The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Now I now why everyone had to move to the suburbs in the 1950's. Everyone was looking for Lee J. Cobb, who plays the benificent judge who keeps hauling Gregory Peck's derriere out of the fire. Peck is just your average war hero now slogging through corporate trenches who runs into a problem or two but the suburb-based judge is there to bail him out. Fredric March is the business tycoon who's sacrificed his family for the company, a TV network, wouldn't you know? Spend a lot of time with your family, March advises Peck. I would but they keep watching TV, our star suggests. Then smash that TV, March declares, undoubtedly echoing the view of movie studios of that period who could see the handwriting on the wall. But a more telling vision of what was to come is shown when Peck sends the children to bed but lingers to watch the cowboy movie that entranced the kids. Instead of leaving, Peck sits down in front of the set as the scene fades. As any kind of insight into corporate light, this film moves far too stiffly to be critical but there's a soap opera feel to the goings-on that is somewhat captivating.

In my youth i boycotted the gray flannel universe and missed seeing this motion picture. Jennifer Jones' Mrs. Rath is one very good reason to be happy about this (face goes ugly and sinister when "intense" i.e. pushy & forceful). But Frederick March's performance as Mr. Hopkins is remarkably deep; he could have mellowed me out a little politically and philosophically, and i'm sorry i didn't catch his performance sooner. Gregory Peck is uncanny in his ability to play every emotion with the limited range of gestures allowed a totally pent-up, self-controlled man. I note mainly that the movie is a virtual textbook on what was lacking in the self-centered American woman hooked on her own appetites and self-pity. Grand finale, she goes self-righteous. Marisa Pavan's Italian girl is, by contrast, lovely and hauntingly tender. (In vowing he has forgotten her and declaring that he worships his wife, does Tom Rath emasculate himself?) The fifties high style look is a piece of design history, again, showing the American attempt at copying European style. For the fabulously wealthy, Oriental art. In the boardroom, Bracques. For the upwardly mobile, change of residence. Nunally Johnson captures all this faithfully. The movie is a time capsule, together with a remarkable view into a man's mind in its social context. The presence of the TV set and appearance as medic by DeForest Kelley ("It can't be!" i thought, when i heard "This man is dead, Captain.") make the movie prophetic. The African-American sergeant also provides an insight into the human versus the proto-gray-flannel (affluent WASP). The gray flannel universe still exists, but what film maker can penetrate it and show its emotional helplessness the way Nunally Johnson did in 1955-56? This film almost makes it, but the parts with Lee J. Cobb as a kind of legal guardian angel seem designed to please the audience, to soften things for the audience. What do you think?

SPOILERS HERE AND THERE This is a good example of how abysmal melodrama can turn .First of all,Jennifer Jones,who's supposed to be the female lead only appears thirty minutes !And it is an absurdly overlong yarn which drags on and on and on. For the central plot-because there are ,like in any melodrama ,plenty of subplots-Peck had a son in Italy when he went on a fling with Marisa Pavan during WW2,unbeknowst to his beloved faithful wife Jennifer.A duel -not in the sun,like in Vidor's classic- is around the corner. The director's name did not go down in history ,quite rightly so:there's not a ghost of an idea of directing in this film:most of the time ,the characters seem to be on a stage,ready to make an almighty fuss which never comes .The flashbacks -which are among the worst in history-comes at the most awkward moment,because of a man -an ominous music(Herrmann) can be heard- whom Peck saw on the train.AH!And Jennifer told her hubby "you've changed since the war" . The flashbacks tell us about Peck's racy -and tragic- past.Then the movie completely leaves the memories behind for a long long while and focuses on an uninteresting hodgepodge of subplots: a campaign for mental disease;social advancement-a very dramatic scene shows Peck begging for a few bucks more-;the hero's boss who 's got big problems with his wife whom he's never loved and his daughter who does not want -gulp!- to go to the university and gets married -with a boy from a good background,don't panic-without even-sigh- phoning him;and to top it all ,a priceless story of heritage,the end of which we"ll never know. When it comes back to the essential,that is to say the Peck/Jones "duel",I must say I had forgotten all about the husband's secret.But the moral is safe:the hero has understood -and it took him a 2 1/2 movie to notice that!-that money can't buy happiness and that you've got to be a good husband and father -in every sense of the term- to live a fulfilled life. This is a stodgy dull movie which even shows condescension -the cap's ex-soldier who became an elevator attendant-and even contempt-the old servant who used to take care of the grandma is looked upon as the villain;another moral should be :if you want to stay virtuous,make sure you're part of the folks on the hill.

