The Long Gray Line (1955)

In 1898, Irish immigrant Martin Maher is hired as a civilian employee at West Point where, during a 50-year career, he rises to the rank of NCO and instructor.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Edward Hope (screenplay), Marty Maher (based upon "Bringing Up the Brass" by)

Stars:

Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Francis

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tyrone Power	...	Martin 'Marty' Maher
Maureen O'Hara	...	Mary O'Donnell
Robert Francis	...	James N. Sundstrom Jr.
Donald Crisp	...	Old Martin
Ward Bond	...	Capt. Herman J. Kohler
Betsy Palmer	...	Kitty Carter
Philip Carey	...	Charles 'Chuck' Dotson (as Phil Carey)
William Leslie	...	James Nilsson 'Red' Sundstrom
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Dwight Eisenhower
Patrick Wayne	...	Abner 'Cherub' Overton
Sean McClory	...	Dinny Maher
Peter Graves	...	Cpl. Rudolph Heinz
Milburn Stone	...	Capt. John Pershing
Erin O'Brien-Moore	...	Mrs. Koehler (as Erin O'Brien Moore)
Walter Ehlers	...	Mike Shannon (as Walter D. Ehlers)

Storyline

The life story of a salt-of-the-earth Irish immigrant, who becomes an Army Noncommissioned Officer and spends his 50 year career at the United States Military Academy at West Point. This includes his job-related experiences as well as his family life and the relationships he develops with young cadets whom he befriends. Based on the life of a real person.

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Plot Keywords:

irish | west point | military academy | u.s. military | 1900s | 

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Taglines:

Warms Your Heart! STIRS YOUR BLOOD! and fires your imagination!

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Irish

Release Date:

4 January 1955 (Japan)

Also Known As:

John Ford's The Long Gray Line

Filming Locations:

United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,748,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$4,100,000, 31 December 1955

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Rota Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Ford originally wanted to cast John Wayne as Marty Maher.

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Goofs

Col. Koehler did not leave West Point when the US entered World War I, but stayed as Master of the Sword until 1923. Shortly after the armistice, Marty mentions Maj. Whitney is "filling in" as Master of the Sword. At the time, Col. Koehler still held the post.

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Quotes

Martin 'Marty' Maher: What is this place? Is it maybe a prison, or is it a looney house?
Cpl. Rudolph Heinz: This is the United States Military Academy.
Martin 'Marty' Maher: [glances around] What a fine ruin it would make!

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Connections

Referenced in AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Jack Lemmon (1988)

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Soundtracks

The Thunderer
(uncredited)
Music by John Philip Sousa

User Reviews

good movie

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.