faces in a John Ford production. I would have to single out Ward Bond as the head of West Point's Athletic Department who Power goes to work for as the best of the group. Also note Donald Crisp as Power's father, one of Crisp's best screen parts.
Tyrone Power was very proud of this film, it was a personal favorite and he and John Ford wanted to work together again. They did, but only with Power's voice providing the narration for an anthology film of three Irish stories in The Rising of the Moon in 1957. Tyrone Power's sudden and tragic death in 1958 put an end to what might have been a great actor/director collaboration.
At the beginning of the flashback, Power tells the actor playing Ike that it took him forty years or so to get the hang of the army. At the end he says that now everything he's ever known and loved is in that institution known as West Point. As Power says it, I defy anyone to remain dry eyed.
Bringing up the brass
TheLittleSongbird7 August 2020
The mix of biography, comedy and drama interested me. There are many films where comedy and drama balance well together, but when biography is included in the mix too it is dependent on who is being depicted. Have said more than once about liking John Ford a lot, especially for 'The Quiet Man' and a lot of his Westerns. Tyrone Power is not one of my favourite actors, but he did show more than once that he could give good performances and the supporting cast that includes Maureen O'Hara and Donald Crisp promises a lot.
From personal view though, 'The Long Gray Line' was another case of promising more than delivering. Not in a very bad way, as it's not bad at all and has a fair share of good things. 'The Long Gray Line' more an uneven film, with it getting better as it went on after a deceptively not so good start. Well made and acted in particular but the script and story could have done with more work and been more consistent, it's not a misfire for Ford but it's not one of his must sees. Nor is it quite one of his worst, 'Tobacco Road' for example was worse and 'The Long Gray Line' felt more like it was directed by Ford.
A lot of great things can be seen here. The best asset to me was the acting. Power is excellent, while knowing that he could do comedy and quite well (and he shows that here) he really stretches his dramatic acting chops here as well and in an authoritative and moving way. O'Hara is alluring and looks as if she was having fun in her role, being at ease with her role. Crisp is in the type of role he played well and plays the role with ease. Ford's direction is much better here than in 'Tobacco Road', it's still not inspired as such but there is more of his recognisable style here and he seemed more involved and opened up. The film looks great, especially the photography which is at its best gorgeous. The costumes are handsome enough and the settings don't look phony. The music has jauntiness and elegance.
Moreover, Ford directs with an expert hand. He doesn't seem uncomfortable with the material, nor is he uninterested in it, even if it is not some of his most inspired. The script does have intelligent moments, when the film gets going a good deal of it is quite touching and even though there is a strong sentiment it is not too over-powering. And the characters at least feel like real people.
However, 'The Long Gray Line' doesn't start off all that promisingly. There is more of a comedic tone and the comedy is not particularly funny and can feel a bit corny and try hard. Some of the dialogue early on is banal and doesn't always flow.
Story-wise, it is a case of starting off dully and in a forced way but gets better if stuck with. It would have been even better if the storytelling wasn't as conventional and took more risks.
Concluding, worth seeing but not an essential. 7/10
From personal view though, 'The Long Gray Line' was another case of promising more than delivering. Not in a very bad way, as it's not bad at all and has a fair share of good things. 'The Long Gray Line' more an uneven film, with it getting better as it went on after a deceptively not so good start. Well made and acted in particular but the script and story could have done with more work and been more consistent, it's not a misfire for Ford but it's not one of his must sees. Nor is it quite one of his worst, 'Tobacco Road' for example was worse and 'The Long Gray Line' felt more like it was directed by Ford.
A lot of great things can be seen here. The best asset to me was the acting. Power is excellent, while knowing that he could do comedy and quite well (and he shows that here) he really stretches his dramatic acting chops here as well and in an authoritative and moving way. O'Hara is alluring and looks as if she was having fun in her role, being at ease with her role. Crisp is in the type of role he played well and plays the role with ease. Ford's direction is much better here than in 'Tobacco Road', it's still not inspired as such but there is more of his recognisable style here and he seemed more involved and opened up. The film looks great, especially the photography which is at its best gorgeous. The costumes are handsome enough and the settings don't look phony. The music has jauntiness and elegance.
Moreover, Ford directs with an expert hand. He doesn't seem uncomfortable with the material, nor is he uninterested in it, even if it is not some of his most inspired. The script does have intelligent moments, when the film gets going a good deal of it is quite touching and even though there is a strong sentiment it is not too over-powering. And the characters at least feel like real people.
However, 'The Long Gray Line' doesn't start off all that promisingly. There is more of a comedic tone and the comedy is not particularly funny and can feel a bit corny and try hard. Some of the dialogue early on is banal and doesn't always flow.
Story-wise, it is a case of starting off dully and in a forced way but gets better if stuck with. It would have been even better if the storytelling wasn't as conventional and took more risks.
Concluding, worth seeing but not an essential. 7/10
Excellent movie, but I'm biased
rhubby14 December 2005
First of all, I must admit I am biased. My mom went to college with Marty Maher's niece, Maggie. However, as another reviewer pointed out, this is John Ford at his best, with Tyrone Power playing the part of John Wayne.
Although I do like Wayne, this part called for a better actor, and Ford cast Power brilliantly.
I also can usually smell bad Irish accents from miles off (don't get me started on all of those awful 'irish spring' commercials), but Power sounds like Frank McCourt was coaching him.
The main points of the story are fact based, but some of the events at the end were rearranged to flow better in the movie.
Overall, for John Ford fans, this one is a 'don't miss'!
Although I do like Wayne, this part called for a better actor, and Ford cast Power brilliantly.
I also can usually smell bad Irish accents from miles off (don't get me started on all of those awful 'irish spring' commercials), but Power sounds like Frank McCourt was coaching him.
The main points of the story are fact based, but some of the events at the end were rearranged to flow better in the movie.
Overall, for John Ford fans, this one is a 'don't miss'!
The Unannounced Greatness of "The Long Gray Line"
ilpohirvonen18 March 2021
"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.
The Long Gray Wonderful Line
edwagreen14 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
One of the best pictures ever starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara.
Marty Maher comes to West Point and the years just pile on. We see Marty learn the ropes and become a leader among men.
He marries his Mary O'Donnell who acts mute at first. O'Hara is just a joy to watch on the screen.