I can't say I was impressed with this movie, but I managed to watch it all the way through. It's very long... and boring. I found the flashbacks confusing and kept wondering what they were leading up to, so it distracted me from the present day they were in. Jennifer Jones was shrill and aggravating. Actually, all the women in the film were annoying. It was almost the end when some of the pieces matched up with the plot, but still there were scattered remnants that didn't fit. Gregory Peck was good. His acting couldn't save the movie though. The music was wretched; something along the line of "Vertigo" but more screechy. Three out of ten.

Nunnally Johnson is a good writer - but maybe not such a good director. This film is so dull to look at that it almost dies. The Cinemascope frame makes it look all the duller, and the cheap, fake sets look very, well, cheap and fake! But the central idea here is fascinating. The film takes a serious look at how difficult it was for men to return to ordinary everyday existences after the horror of the war. Gregory Peck is fine in the lead role, but Jennifer Jones is a little shrill as his wife. The supporting cast is excellent. Fredric March gives one of his best performances as Peck's troubled boss - and Ann Harding is sensational as his unloved wife. And Henry Daniell as Peck's business rival almost steals the picture. But the film is way over-long and the ending very trite. Still worth a look.

The acting is so good you can't tell anyone is acting. Fredric March is the greatest American film actor. In this film he is the father who built the company and lost his family. The cinematography is so beautiful, the music and direction are first rate. Peck is the everyman who has to make the choice of career or family. Ann Harding (March's long suffering wife) is a stand-out in a small role. Everyone in grad school should see this movie before they take that job with the firm.

Multiple plots blend to perfection. Each story line (sub plot) explores the shaping of beliefs and attitudes and character. Humanistic approach to "mental illness" issues, trauma of war (PTSD), vulnerability for love, forgiveness, compassion, fairness, responsibility, greed, fairness, ambition, and value of family time. Wonderfully acted, scripted, and directed.

A wonderful film about a returning WW II vet having trouble fitting back into society, and feeling like a cog in some giant wheel. He also has to deal with flashbacks, and his indiscretion, which wind up affecting his marriage. A classic film. Should be on all Top 100 lists.

In Connecticut, the former WWII officer Tom Rath (Gregory Peck) and his wife Betsy (Jennifer Jones) are happily married middle class couple with three children. However, they have financial difficulties and Tom commutes every day to Manhattan to work in a charitable organization receiving a low salary. Tom is tormented by the traumatic experience in war, where he killed seventeen persons including a young German soldier and he occasionally recalls his love affair with the Italian Maria (Marisa Pavan) in 1945. When Tom inherits his grandmother's house, her former servant claims the real state but using forged document. Meanwhile Tom is hired to work as public relation of a television network and is assigned to write a speech to the owner, Ralph Hopkins (Frederic March). Soon he needs to decide whether he will be a dedicated executive or 9 to 5 fellows. Further, he learns that he has a son with Maria and she is very needy and he needs to choose between telling the truth to Betsy or keep the secret. "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" is a realistic and humanistic drama about choices of an insecure man with a war trauma that frequently haunts him. Tom Rath sometimes is reluctant, thinking in the safety of his family first, but always takes the right decision supported by his beloved wife Betsy. The story has many subplots and one memorable character, Judge Bernstein, performed by Lee J. Cobb. The story is long but never boring. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Homem do Terno Cinzento" ("Man in the Gray Suit")

While this is not one of Gregory Peck's more famous films, it sure deserves to be--particularly for its deep, complex and amazingly adult plot. Now I do not say "adult" as in sleazy or violent, but because the film dares to tackle the true problem caused by overseas romances during WWII. Peck is a top executive with his firm and is happily married. Life is very good. However, unexpectedly, Peck discovers that he's got a child living in Italy. It seems that when he was there in the war, his brief romance had resulted in a child. He never knew that had occurred and being a decent man at heart, when he learns he can't allow the child to continue as just another little bastard. Despite every reason to pretend the child did not exist (pressure from his wife and boss), he bravely did the right thing--and that is the essence of so many of Peck's greatest characters. They weren't perfect, but like Atticus Finch in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, he acted even when it would have been so much easier and safer to have done nothing. A wonderful film.