| The Long Gray Line | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Ford |
| Screenplay by | Edward Hope |
| Based on | Bringing Up the Brass by Martin Maher and Nardi Reeder Campion |
| Produced by | Robert Arthur |
| Starring | Tyrone Power Maureen O'Hara |
| Narrated by | Tyrone Power |
| Cinematography | Charles Lawton Jr. |
| Edited by | William A. Lyon |
| Music by | George Duning |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Rota Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 137 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,748,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $4.1 million (US)[1] |
The Long Gray Line is a 1955 American Cinemascope Technicolor biographical comedy-drama film in CinemaScope directed by John Ford[2][3] based on the life of Marty Maher and his autobiography, Bringing Up the Brass, co-written with Nardi Reeder Campion.[4] 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.[5]
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" [6] 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.
- ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
- ^ Variety film review; February 9, 1955, page 10.
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; February 12, 1955, page 26
- ^ The screen credit shortens the title of the book, which is Bringing Up the Brass: My 55 Years at West Point.
- ^ "irish-society". irish-society. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- ^ Silk, Steve (May 13, 1990). "Get to the point of history in upstate new york: [home edition]". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2024-11-19.