Their life at the Point is difficult but ever so fulfilling. There is sadness when their child dies at birth and when war comes, Marty's best friend is killed, leaving a widow (Betsy Palmer) and young son. Of course, the son will go to the Point.
Tyrone Power is just fabulous here with a superb Irish accent and emotional appeal as Marty. O'Hara, in an excellent performance, succumbs years later to heart disease, leaving her beloved Marty all
alone.
The supporting cast is fine. Veteran Oscar winner Donald Crisp is wonderful as the father and Palmer is memorable in the scene where her son says to her: "It has been a wonderful day for Marty." Her reply, "It has been a wonderful life for Marty!" How poignant.
A great movie pulling out all the stops. Well worth the handkerchiefs that the viewer will need. Rest in peace Betsy Palmer: Yours was a wonderful career.
Marty Maher comes to West Point and the years just pile on. We see Marty learn the ropes and become a leader among men.
He marries his Mary O'Donnell who acts mute at first. O'Hara is just a joy to watch on the screen.
Their life at the Point is difficult but ever so fulfilling. There is sadness when their child dies at birth and when war comes, Marty's best friend is killed, leaving a widow (Betsy Palmer) and young son. Of course, the son will go to the Point.
Tyrone Power is just fabulous here with a superb Irish accent and emotional appeal as Marty. O'Hara, in an excellent performance, succumbs years later to heart disease, leaving her beloved Marty all
alone.
The supporting cast is fine. Veteran Oscar winner Donald Crisp is wonderful as the father and Palmer is memorable in the scene where her son says to her: "It has been a wonderful day for Marty." Her reply, "It has been a wonderful life for Marty!" How poignant.
A great movie pulling out all the stops. Well worth the handkerchiefs that the viewer will need. Rest in peace Betsy Palmer: Yours was a wonderful career.
Well worth watching...but not what you expect...excellent Tyrone Power film and performance
vincentlynch-moonoi25 August 2012
Warning: Spoilers
It's interesting to read the other reviews here of this movie. About half with strong praise, the other half with disdain. Perhaps part of that is how you look at the military. I honor the sacrifices of our soldiers and the many necessary military campaigns that our country has undertaken, and my father was military, but I'm not quite the fan that John Ford obviously was. But on the other hand, a few years ago I took a tour of West Point, and I was very impressed, so it was a pleasure seeing this film, much of which was filmed at West Point. It lent a sense of realism to the film.
However, if you're expecting a great war story here, you're going to be disappointed. That's not what this is about...although with John Ford as director, what you get is rather surprising -- a rather sentimental tale of a handful of people around which West Point functioned. They weren't the heroes, so this is not about that. This is a simple story which is more about immigrants fitting into a new culture...and a rather odd culture, at that.
Perhaps the biggest criticism of this film is that Tyrone Power was about 20 years too old for the role...and it shows. That being said, it's a fine performance, and all the better that it's so atypical of what we expect of Tyrone Power. He clearly did some of his own "stunts" here, which made me think of his fatal heart attack just 3 years later.
The other actors here do what's expected of them. Maureen O'Hara is bright and bossy as ever...if anything, perhaps slightly overplayed. Donald Crisp plays Tyrone Power's father (you'll enjoy seeing him do the jig), Ward Bond plays a Captain, and the rarely seen Betsy Palmer has a small role. John Wayne's son Patrick also has a small role, interesting because his dad was who director John Ford wanted for the lead role here. However, it would have been a very different film had Wayne played the role. The ill-fated Robert Francis (memorable from "The Caine Mutiny") has a decent role here; gone too soon.
John Ford does an excellent job here of portraying love of country and love of culture, although before you're halfway through the film, you're liable to be just a tad bit tired of the emphasis on the Irish. Yet, that's the way it was back then. And, my respect for Ford has grown as a result of watching this film. It's not a western, nor a war flick (even though it was about a military academy), and you can't help but get choked up several times during the film.
Highly recommended.
However, if you're expecting a great war story here, you're going to be disappointed. That's not what this is about...although with John Ford as director, what you get is rather surprising -- a rather sentimental tale of a handful of people around which West Point functioned. They weren't the heroes, so this is not about that. This is a simple story which is more about immigrants fitting into a new culture...and a rather odd culture, at that.
Perhaps the biggest criticism of this film is that Tyrone Power was about 20 years too old for the role...and it shows. That being said, it's a fine performance, and all the better that it's so atypical of what we expect of Tyrone Power. He clearly did some of his own "stunts" here, which made me think of his fatal heart attack just 3 years later.
The other actors here do what's expected of them. Maureen O'Hara is bright and bossy as ever...if anything, perhaps slightly overplayed. Donald Crisp plays Tyrone Power's father (you'll enjoy seeing him do the jig), Ward Bond plays a Captain, and the rarely seen Betsy Palmer has a small role. John Wayne's son Patrick also has a small role, interesting because his dad was who director John Ford wanted for the lead role here. However, it would have been a very different film had Wayne played the role. The ill-fated Robert Francis (memorable from "The Caine Mutiny") has a decent role here; gone too soon.
John Ford does an excellent job here of portraying love of country and love of culture, although before you're halfway through the film, you're liable to be just a tad bit tired of the emphasis on the Irish. Yet, that's the way it was back then. And, my respect for Ford has grown as a result of watching this film. It's not a western, nor a war flick (even though it was about a military academy), and you can't help but get choked up several times during the film.
Highly recommended.
Great 1955 Classic
whpratt130 June 2008
John Ford sure directed a great classic film about West Point and Tyrone Power, (Marty Maher) played the role of an Irish immigrant who is hired to work at West Point as kitchen help. Marty broke so many dishes in the kitchen that he quite that job and enlisted in the Army at West Point and he married a sweet pretty Irish girl named Mary O'Donnell, (Maureen O'Hare). Marty and Mary enjoyed their life at West Point and they both met and made good friends of the cadets and some of them they treated like their own sons. Donald Crisp, (Old Martin) played the role as Marty's father who came from Ireland and Ward Bond, (Capt. Herman J. Kohler) gave a great supporting role to this film. Robert Francis, (Red Sundstrom Jr.) gave an outstanding performance and it is sad to say he was killed in real life in a plane crash right after making this film, he also starred in the Caine Mutiny along with Humphrey Bogart. Truly a great Classic film which you will enjoy from the beginning to the very end.
