The Strange One (1957)

Director:

Jack Garfein

Writers:

Calder Willingham (novel)
Calder Willingham (play)
(more)

Release Date:

12 April 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

"THE STRANGE ONE" IS A STRANGE ONE! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Jocko De Paris, cadet leader in a Southern military academy, so manipulates events that George Avery...

Plot Keywords:

Cadet | Military | Military Academy | Kicked In The Butt | Military Cadet

Cast

Ben Gazzara	...	Cadet Sgt. Jocko DeParis
Pat Hingle	...	Cadet Harold 'Harry' Koble
Peter Mark Richman	...	Cadet Col. Laurie Lorger (as Mark Richman)
Arthur Storch	...	Cadet Simmons
Paul Richards	...	Cadet Perrin 'Cockroach' McKee (as Paul E. Richards)
Larry Gates	...	Maj. George Avery Sr.
Clifton James	...	Col. M.N. Ramsey
Geoffrey Horne	...	Cadet George Avery Jr.
James Olson	...	Cadet Roger Gatt
Julie Wilson	...	Peonie (aka 'Rosebud')
George Peppard	...	Cadet Robert Marquales

Directed by
Jack Garfein

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Calder Willingham		novel
Calder Willingham		play "End as a Man"
Calder Willingham		screenplay

Produced by
Sam Spiegel	....	producer

Original Music by
Kenyon Hopkins

Cinematography by
Burnett Guffey

Film Editing by
Sidney Katz

Art Direction by
Joseph C. Wright

Makeup Department
Willis Hanchett	....	hair stylist
Robert Jiras	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Charles J. Maguire	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Grossberg	....	assistant director
Arthur Steckler	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Edward J. Johnstone	....	sound

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Arthur Craig	....	wardrobe master

Other crew
Sascha Laurence	....	script supervisor
Samuel Rheiner	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Horizon Pictures
• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Beat (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Beat (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Gulfport, Florida, USA

Company:

Horizon Pictures

Trivia:

Movie debut of Ben Gazzara.

Movie Connections:

Version of Sorority Girl (1957)

Night Boy

Back in the 1950s the movie Production Code in the U.S. censored topics and dialogue that it considered morally offensive or too provocative for a general audience. To get around this, Hollywood disguised the plot and dialogue in some films. The disguise allowed the presentation of underlying subversive themes, but in veiled form. "The Strange One" is a film with a provocative premise rendered opaque by its plot and dialogue.

A Machiavellian-minded Cadet named Jocko DeParis (Ben Gazzara) throws his weight around at a Southern military academy. DeParis is a terrible human being: bullying, manipulative, and sadistic, yet unemotional, always in control of the situation. In the film's plot, he carries through on a well-thought-out scheme to have a cadet he doesn't like expelled. He uses other cadets to implement his plan, so that he personally cannot be blamed. One of his puppet cadets is a visually unappealing Cadet Simmons (Arthur Storch), a guy with a mouth full of conspicuous teeth, who doesn't approve of alcohol and doesn't like women.

Another Cadet in Jocko's orbit is Perrin, (a.k.a Cockroach), a slightly effeminate guy, played by Paul Richards. Cockroach hero-worships Jocko, which thus allows Jocko to humiliate him in front of others. Yet, Cockroach, who refers to Jocko as "Night Boy", has his own plans, disguised by the script's dialogue, when he tells Jocko: "All I want to have is your confidence and your friendship". Well, you can see where this is headed in one sense, though the plot implies something else. The dialogue is heavy on subtext. And the film was quite subversive in its day.

The film's B&W visuals are rather dark, in keeping with the story's subversive theme. A jazzy score amplifies the seedy nature of these inter-relationships. The film's casting and acting are quite good, Arthur Storch's bizarre performance notwithstanding.

On the negative side, the plot doesn't explain why Jocko had such a grudge against others at the academy, nor do we learn the basis for his apparent political hold on the academy's higher-ups.

Yet these are fairly minor issues. And my overall impression of "The Strange One" is highly favorable. In addition to a deeply thematic story, we get to see a number of actors early in their careers, including Gazzara, Pat Hingle, James Olson, and George Peppard, among others. This is a film that would have been all but forgotten had it not been released recently on DVD. It's worth a look.