The Longest Yard (1974 film)

This article is about the 1974 film. For the 2005 remake, see The Longest Yard (2005 film).

The Longest Yard
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Aldrich
Screenplay byTracy Keenan Wynn
Story byAlbert S. Ruddy
Produced byAlbert S. Ruddy
StarringBurt Reynolds
Eddie Albert
Ed Lauter
Mike Conrad
CinematographyJoseph Biroc
Edited byMichael Luciano
Music byFrank De Vol
Production
companies
Albert S. Ruddy Productions
Long Road Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • August 21, 1974 (1974-08-21) (New York)
Running time
121 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.9 million[2]
Box office$43 million[3]

The Longest Yard is a 1974 American prison sports comedy-drama film directed by Robert Aldrich, written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, based on a story by producer Albert S. Ruddy, and starring Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad and James Hampton. The film was released as The Mean Machine in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The film follows a former NFL player recruiting a group of prisoners and playing football against their guards. It features many real-life football players, including Ray Nitschke of the Green Bay Packers.[4]

The film has been remade three times: as the 2001 British film Mean Machine (a shortened version of the title used for the original's UK release), starring Vinnie Jones, the 2005 film remake, The Longest Yard featuring Adam Sandler and Reynolds as coach Nate Scarborough, and as the 2015 Egyptian film Captain Masr. In the two international remakes from 2001 and 2015, the sport was changed from gridiron football to association football.

  1. ^ "THE LONGEST YARD (X)". British Board of Film Classification. September 27, 1974. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  2. ^ Alain Silver and James Ursini, Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich?, Limelight, 1995 p 292
  3. ^ "The Longest Yard (1974)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  4. ^ Gerhard Falk (2005), Football And American Identity, Haworth Press, ISBN 978-0-7890-2527-2