What a nice guy
davidmvining23 January 2022
This is bread and butter John Ford. A biographic film about a lifelong military man at West Point who never got to participate in any conflict despite living through both World Wars and dealing with the losses of war through his own personal contacts at the same time, The Long Gray Line is a sort of follow up to his early sound feature Salute, which is amusing since both have Ward Bond, first as a student and then as a teacher. It's a nice film, painting a portrait of a very good man across the decades as he goes from Irish immigrant to beloved member of the faculty at West Point.
Using a small wraparound structure that starts at the White House with Martin Maher (Tyrone Power) having dinner with the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, reminiscing about his long years at West Point. His story begins when he shows up to the military academy in New York having just gotten off the boat from Ireland with a job in the kitchens as a server. He consistently is subject to breakage of plates before, a couple of years later, he joins the Army, subject to the guardhouse rather than docked pay, and quickly attracts the attention of the Master of Swords Captain Koehler (Bond) for his boxing ability, bringing him on as an athletic instructor when he quickly notices the redhaired Mary O'Donnell (Maureen O'Hara), Koehler's cook. He becomes infatuated with her despite her never saying a word to him, only eventually saying anything when he proposes to her, saying yes and they instantly get into a small fight. It's endearing, really.
The movie then enters what really seems to be the central point of the film which is the students at the academy being like Maher's foster children. It's centralized around the class of 1915, including a young Dwight David Eisenhower (Harry Carey Jr.) and, in particular, the first football game between West Point and Notre Dame University (another interesting counterpoint to the Army/Navy game that dominated the ending of Salute). There's a nice bit of comedy here where Maher's father, Dinny (Sean McClory), gets bets from the generals on the sidelines, organized by Maher himself, that all backfire when Notre Dame introduces the tactic of the perfectly legal forward pass that Army has no defense for. It's a lesson in defeat for the boys, preceded by America's entry into World War I. When Maher and Mary lose their first child hours after his birth it cements the idea that the men at the academy are the children that God has given them, and it helps deepen the emotions of the moment as the graduation of the 1915 class as well as the entry into The Great War.
The graduation ceremony is presented soberly, not with the great elation that the boys show on their faces. There's a line of names read, and the implication of how it's presented is that they are all going off to war, a war that will claim most of their lives. The next large block of the film is of Maher, stuck behind in West Point to help maintain some level of consistency at the school while people like Koehler go off to war, trying to maintain life while marking off the dead in his book of graduates, including Red (William Leslie), news reaching them on Armistice Day leaving behind a wife Kitty (Betsy Palmer) and infant son who shares his name.
Then the movie does what biographical films do and skips ahead decades to try and fill in a whole life in just a couple of hours. I instantly began to get annoyed, but there was method to this, reminding me of one of David Lean's earlier films This Happy Breed. The death of the cadets in the First World War had colored a lot of attitudes, but Maher still believes in the tradition of West Point. If his country calls again, he expects his young men to do the fighting, but Red's son Red Jr. (Robert Francis) has doubts and an issue. He married without his parents permission who forced him into an annulment. The question of duty is raised, and Maher's talk with the young man, despite the wounds of WWI that claimed his father's life and the break with the Academy that forces him out, Red Jr. Decides to enlist as a private in the Army despite losing his commission.
The final part of the film really does have a point that extends from what came before, but I just don't quite get invested in it like I do the first two-thirds of the film. The late introduction of Red Jr. As a new character to invest in, even if he's ultimately a vessel through which Maher is able to express the ultimate form of his own beliefs, doesn't work as well as it probably should. His conflict at the annulled marriage kind of comes out of nowhere very quickly after his introduction as a young adult. The basic point is Maher's overall goodness and dedication to the military as well as his adopted country, which the episode feeds, but it relies on a bunch of new stuff coming in late that it doesn't work overall as well as it should. It makes me wish that the movie had ended Maher's reminiscences around the end of WWI, finding the point there rather than needing to establish a bunch of new stuff decades later.
Power is the center of the whole film, taking Maher from a young man to an elderly member of the faculty able to get dinner at the White House. He's a thoroughly good guy who is dedicated to God, country, and his family. O'Hara is essentially played Mary Kate from The Quiet Man again, especially near the beginning when she's most dominant. The rest of the supporting cast is solidly good as well. This was also Ford's first film made in a widescreen scope format, and he doesn't often seem to know what to do with the sudden extra space off to the sides, frequently just having his pair of characters conversing in the center of the frame with empty space surrounding them for no discernable reason.
It's a nice film with a very warm heart, a tribute to a good man who served his country as best as he could, helping generations of Army officers.
Using a small wraparound structure that starts at the White House with Martin Maher (Tyrone Power) having dinner with the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, reminiscing about his long years at West Point. His story begins when he shows up to the military academy in New York having just gotten off the boat from Ireland with a job in the kitchens as a server. He consistently is subject to breakage of plates before, a couple of years later, he joins the Army, subject to the guardhouse rather than docked pay, and quickly attracts the attention of the Master of Swords Captain Koehler (Bond) for his boxing ability, bringing him on as an athletic instructor when he quickly notices the redhaired Mary O'Donnell (Maureen O'Hara), Koehler's cook. He becomes infatuated with her despite her never saying a word to him, only eventually saying anything when he proposes to her, saying yes and they instantly get into a small fight. It's endearing, really.
The movie then enters what really seems to be the central point of the film which is the students at the academy being like Maher's foster children. It's centralized around the class of 1915, including a young Dwight David Eisenhower (Harry Carey Jr.) and, in particular, the first football game between West Point and Notre Dame University (another interesting counterpoint to the Army/Navy game that dominated the ending of Salute). There's a nice bit of comedy here where Maher's father, Dinny (Sean McClory), gets bets from the generals on the sidelines, organized by Maher himself, that all backfire when Notre Dame introduces the tactic of the perfectly legal forward pass that Army has no defense for. It's a lesson in defeat for the boys, preceded by America's entry into World War I. When Maher and Mary lose their first child hours after his birth it cements the idea that the men at the academy are the children that God has given them, and it helps deepen the emotions of the moment as the graduation of the 1915 class as well as the entry into The Great War.
