The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)

This 1990s assessment of The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit reveals both an outsatnding ignorance of the culture which shaped this film and the danger of being smugly confident of judgement despite that ignorance. It it a caution against imposing our cultural assumptions on a very different time. More important, it indicates the limits of subjective readings of a film.

"Middle-class middle-America...the inside story? Hardly, but nonetheless a surprisingly engrossing, if shallow and overlong, Hollywood vision of 1950s thirtysomethings, with [Gregory]Peck turning in a dignified title role. Tom Rath has a $10K mortgage, three brats, and psycho-Betsy ([Jenniger] Jones). Fun. He also has bad memories of WWII, where he knifed a German during a freezing winter for his coat, had a fling with wistful peasant Maria ([Marisa] Pavan), and threw a grenade which accidentally killed his best friend. Oops. Acquiring a new, lucrative position writing speeches for avuncular company president Ralph ([Frederick] March), Tom must choose between working overtime on the job or on his relationship with psycho-Betsy. Hmm. And what about his grandmother's estate? And that kid he fathered during the war? My! Don't worry--Lee J. Cobb is on hand to tell us at the finale that "God's in His heaven and all's right with the world." Whew. Totally hollow trash, with a hysteria-prone Jennifer Jones displaying an odd crease down the middle of her face. So slickly dished up, though, you can feel yourself sliding around on the sofa."

Cast

Gregory Peck, Tom Rath

Jennifer Jones, Betsy Rath

Fredric March, Ralph Hopkins

Marisa Pavan, Maria

Ann Harding. Mrs. Hopkins

Lee J. Cobb, Judge Bernstein

Keenan Wynn, Caesar Gardella

Gene Lockhart, Hawthorne

Arthur O'Connell, Walker

Henry Daniell, Bill Ogden

Connie Gilchrist, Mrs. Manter

Production Credits

Producer, Darryl F. Zanuck

Director, Nunnally Johnson

Writer, Nunnally Johnson (based on the novel by Sloan Wilson)

Cinematographer, Charles Clarke

Editor, Dorothy Spencer

Music Composer, Bernard Herrmann

Art Director, Lyle Wheeler