Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

JohnHowardReid 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.

bsmith5552 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.

vincentlynch-moonoi 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.

wes-connors Long biography of a West Point veteran who instructs in swimming and such, despite displaying mediocre athletic skills. Tyrone Power stars - and, he plays the part like an Irish Charlie Chaplin. He isn't awful, but the story and direction (John Ford) fail both he and some other competent performers. Naturally, Maureen O'Hara is introduced, like an Irish Lillian Gish. Can it be a coincidence that Donald Crisp is in this movie? Could this film have been an attempt to fool the Russians into thinking our West Point was vulnerable? My choice for the peak of dramatic sentimental idiocy is the portion where Mr. Power and Ms. O'Hara pray for a son - imagine the long gray faces if they had been blessed with a girl! I would have expected then to pray for a healthy baby; if you watch, you will see Divine revenge. On the plus side, "The Long Gray Line" is presented by filmmakers in possession of obvious money, and skill. If you're in the mood for a long, green line from John Ford and company, it's not unpleasant. ***** The Long Gray Line (1/22/55) John Ford ~ Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Francis