The graduation ceremony is presented soberly, not with the great elation that the boys show on their faces. There's a line of names read, and the implication of how it's presented is that they are all going off to war, a war that will claim most of their lives. The next large block of the film is of Maher, stuck behind in West Point to help maintain some level of consistency at the school while people like Koehler go off to war, trying to maintain life while marking off the dead in his book of graduates, including Red (William Leslie), news reaching them on Armistice Day leaving behind a wife Kitty (Betsy Palmer) and infant son who shares his name.
Then the movie does what biographical films do and skips ahead decades to try and fill in a whole life in just a couple of hours. I instantly began to get annoyed, but there was method to this, reminding me of one of David Lean's earlier films This Happy Breed. The death of the cadets in the First World War had colored a lot of attitudes, but Maher still believes in the tradition of West Point. If his country calls again, he expects his young men to do the fighting, but Red's son Red Jr. (Robert Francis) has doubts and an issue. He married without his parents permission who forced him into an annulment. The question of duty is raised, and Maher's talk with the young man, despite the wounds of WWI that claimed his father's life and the break with the Academy that forces him out, Red Jr. Decides to enlist as a private in the Army despite losing his commission.
The final part of the film really does have a point that extends from what came before, but I just don't quite get invested in it like I do the first two-thirds of the film. The late introduction of Red Jr. As a new character to invest in, even if he's ultimately a vessel through which Maher is able to express the ultimate form of his own beliefs, doesn't work as well as it probably should. His conflict at the annulled marriage kind of comes out of nowhere very quickly after his introduction as a young adult. The basic point is Maher's overall goodness and dedication to the military as well as his adopted country, which the episode feeds, but it relies on a bunch of new stuff coming in late that it doesn't work overall as well as it should. It makes me wish that the movie had ended Maher's reminiscences around the end of WWI, finding the point there rather than needing to establish a bunch of new stuff decades later.
Power is the center of the whole film, taking Maher from a young man to an elderly member of the faculty able to get dinner at the White House. He's a thoroughly good guy who is dedicated to God, country, and his family. O'Hara is essentially played Mary Kate from The Quiet Man again, especially near the beginning when she's most dominant. The rest of the supporting cast is solidly good as well. This was also Ford's first film made in a widescreen scope format, and he doesn't often seem to know what to do with the sudden extra space off to the sides, frequently just having his pair of characters conversing in the center of the frame with empty space surrounding them for no discernable reason.
It's a nice film with a very warm heart, a tribute to a good man who served his country as best as he could, helping generations of Army officers.
138 Minutes of Blarney and Sentimentality
bob-790-19601815 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Could be Ford's worst. It is a biopic of some Irish guy named Marty Maher, but after 138 minutes I still couldn't figure out what made him special enough to be the subject of a feature film. In real life, Mr. Maher may well have been a fine man with many attainments, but in this movie, aside from giving kindly advice to cadets on a couple of occasions, his one real achievement is that of being Irish. This may explain why Ford dwells so insistently on Marty's Irishness.
I can't even figure out what exactly Marty did at West Point for fifty years. It had something to do with athletics, but that's as much as we know. The reason he merits being saluted by a parade of cadets at the end, playing (of course) Irish tunes in march time, appears to be that he was a nice guy with a colorful accent and everybody liked him.
Not exactly the stuff of drama!
Ford's involvement in all things Irish is much in evidence. Marty's wife is the stereotypical colleen, with flaming red hair, a flaring temper, flashing eyes, and a thick brogue. We are all asked to share in Ford's delight with this.
As for Marty's father, how the devil did he manage to get in good with the brass at West Point and become something of a fixture there himself? And why does he persist in dressing like a leprechaun?
We are treated to multiple scenes of cadets drilling, being drilled, and marching on parade, with perhaps more military songs being played than ever were heard in a single movie. In the end, there is a prolonged sequence with hundreds of cadets marching in honor of Marty while he stands there saluting. Enough to make you squirm with embarrassment.
A really bad movie.
I can't even figure out what exactly Marty did at West Point for fifty years. It had something to do with athletics, but that's as much as we know. The reason he merits being saluted by a parade of cadets at the end, playing (of course) Irish tunes in march time, appears to be that he was a nice guy with a colorful accent and everybody liked him.
Not exactly the stuff of drama!
Ford's involvement in all things Irish is much in evidence. Marty's wife is the stereotypical colleen, with flaming red hair, a flaring temper, flashing eyes, and a thick brogue. We are all asked to share in Ford's delight with this.
As for Marty's father, how the devil did he manage to get in good with the brass at West Point and become something of a fixture there himself? And why does he persist in dressing like a leprechaun?
We are treated to multiple scenes of cadets drilling, being drilled, and marching on parade, with perhaps more military songs being played than ever were heard in a single movie. In the end, there is a prolonged sequence with hundreds of cadets marching in honor of Marty while he stands there saluting. Enough to make you squirm with embarrassment.
A really bad movie.
forgotten classic
lonniebealeusa1 August 2002
How did I ever miss this movie either on video or t.v. John Ford has his stock character actors and I was surprised that John Wayne did not have the starring role,which was well handled by Tyrone Power.A small masterpiece ably handled by all mixing the typical Ford traits of humor and serious modes. Loosely based on a true story,it is American propaganda at its finest and a nice tribute to the West Point Academy.One of Tyrone Powers' final films,and one of his best performances showing he could handle comedy,drama and a nice attempt at an Irish accent. The finale did become a bit soppy but does not detract from the overall movie. Sadly this film has been forgotten by the majority of film audiences and those in power who show supposed classics on the oldies channels.If it ever turns up on t.v. take a look and be pleasantly surprised.Maybe even todays so called writers,directors and actors might like to see how the master did it.
A Little Too Much Fordian Irish Humour
bsmith55528 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
As much as I admire John Ford, I found this film a little overly sentimental and with far too much Fordian Irish humour in the first half of the film.
The film tells the story of Martin "Marty" Maher, an enlisted man who spent over 50 years at the West Point Military Academy as an instructor. It covers the period from his arrival at West Point as a newly landed immigrant to his meeting with President Eisenhauer some fifty years later.
Tyrone Power does a excellent job as Maher aging as he does from a young man in his 20s to his 70s. His makeup is quite convincing and realistic for the time. The ever beautiful Maureen O'Hara plays Mary O'Donnell, Maher's wife. The film follows their relationship from their first meeting to their last.
