About Face is a 1952 American musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Gordon MacRae, Eddie Bracken and Virginia Gibson.[2][3] It was future Oscar winner Joel Grey's film debut. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of the 1936 play Brother Rat by John Monks Jr. and Fred F. Finklehoffe and a remake of the 1938 film of the same title.[4]
| About Face | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Screenplay by | Peter Milne |
| Based on | Brother Rat 1936 play by John Monks Jr. Fred F. Finklehoffe |
| Produced by | William Jacobs |
| Starring | Gordon MacRae Eddie Bracken Virginia Gibson |
| Cinematography | Bert Glennon |
| Edited by | Thomas Reilly |
| Music by | Ray Heindorf |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.6 million (US)[1] |
Synopsis
editThree friends enlist at a military academy in the American South. While two of them pursue romantic entanglements, the third tries to keep quiet the fact he is secretly married and his wife is expecting a child.
Cast
edit- Gordon MacRae as Tony Williams
- Eddie Bracken as Biff Roberts
- Dick Wesson as Dave Crouse
- Virginia Gibson as Betty Long
- Phyllis Kirk as Alice Wheatley
- Aileen Stanley Jr. as Lorna Carter
- Joel Grey as Bender
- Larry Keating as Colonel Long
- Cliff Ferre as Lieut. Jones
- John Baer as Hal Carlton
- Mabel Albertson as Mrs. Carter
- James Best as Joe
- Ferris Taylor as Doctor
Reception
editThe film was a box-office failure. Bracken later said that "the main reason why audiences rejected About Face, I think, is that most of us were too damn old for the roles."[5]
References
edit- ^ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
- ^ "About Face (1952) - Roy del Ruth | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
- ^ Erickson p.385
- ^ Goble p.331
- ^ McClelland, Doug (1989). Hollywood Talks Turkey - The Screen's Greatest Flops. Starbrite.
Bibliography
edit- Erickson, Hal. Military Comedy Films: A Critical Survey and Filmography of Hollywood Releases Since 1918. McFarland, 2012.
- Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
External links
edit- About Face at IMDb
- About Face at AllMovie
- About Face at the TCM Movie Database
- About Face at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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