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The Long Gray Line
The Long Gray Line is a 1955 American Technicolor biographical comedy-drama film in CinemaScope directed by John Ford based on the life of Marty Maher and his autobiography, Bringing Up the Brass, co-written with Nardi Reeder Campion. Tyrone Power stars as the scrappy Irish immigrant whose 50-year career at West Point took him from a dishwasher to a non-commissioned officer and athletic instructor.
Maureen O'Hara, one of Ford's favorite leading ladies, plays Maher's wife and fellow immigrant, Mary O'Donnell. The film co-stars Ward Bond as Herman Koehler, the Master of the Sword (athletic director) and Army's head football coach (1897–1900), who first befriends Maher. Milburn Stone appears as John J. Pershing, who in 1898 swears Maher into the Army. Harry Carey Jr. makes a brief appearance as the young cadet Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Eisenhower wrote the foreword to Bringing Up the Brass.) Philip Carey plays (fictional) Army football player and future general Chuck Dotson. In addition, actress Betsy Palmer makes her screen debut as Kitty Carter.
The phrase "The Long Gray Line" is used to describe, as a continuum, all graduates and cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Many of the scenes in the film were shot on location at West Point, including the so-called "million dollar view" of the Hudson River near the parade grounds. The film was the last one in which actor Robert Francis appeared before his death at age 25 in an air crash. His rising stardom had reached third billing behind Power and O'Hara at the time of his death.
Facing forced retirement, Master Sergeant Martin Maher goes to the White House to appeal to the commander in chief, West Point graduate, and 5-star general, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who gives Marty a warm welcome and listens to his story.
Arriving from County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1898, Marty begins bussing tables. After two months he has nothing to show for it, because he is docked for every dish he breaks. When he learns that enlisted men only worry about the guardhouse, he enlists in the U.S. Army. Captain Koehler, Master of the Sword, is impressed with his fist-fighting and brings him on as an assistant in athletics instruction.
Marty meets Mrs. Koehler's cook, Mary O'Donnell, just arrived from Ireland. The Koehlers advise Mary not to engage in conversation with Marty until he re-enlists and proposes, for fear their two fiery Irish tempers will clash. They marry and settle into a house on campus. Marty becomes a corporal, and Mary saves enough money to bring his father and brother to America. Captain Koehler makes Marty a swimming instructor—after teaching him how to swim.
Mary gives birth to a boy. The cadets serenade Marty and give him a cadet saber for Martin Maher III, class of 1936. The doctor arrives with heartbreaking news. The newborn boy has died. While Mary sleeps, Marty gets drunk. The cadets go off limits to bring him home, and report themselves for doing so. In the morning Mary tells Marty she can never have another child.
The cadets become the sons the Mahers will never have. Over time, Marty earns the love and respect of men such as Omar Bradley, James Van Fleet, George Patton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower (to whom he gives advice on slowing hair loss). Marty introduces cadet "Red" Sundstrom, who is struggling with math, to a post school teacher, Kitty Carter. She offers to tutor Red. They marry after graduation in 1917, and Red goes off to war with his classmates.
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The Long Gray Line
The Long Gray Line is a 1955 American Technicolor biographical comedy-drama film in CinemaScope directed by John Ford based on the life of Marty Maher and his autobiography, Bringing Up the Brass, co-written with Nardi Reeder Campion. Tyrone Power stars as the scrappy Irish immigrant whose 50-year career at West Point took him from a dishwasher to a non-commissioned officer and athletic instructor.
Maureen O'Hara, one of Ford's favorite leading ladies, plays Maher's wife and fellow immigrant, Mary O'Donnell. The film co-stars Ward Bond as Herman Koehler, the Master of the Sword (athletic director) and Army's head football coach (1897–1900), who first befriends Maher. Milburn Stone appears as John J. Pershing, who in 1898 swears Maher into the Army. Harry Carey Jr. makes a brief appearance as the young cadet Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Eisenhower wrote the foreword to Bringing Up the Brass.) Philip Carey plays (fictional) Army football player and future general Chuck Dotson. In addition, actress Betsy Palmer makes her screen debut as Kitty Carter.
The phrase "The Long Gray Line" is used to describe, as a continuum, all graduates and cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Many of the scenes in the film were shot on location at West Point, including the so-called "million dollar view" of the Hudson River near the parade grounds. The film was the last one in which actor Robert Francis appeared before his death at age 25 in an air crash. His rising stardom had reached third billing behind Power and O'Hara at the time of his death.
Facing forced retirement, Master Sergeant Martin Maher goes to the White House to appeal to the commander in chief, West Point graduate, and 5-star general, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who gives Marty a warm welcome and listens to his story.
Arriving from County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1898, Marty begins bussing tables. After two months he has nothing to show for it, because he is docked for every dish he breaks. When he learns that enlisted men only worry about the guardhouse, he enlists in the U.S. Army. Captain Koehler, Master of the Sword, is impressed with his fist-fighting and brings him on as an assistant in athletics instruction.
Marty meets Mrs. Koehler's cook, Mary O'Donnell, just arrived from Ireland. The Koehlers advise Mary not to engage in conversation with Marty until he re-enlists and proposes, for fear their two fiery Irish tempers will clash. They marry and settle into a house on campus. Marty becomes a corporal, and Mary saves enough money to bring his father and brother to America. Captain Koehler makes Marty a swimming instructor—after teaching him how to swim.
Mary gives birth to a boy. The cadets serenade Marty and give him a cadet saber for Martin Maher III, class of 1936. The doctor arrives with heartbreaking news. The newborn boy has died. While Mary sleeps, Marty gets drunk. The cadets go off limits to bring him home, and report themselves for doing so. In the morning Mary tells Marty she can never have another child.
The cadets become the sons the Mahers will never have. Over time, Marty earns the love and respect of men such as Omar Bradley, James Van Fleet, George Patton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower (to whom he gives advice on slowing hair loss). Marty introduces cadet "Red" Sundstrom, who is struggling with math, to a post school teacher, Kitty Carter. She offers to tutor Red. They marry after graduation in 1917, and Red goes off to war with his classmates.