Ford's affection for the military is quite evident. He gives us seemingly endless march pasts featuring "long gray lines" of cadets along with their marching band. The film is beautifully photographed with plenty of green grass in evidence. There are a couple of beautiful framed shots, one of the wedding of the William Leslie and Betsy Palmer characters and another at a tragic moment in Maher's life.
The John Ford stock company is well represented in this picture. Included in the large cast are Ward Bond as Maher's first commanding officer, Donald Crisp as his father, Sean McClory as his brother, Harry Carey Jr. as Dwight Eisenhauer and a very young Patrick Wayne in his first film as the cadet "Cherub" Overton. Willis Boucher and Jack Pennick also have smaller parts.
Also in the cast are Robert Francis, who died tragically shortly after completing this film, Phil Carey, Martin Milner, Peter Graves and Milburn Stone.
Be sure and have some Kleenex handy for the finale.
The film tells the story of Martin "Marty" Maher, an enlisted man who spent over 50 years at the West Point Military Academy as an instructor. It covers the period from his arrival at West Point as a newly landed immigrant to his meeting with President Eisenhauer some fifty years later.
Tyrone Power does a excellent job as Maher aging as he does from a young man in his 20s to his 70s. His makeup is quite convincing and realistic for the time. The ever beautiful Maureen O'Hara plays Mary O'Donnell, Maher's wife. The film follows their relationship from their first meeting to their last.
Ford's affection for the military is quite evident. He gives us seemingly endless march pasts featuring "long gray lines" of cadets along with their marching band. The film is beautifully photographed with plenty of green grass in evidence. There are a couple of beautiful framed shots, one of the wedding of the William Leslie and Betsy Palmer characters and another at a tragic moment in Maher's life.
The John Ford stock company is well represented in this picture. Included in the large cast are Ward Bond as Maher's first commanding officer, Donald Crisp as his father, Sean McClory as his brother, Harry Carey Jr. as Dwight Eisenhauer and a very young Patrick Wayne in his first film as the cadet "Cherub" Overton. Willis Boucher and Jack Pennick also have smaller parts.
Also in the cast are Robert Francis, who died tragically shortly after completing this film, Phil Carey, Martin Milner, Peter Graves and Milburn Stone.
Be sure and have some Kleenex handy for the finale.
who stole the Oscar from Tyrone power
rickdumesnil-5520316 March 2016
i had never seen this film before. and I'm a die hard Tyrone power fan even though some say he was just a pretty face. well this pretty face could act and renders all emotions perfectly. had he lived longer he would have been one of the greatest actors who ever lived.....same par as Lawrence Olivier or Orson Welles. to think this role of Marty nearly went to John W Wayne...i would not have watched it. Maureen O'Hara is true to herself classy and a good actress. the story is heart wrenching although it makes us feel good all over. wonder who won the academy award that year for best actor.....well frankly my dear i don't give a dam. one last thing is it just me or a bit of the theme song sounded like LOVE ME TENDER.
Starts off poorly but then becomes a typically sentimental John Ford flick
planktonrules12 March 2007
The film is supposed to be a real-life account of a soldier who was on staff at Westpoint for about 50 years--so long that he became a bit of an institution through the first part of the 20th century.
The first 20 minutes or so of the movie didn't particularly impress me. Unlike the rest of the film, this was all played for laughs and Tyrone Power played this portion very broadly. Some might like this, but I thought the "dumb newbie" routine wore thin very, very quickly. We get to see Tyrone drop some plates, get in a fight by mistake and be one of the biggest screw ups in army history. Frankly, he was so obnoxious and stupid that I really wondered if this even remotely had any similarity to anyone--let alone the real character. In many ways, these aspects of the film reminded me of the "funny" moments from WINGS OF EAGLES and PATHS OF GLORY. Many like this stuff, but I think the different moods of the film don't work out all that well--as if the movie can't decide whether it's a drama or a comedy (would this make it a "dramady"?).
Fortunately, after a very inauspicious start, the film slowed down and dropped the pratfalls and became an excellent film--full of the usual John Ford sentiment and style. I was surprised that Tyrone Power did such a good job with the role--and his Irish accent was also pretty good. He was ably assisted by some of the usual Ford actors--Ward Bond, Donald Crisp and Maureen O'Hara. The overall effect is very inspiring and will nearly bring a tear to your eye--it was exceptional film making after a somewhat rocky start.
The first 20 minutes or so of the movie didn't particularly impress me. Unlike the rest of the film, this was all played for laughs and Tyrone Power played this portion very broadly. Some might like this, but I thought the "dumb newbie" routine wore thin very, very quickly. We get to see Tyrone drop some plates, get in a fight by mistake and be one of the biggest screw ups in army history. Frankly, he was so obnoxious and stupid that I really wondered if this even remotely had any similarity to anyone--let alone the real character. In many ways, these aspects of the film reminded me of the "funny" moments from WINGS OF EAGLES and PATHS OF GLORY. Many like this stuff, but I think the different moods of the film don't work out all that well--as if the movie can't decide whether it's a drama or a comedy (would this make it a "dramady"?).
Fortunately, after a very inauspicious start, the film slowed down and dropped the pratfalls and became an excellent film--full of the usual John Ford sentiment and style. I was surprised that Tyrone Power did such a good job with the role--and his Irish accent was also pretty good. He was ably assisted by some of the usual Ford actors--Ward Bond, Donald Crisp and Maureen O'Hara. The overall effect is very inspiring and will nearly bring a tear to your eye--it was exceptional film making after a somewhat rocky start.
One of the best!
marilone24 May 2006
I was 11 years old when my father took what was then our complete family to downtown Detroit to see this movie. It became a family favorite, and after VCRs came out, I was able to give my brothers and sisters the ultimate Christmas gift...their very own copy of "The Long Gray Line."
The acting in the movie was superb. Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara became their characters. We laughed, cried, and talked about it and could always see new aspects to it.
It will always remain my favorite movie ever, and one that brings back family memories to me. In fact, I think I will go watch it now. It's refreshing to see a time when being a United States citizen would mean so much. And "The Star Spangled Banner" brought tears to your eyes, and the American Flag was treated with reverence and respect. God Bless America! Marilone
The acting in the movie was superb. Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara became their characters. We laughed, cried, and talked about it and could always see new aspects to it.
