Movie Biographies: The Long Gray Line

1955 Military Biography
From Columbia Pictures
Directed by John Ford

Starring
Tyrone Power
Maureen O'Hara
Robert Francis
Donald Crisp
Ward Bond
Betsy Palmer
Phil Carey
William Leslie
Harry Carey Jr.
Peter Graves
Sean McClory
Patrick Wayne

The story of Martin Maher, West Point's longtime athletic director, is the focus of this John Ford project.  Maher, born in Ireland in 1876, arrives as the gates of the esteemed military academy in 1898.  Told in flashback as Maher speaks with President Eisenhower, a former cadet, Maher didn't have any idea what West Point was or what he wanted to do.  He just wanted a job.  He began washing dishes and waiting tables and then became  a non-commissioned officer, athletic instructor and finally master sergeant.

He was a pugnacious young man who attracted the attention of the  
athletic director who saw something in him.  The director brought him on as an assistant boxing coach although he usually put Marty on the floor.  He then became the swimming coach even though he couldn't swim a lick.

What he could do was love those cadets and encourage them to be the best men and soldiers they could possibly be.  Marty and his wife Mary had a stillborn child and could never have any future children so those cadets all became their surrogate sons.  The couple would live on the campus and their home was the center for all the cadets.  For generations cadets knew Marty Maher was in their corner and they loved him as much as he loved them.

The story focuses both on Maher's life with the corps and on his long and loving marriage and is built to include the time that his father and brother came to live with them. It also shines a light on another family, a cadet that Marty especially likes who is killed, and his widow and then their grown son.

More times in his directing career than not, John Ford came across a story that he loved and would search out a studio to help him  bring it to the screen.  But in this case, Columbia's Harry Cohn came across Maher's autobiography, Bringing Up the Brass, and thought it was perfect for his studio.  Cohn had been having great success with different kinds of military films (the studio had just released The Caine Mutiny and a year earlier won a best picture Oscar for From Here to Eternity) and thought Line would be a great addition.

Cohn knew immediately that Ford was the man he wanted to helm the project, not only because the crusty, old director loved making war films but because he loved being Irish and telling their stories (some have called Line Irish caricature).  Ford was also not otherwise employed so it didn't take much arm-twisting to bring him aboard.

Ford then did what he always did... he hired his merry band of filmmakers, commonly called John Ford Stock Film Company.  For this film, in front of the camera were Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Donald Crisp, Harry Carey Jr., Patrick Wayne and his father John.  Before the cameras rolled, however, the Duke had to pull out because he couldn't finish up on Blood Alley.

Before Ford could have one of his famous fits, O'Hara suggested that he think of hiring Tyrone Power as a replacement.  She pointed out that they were friends (having worked together previously on The Black Swan) and that he also happened to be of Irish heritage.  That's all it took and Power was on the set.  He was thrilled, too.  He knew Ford from their time at 20th Century Fox in the 1930's and the actor had always wanted to work with him but it never happened.  

Power knew it would be a wonderful role for him.  He would be the centerpiece of the film and would have the chance to age from his 20's to his 70's.  He would go on to say The Long Gray Line was his favorite of all his films.  The New York Times applauded his performance, citing him as Mr. Chips with a brogue.

 From left: Crisp, Mamie Eisenhower, O'Hara, Leslie, the real Maher, Francis at premier

O'Hara as the shy, would-be girlfriend and the dutiful wife so in love with her husband brought her Irish charm to the role.  Betsy Palmer (who remembers her?) also excels in a focal role as the Maher family friend, wife of a cadet and mother of one.  All the Ford reliables... Bond, Crisp, Carey Jr., Wayne are here turning in one colorful performance after another.

O'Hara, however, was not a happy lady during the filming.  Ford always needed someone to pick on in his films.  Despite having made three prior films with the cranky director, O'Hara was more than surprised to find she was on the receiving end of his wrath.  In her autobiography, 'Tis Herself, she says he picked on her from the moment she appeared on the set until it was time to call it a day.

She attributed it all to one day when she walked into Ford's office without knocking and caught him kissing a big-name actor (apparently not in the film) on the mouth.  They stopped when they heard her and she quickly diverted her eyes.  Much later the actor claimed he was as surprised as she was.  Whatever the truth, whatever happened, Ford was unmerciful to her.  It is surprising that she chose to work for him one more time two years later in The Wings of Eagles.

Francis is third-billed and doesn't come into the film until after the halfway mark.  It is probably the least showy role in his four films but Columbia had high hopes for their hot new star.  Sadly, The Long Gray Line was also his final film because a few months after its release, the handsome, talented Francis was killed in a small plane that he was piloting.

Despite the unpleasantries surrounding Ford on the film, his expertise at glorious storytelling is in full evidence.  One of the film's emotional spots is, of course, the ending where Maher is maneuvered to a parade field by several high-ranking officers where he is surprised by a tribute to him as the band plays a series of Irish tunes.  Through his teary eyes Maher sees the ghosts of past loved ones and friends from the academy marching.

The film refers to the class of 1915 as the class that stars fell on.  Of the 164 graduates that year, 59 went on to attain the rank of general, more than any other class in the history of the school.  And it is from that we get the title of the film.  Maher was always proud to be a part of that history.

West Point cadets attend premier

The movie radiates with tenderness, intimacy and emotion and a great deal of comedy due to smart writing and a lively cast, many of whom wore their Irishness on their sleeves.  It also serves as a great look at the tradition and history of West Point as few films have.  Filming was actually done on the campus during the summer when few cadets were present.  It was Ford's first film in Cinemascope and the process presents West Point and the Hudson River beautifully.

The film portrays Maher as having been in the army for all of his 50 years when in actuality he was in the army for 30 years and stayed on for another 20 as a civilian.  Maher lived long enough to see his life portrayed on the silver screen.  He and Mary and his father and brothers and their families are all buried on the grounds of West Point.

Here, have a peek at some short clips from the film:

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