Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Strange One

  • 19571957
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
The Strange One (1957)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:15
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaFilm-Noir
Students faced with an ethical dilemma about the dehumanization associated with the tradition of hazing, at a military college in the Southern United States, take matters in their own hands.Students faced with an ethical dilemma about the dehumanization associated with the tradition of hazing, at a military college in the Southern United States, take matters in their own hands.Students faced with an ethical dilemma about the dehumanization associated with the tradition of hazing, at a military college in the Southern United States, take matters in their own hands.
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
    • Jack Garfein
    • Calder Willingham(screen play by)
  • Stars
    • Ben Gazzara
    • Pat Hingle
    • Peter Mark Richman
    • Jack Garfein
    • Calder Willingham(screen play by)
  • Stars
    • Ben Gazzara
    • Pat Hingle
    • Peter Mark Richman
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 27User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The Strange One
    Trailer 2:15
    Watch The Strange One

    Photos109

    Ben Gazzara in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara and Clifton James in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara and Julie Wilson in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara and Larry Gates in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara in The Strange One (1957)
    George Peppard, Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle, and Arthur Storch in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara in The Strange One (1957)
    Ben Gazzara in The Strange One (1957)
    George Peppard, Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle, and Arthur Storch in The Strange One (1957)
    George Peppard, Ben Gazzara, and Arthur Storch in The Strange One (1957)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ben Gazzara
    Ben Gazzara
    • Jocko De Paris
    Pat Hingle
    Pat Hingle
    • Harold Koble
    Peter Mark Richman
    Peter Mark Richman
    • Cadet Colonel Corger
    • (as Mark Richman)
    Arthur Storch
    Arthur Storch
    • Simmons
    Paul E. Richards
    • Perrin McKee
    Larry Gates
    Larry Gates
    • Major Avery
    Clifton James
    Clifton James
    • Colonel Ramey
    Geoffrey Horne
    Geoffrey Horne
    • George Avery
    James Olson
    James Olson
    • Roger Gatt
    Julie Wilson
    Julie Wilson
    • Rosebud
    George Peppard
    George Peppard
    • Robert Marquales
    Vergel Cook
    • Jo
    • (uncredited)
      • Jack Garfein
      • Calder Willingham(screen play by) (based on his novel "End as a Man") (based on his play "End as a Man")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    High Tide
    6.4
    High Tide
    Down Three Dark Streets
    6.7
    Down Three Dark Streets
    The Killer Is Loose
    6.6
    The Killer Is Loose
    5 Against the House
    5.8
    5 Against the House
    Hit and Run
    6.2
    Hit and Run
    The Guilty
    6.3
    The Guilty
    The Naked Street
    6.5
    The Naked Street
    Something Wild
    6.7
    Something Wild
    I Love Trouble
    6.7
    I Love Trouble
    The Argyle Secrets
    6.3
    The Argyle Secrets
    Decoy
    6.8
    Decoy
    Raw Deal
    7.2
    Raw Deal

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle, Peter Mark Richman (as Mark Richman), Arthur Storch, and Paul E. Richards played the same roles on stage. The play "End of a Man" opened on Broadway at the Vanderbilt Theatre, 148 W. 48th St. on 14 October 1953 and ran for 105 performances.
    • Goofs
      When De Paris is in his quarters talking with McKee and practicing the sword drill in the mirror, he lifts the sword in front of his face and holds it there but there's no sword in the mirror image.
    • Connections
      Featured in Ben Gazzara Remembers the Strange One (2009)

    User reviews27

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    louse Actors Studio style
    Originally advertised as the first picture filmed entirely by a cast and technicians from the Actor's Studio, this tale of power play amongst the cadets of a Southern military academy, only comes alive when it features the material that the Production Code of the 1950's demanded be cut.

    Based on the autobiographical novel and play End as a Man by Calder Willingham, director Jack Garfein uses the music of Kenyon Hopkins noticably in the scenes between Ben Gazzara as an upperclass man and Paul E Richards as a presumably gay cadet Gazzara nicknames Cockroach, who wears a shower cap when the other cadets don't. Richards is a "creative writer" who names the Gazzara character in his novel "nightboy". Their best scene together is where Richards reads to Gazzara, who plays with his sword! Clearly Gazzara is not adverse to Richard's attention, and their farewell handshake is more a sensual than manly experience. Gazzara's relationship with Richards is also echoed in his friendship with football jock James Olson, where Gazzara reacts to being casually touched. I also like idea of Gazzara's cigarette holder, though his kissing his own wrist at one point is a little too self-consciously Method.

    But whilst it is interesting to observe these subversive (for the period) elements, the narrative ultimately disappoints in the treatment of Gazzara as the academy's resident sadist. The Actors Studio adaptation needs to create an ensemble, as opposed to allowing Gazzara to star, which dissipates the tension and reduces his threat. Whilst it may be more psychologically truthful for him to underplay his psychotic nature, with the addition of Freudian insight which makes him more intellectual than physically violent, this doesn't help the drama, which is even more obvious when the far more satisfying climax uses mob intimidation and a physical act of revenge.

    The worst of the Actors Studio excess is in the presentation of victim Arthur Storch who is said to be schizophrenic and thus an easy target. Storch has coke-bottle spectacles, buck teeth, cartoon at attention posture, ambition to become a priest, is a mommy's boy, afraid of women, and anti-alcoholic. Gazzara's interest in Storch is inexplicable, even if he does hold him down while Olson spanks him with a broom, but as a good part of the film has us trapped in one room (the stage origins show here) while we're supposed to observe how bad Gazzara is, proceedings crawl into tedium. Or perhaps this kind of s/m power play just doesn't hold that much interest for me. The academy rooms have cell-like iron gates in front of the doors, and even though they aren't locked, the film opens with a guard hitting each as he passes, doing a role call.

    Watch for Gazzara's sci-fi buggy car, which has room in the back for a passenger.
    helpful•31
    19
    • petershelleyau
    • Mar 31, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 20, 1957 (West Germany)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Rollins College - 1000 Holt Avenue, Winter Park, Florida, USA
    • Production company
      • Horizon Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 40 minutes
      • Black and White

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Strange One (1957)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Strange One (1957) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.