It will always remain my favorite movie ever, and one that brings back family memories to me. In fact, I think I will go watch it now. It's refreshing to see a time when being a United States citizen would mean so much. And "The Star Spangled Banner" brought tears to your eyes, and the American Flag was treated with reverence and respect. God Bless America! Marilone
Watchable, but not one of John Ford's best movies!
JohnHowardReid15 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Copyright 1955 by Columbia Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Capitol: 10 February 1955. U.S. release: 9 February 1955. U.K. release: April 1955. Australian release: 29 September 1955. Sydney opening at the State: 29 September 1955. 12,317 feet. 137 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: When the United States Army tries to retire him, Sergeant Marty Maher, athletic trainer at West Point military academy for over 40 years, protests to the President of the United States, whom he had known as a young West Pointer. In doing so, he relates his life history: how he came to West Point as a young Irish immigrant and got a job as a waiter, then took the oath, married Mary O'Donnell, a lively colleen; how, as athletic trainer, he also became friend and adviser to generations of young cadets, including Eisenhower himself, Omar Bradley and James Van Fleet, and others.
NOTES: Negative cost: $1.748 million. Initial gross domestic rentals: $5.635 million, making it number 16 at U.S./Canadian ticket windows for the year. Needless to say, the film took nothing like this coin elsewhere, despite the box-office lure of Tyrone Power, Maureen O' Hara and Robert Francis. In Australia, for example, Columbia's receipts did little more than cover the exchange's modest advertising, print and distribution costs.
The same procedure was followed by the critics. Whilst American scribes were excessively generous in their praises, overseas reviewers were more guarded, even lukewarm.
Last movie appearance of Robert Francis who was killed in an air accident in 1955. After his stunning debut in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954), Francis made "The Bamboo Prison" and "They Rode West", before "The Long Gray Line".
Motion picture debut of Betsy Palmer.
COMMENT: For those of us with little love for things military in general and xenophobic institutions American in particular, this paean strikes more than a mildly sour note. The fact that it is directed by John Ford only makes our disappointment the more keen. Ford has pulled out all his usual tricks; but the insubstantial and unsympathetic subject matter serves only to starkly reveal the director's various familiar stratagems and sleights of hand for the obvious conjurer's devices they are.
However, Ford can be generously lauded for one thing: He consistently uses the CinemaScope camera most effectively. Seemingly endless lines of marching men are paraded right across the screen, whilst set- pieces like the cadets farewell at West Point railway station maximize the impact of crowd scenes. For more human encounters, Ford frames his picture between archways and colonnades to restore the welcome intimacy of the old postage-stamp ratio. I thought Power's performance improved as the picture progressed and that he seemed more convincing in his old-age characterization than in his fresh-from-Ireland youth where his accent and mannerisms struck me as boisterously artificial. Similarly, Maureen O'Hara aged gracefully. From the gauche colleen of her first scenes of kitchen farce to the tired and spent mother of the Academy, Miss O'Hara presents a devoted portrait that backs up the other main players like Donald Crisp (here at his most winning) and Robert Francis. Newcomers Betsy Palmer and William Leslie are also admirably impressive.
In addition to these marvelously worthwhile performances, the movie also offers some great production values, including Charles Lawton's superlative photography. Even the many West Point locations are not without interest.
Finally, it must be admitted that I did discover three or four genuinely moving moments and at least as many in a lighter vein. But are eight moments enough to sustain involvement in what is basically a jingoistic exercise that tries our patience for 138 minutes?
OTHER VIEWS: Typical John Ford production — it even has a reprise, virtually the director's trademark, which I found moving anyway, maybe I'm a pushover for this sort of guff. The John Ford Stock Company is on hand too (Jack Pennick is a recruiting sergeant) and Tyrone Power is in there with an Irish accent that is more than half-way realistic. True, it's an out-and-out sentimental yarn but it's not dwelt on to the point of nauseousness, nor is its boisterous good-humor turned into the incredibly overdone and mindlessly exaggerated slapstick of "Donovan's Reef" or "The Wings of Eagles"... A long running time, but never boring... Robert Francis turns in his usual very capable performance. - JHR writing as George Addison.
SYNOPSIS: When the United States Army tries to retire him, Sergeant Marty Maher, athletic trainer at West Point military academy for over 40 years, protests to the President of the United States, whom he had known as a young West Pointer. In doing so, he relates his life history: how he came to West Point as a young Irish immigrant and got a job as a waiter, then took the oath, married Mary O'Donnell, a lively colleen; how, as athletic trainer, he also became friend and adviser to generations of young cadets, including Eisenhower himself, Omar Bradley and James Van Fleet, and others.
NOTES: Negative cost: $1.748 million. Initial gross domestic rentals: $5.635 million, making it number 16 at U.S./Canadian ticket windows for the year. Needless to say, the film took nothing like this coin elsewhere, despite the box-office lure of Tyrone Power, Maureen O' Hara and Robert Francis. In Australia, for example, Columbia's receipts did little more than cover the exchange's modest advertising, print and distribution costs.
The same procedure was followed by the critics. Whilst American scribes were excessively generous in their praises, overseas reviewers were more guarded, even lukewarm.
Last movie appearance of Robert Francis who was killed in an air accident in 1955. After his stunning debut in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954), Francis made "The Bamboo Prison" and "They Rode West", before "The Long Gray Line".
Motion picture debut of Betsy Palmer.
COMMENT: For those of us with little love for things military in general and xenophobic institutions American in particular, this paean strikes more than a mildly sour note. The fact that it is directed by John Ford only makes our disappointment the more keen. Ford has pulled out all his usual tricks; but the insubstantial and unsympathetic subject matter serves only to starkly reveal the director's various familiar stratagems and sleights of hand for the obvious conjurer's devices they are.
However, Ford can be generously lauded for one thing: He consistently uses the CinemaScope camera most effectively. Seemingly endless lines of marching men are paraded right across the screen, whilst set- pieces like the cadets farewell at West Point railway station maximize the impact of crowd scenes. For more human encounters, Ford frames his picture between archways and colonnades to restore the welcome intimacy of the old postage-stamp ratio. I thought Power's performance improved as the picture progressed and that he seemed more convincing in his old-age characterization than in his fresh-from-Ireland youth where his accent and mannerisms struck me as boisterously artificial. Similarly, Maureen O'Hara aged gracefully. From the gauche colleen of her first scenes of kitchen farce to the tired and spent mother of the Academy, Miss O'Hara presents a devoted portrait that backs up the other main players like Donald Crisp (here at his most winning) and Robert Francis. Newcomers Betsy Palmer and William Leslie are also admirably impressive.
In addition to these marvelously worthwhile performances, the movie also offers some great production values, including Charles Lawton's superlative photography. Even the many West Point locations are not without interest.
Finally, it must be admitted that I did discover three or four genuinely moving moments and at least as many in a lighter vein. But are eight moments enough to sustain involvement in what is basically a jingoistic exercise that tries our patience for 138 minutes?
OTHER VIEWS: Typical John Ford production — it even has a reprise, virtually the director's trademark, which I found moving anyway, maybe I'm a pushover for this sort of guff. The John Ford Stock Company is on hand too (Jack Pennick is a recruiting sergeant) and Tyrone Power is in there with an Irish accent that is more than half-way realistic. True, it's an out-and-out sentimental yarn but it's not dwelt on to the point of nauseousness, nor is its boisterous good-humor turned into the incredibly overdone and mindlessly exaggerated slapstick of "Donovan's Reef" or "The Wings of Eagles"... A long running time, but never boring... Robert Francis turns in his usual very capable performance. - JHR writing as George Addison.
a john ford gem
naylands24 October 2000
The Long Gray Line is not of John Ford's great films,such as the Seachers, How Green Was My Valley or She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, but its one that makes one feel with the heart. i happen to be a fan of Ford's minor gems, Three Godfathers, Donovan's Reef and Judge Priest, and The Long Gray Line is fine one. Some modern movie critics dismiss this film and others as "corn" or "dated", but what is "dated" about love, duty and honor. Ford's films about these "dated" are still shineing examples of American film making. I would rather watch this wonderful moive, over and over, then that bleak film of last year-American Beauty. I happy admit that I cry at the end of this film.
John Ford gives a memorable role and film to Tyrone Power in his engrossing patriotic biographical drama of a military officer.
SAMTHEBESTEST18 February 2023
The Long Gray Line (1955) :
Brief Review -
John Ford gives a memorable role and film to Tyrone Power in his engrossing patriotic biographical drama of a military officer. It's only a coincidence that Hollywood made a film called "Marty" in the same year when they made this film on Marty's life. Of course, the romance of Marty grabbed the Oscar's doll, while this engrossing film was slightly overlooked. Well, just for your information, Patton Franklin Schaffner's biographical drama, Patton (1970), won the Best Picture at the Oscars. But how many of us know that George Patton was once a student of Martin Maher? Since I have told you about the connection now, I hope that you'll enjoy watching it more than you could have done without this information. A film like Patron comes once in a decade. For me, it's one of the greatest war films and biographical films ever made in Hollywood, so I'll say, "The Long Gray Line" may not be that great, but it could be argued as the best before Patton. You can't expect a legendary director like John Ford to go wrong with a fascinating story like this. The patriotic values of this film are indeed heartwarming. Once a waiter in an Army training house, Martin Maher rises from the useless fella to become one of the best teachers in the history of the American Army. Set in World War I and World War II, The Long Gray Line is a comedy-drama, and maybe that's why it can't be called a classic. Though, it's a fun film with heart in the right place. Tyrone Power got one of the most memorable roles of his career, and his acting skills powered the character to create a place in your heart. A beautiful, mature, and supportive wife like Maureen O'Hara is a dreamgirl for every fella, and she's a fantastic performer too. John Ford is a lord at filmmaking, and this proved it for the 50th time, or maybe the 100th. "It's a great day for Marty," he says. "It's a great life for Marty," she replies, and my chest increases by an inch the very next moment, along with two drops of tears.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
John Ford gives a memorable role and film to Tyrone Power in his engrossing patriotic biographical drama of a military officer. It's only a coincidence that Hollywood made a film called "Marty" in the same year when they made this film on Marty's life. Of course, the romance of Marty grabbed the Oscar's doll, while this engrossing film was slightly overlooked. Well, just for your information, Patton Franklin Schaffner's biographical drama, Patton (1970), won the Best Picture at the Oscars. But how many of us know that George Patton was once a student of Martin Maher? Since I have told you about the connection now, I hope that you'll enjoy watching it more than you could have done without this information. A film like Patron comes once in a decade. For me, it's one of the greatest war films and biographical films ever made in Hollywood, so I'll say, "The Long Gray Line" may not be that great, but it could be argued as the best before Patton. You can't expect a legendary director like John Ford to go wrong with a fascinating story like this. The patriotic values of this film are indeed heartwarming. Once a waiter in an Army training house, Martin Maher rises from the useless fella to become one of the best teachers in the history of the American Army. Set in World War I and World War II, The Long Gray Line is a comedy-drama, and maybe that's why it can't be called a classic. Though, it's a fun film with heart in the right place. Tyrone Power got one of the most memorable roles of his career, and his acting skills powered the character to create a place in your heart. A beautiful, mature, and supportive wife like Maureen O'Hara is a dreamgirl for every fella, and she's a fantastic performer too. John Ford is a lord at filmmaking, and this proved it for the 50th time, or maybe the 100th. "It's a great day for Marty," he says. "It's a great life for Marty," she replies, and my chest increases by an inch the very next moment, along with two drops of tears.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Beautiful, Offbeat Story!
olarko3 June 2006
This beautiful, offbeat story offered Tyrone Power a chance to show new facets of his acting ability -- especially in comedy -- to his audience: He is funny, very warm and tender, a masterful but understanding leader, and a man so embedded in family traditions that fitting into West Point -- which reeks with tradition -- is a natural for him.
He and Maureen O'Hara play off each other as if they'd been doing it for years. O'Hara also, by the way, gets a rare chance at this point in her career to show her comedic talents, and her brilliant performance makes obvious the reason why John Ford adopted her as a favorite and a member of his stock company.
The supporting cast -- for the most part -- measures up to the very high standards set by the leads, especially Donald Crisp, Ward Bond, O'Hara's brother Charles Fitzsimons, and the huge cast of excellent young actors who play so many cadets, well known and otherwise. The only fly in the ointment is the completely wooden but very pretty Robert Francis, whose film career was extremely short and totally undistinguished by any acting at all.
"The Long Gray Line" is a film worth seeing again and again!!!
He and Maureen O'Hara play off each other as if they'd been doing it for years. O'Hara also, by the way, gets a rare chance at this point in her career to show her comedic talents, and her brilliant performance makes obvious the reason why John Ford adopted her as a favorite and a member of his stock company.
The supporting cast -- for the most part -- measures up to the very high standards set by the leads, especially Donald Crisp, Ward Bond, O'Hara's brother Charles Fitzsimons, and the huge cast of excellent young actors who play so many cadets, well known and otherwise. The only fly in the ointment is the completely wooden but very pretty Robert Francis, whose film career was extremely short and totally undistinguished by any acting at all.
"The Long Gray Line" is a film worth seeing again and again!!!
corny military propaganda
funkyfry5 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
None of John Ford's films are exactly poorly made, and this one is competent enough as it goes. Basically it's the story of Marty Maher (Tyrone Power), a fresh immigrant off the boat from Ireland who finds a home in America's West Point military academy. Starting off in the kitchens and working his way up to an instructor in football and swimming, Maher finds love with a saucy Irish woman (Maureen O'Hara) and finds himself continuously renewing his enlistment although often against his better judgment. He sees some of the boys he trained go off to die in the war and he has to deal with the emotions of those consequences as well as his duty to the academy. When a favorite student dies in WWI (William Leslie), Maher and his barren wife take in his wife (Betsy Palmer) and help raise his son (Robert Francis).
Power's performance is excellent and he manages to carry the film. The process of his aging through the film is admirably handled. But I found the film in general to be somewhat corny and heavy-handed. The message of the film seems to be to reinforce a certain brand of military patriotism that I personally find distasteful. That's not to say that the film is a bad film, but it is what it is. It's very much concerned with propagating the idea of "noble sacrifice", and Power's character barely questions the wisdom of training these young men just to send them off to die. It's as if he brings up the idea that it might not be worth it, just so that Ford and his writers can put that idea to rest as soundly as they can.
I like the film for its depiction of the main character as a humble man who often lashes out at others in anger but learns to temper his passions with growing wisdom. But I just can't get into the film -- let's just say that if you're not a huge fan of Irish jigs and military marching bands (or the combination of the two), then you will get just as sick of this movie by the end as I did. There's practically no subtext to the film that I can detect, and in the final analysis it's no more subtle than Ford's wartime pro-Army films. I can't make myself feel happy that the son is going to go off to war and risk death just like his father did, or that there's this great honor and nobility in it all. I won't cheer with Power's character as he rudely dismisses the idea of West Point modernizing its approach to military training. The whole film is basically telling us to resist change and to cherish tradition, and that's an aspect of Ford's personality that I just don't appreciate. But I do appreciate the amount of skill and care that went into Power's performance in particular.
Power's performance is excellent and he manages to carry the film. The process of his aging through the film is admirably handled. But I found the film in general to be somewhat corny and heavy-handed. The message of the film seems to be to reinforce a certain brand of military patriotism that I personally find distasteful. That's not to say that the film is a bad film, but it is what it is. It's very much concerned with propagating the idea of "noble sacrifice", and Power's character barely questions the wisdom of training these young men just to send them off to die. It's as if he brings up the idea that it might not be worth it, just so that Ford and his writers can put that idea to rest as soundly as they can.
I like the film for its depiction of the main character as a humble man who often lashes out at others in anger but learns to temper his passions with growing wisdom. But I just can't get into the film -- let's just say that if you're not a huge fan of Irish jigs and military marching bands (or the combination of the two), then you will get just as sick of this movie by the end as I did. There's practically no subtext to the film that I can detect, and in the final analysis it's no more subtle than Ford's wartime pro-Army films. I can't make myself feel happy that the son is going to go off to war and risk death just like his father did, or that there's this great honor and nobility in it all. I won't cheer with Power's character as he rudely dismisses the idea of West Point modernizing its approach to military training. The whole film is basically telling us to resist change and to cherish tradition, and that's an aspect of Ford's personality that I just don't appreciate. But I do appreciate the amount of skill and care that went into Power's performance in particular.
All Ford and all heart
BobLib6 February 2000
You could call "The Long Grey Line" an affectionate tribute by one American institution to another: John Ford to West Point. All the Fordian elements, unashamed sentimentality, boisterious comedy, stark tragedy, are all here, and Ford and his actors convey them all beautifully.
And what actors! Tyrone Power finally proved that he could act in his moving portrayal of Martin Maher, a real-life West Point legend who started out as a fresh-off-the-boat waiter and wound up as the Academy's much-venerated Master of the Sword. Maher died in 1961 at age eighty-four, just as an era he represented was dying, too. Maureen O'Hara gives her usual strong portrayal as his devoted wife, likewise Donald Crisp as his father. Two of the most beloved members of the Ford stock company are here, too. Ward Bond playes Captain Koehler, the previous Master of the Sword who takes young Martin under his wing. And Harry Carey, Jr. has a good spot as the young Dwight Eisenhower, who was going bald even then and trying to stop it with hair-restorer.
A military "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" this may be, but as a heartfelt, human tribute to the Point and the men who made it, as well as good, overlooked Ford, this film is a hidden treasure.
And what actors! Tyrone Power finally proved that he could act in his moving portrayal of Martin Maher, a real-life West Point legend who started out as a fresh-off-the-boat waiter and wound up as the Academy's much-venerated Master of the Sword. Maher died in 1961 at age eighty-four, just as an era he represented was dying, too. Maureen O'Hara gives her usual strong portrayal as his devoted wife, likewise Donald Crisp as his father. Two of the most beloved members of the Ford stock company are here, too. Ward Bond playes Captain Koehler, the previous Master of the Sword who takes young Martin under his wing. And Harry Carey, Jr. has a good spot as the young Dwight Eisenhower, who was going bald even then and trying to stop it with hair-restorer.
A military "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" this may be, but as a heartfelt, human tribute to the Point and the men who made it, as well as good, overlooked Ford, this film is a hidden treasure.
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