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By
NICK ZEGARAC
The Man in the Gray Flannel
Suit (1956) is something we don't get from our
cinema-going experiences anymore; an analytic and
methodical glimpse into the issues of family
strain that either drive us to distraction or
build our moral character. The film stars the
quintessential man of integrity, Gregory Peck as
Tom Rath. He's a congenial good-natured gentleman
whose career doesn't seem to be living up to the
expectations of his wife, Betsy (Jennifer Jones).
Prodded by Betsy's nagging, Tom takes on a more
lucrative position at an ad agency, then discovers
that a part of his almost forgotten past has come
back to haunt him. During WWII Tom and fellow
soldier buddy, Caesar Gardella (Keenan Wynn)
picked up a pair of Italian girls and had some
behind-closed-doors fun to alleviate the pressures
of war and homesickness. That night results in the
birth of an illegitimate child. What to do? Tell
Betsy? Go to Italy? See the child? What to do?
Working from a masterful bit of authorship by
Sloan Wilson, director/writer Nunnelly Johnson has
brilliantly conceived a poignant cinematic
reflection of a man pushed to the edge of his
temperament, who decides to rise to the occasion
rather than toss everything he's worked hard for
into the ash can. Gregory Peck is the very essence
of manly integrity -- a stoic charmer that
completely satisfies and buttresses the whole
film. Yes, the ending is a rather matter-of-fact
conclusion to the whole quandary, and in a manner
befitting 50s sexual politics, but until then the
story functions as something of a zeitgeist for
honor, self-reliance and self-reflection in the
every man that is sourly lacking in any of our
contemporary representations of cinematic
masculinity.
The transfer from Fox Home Video is, in a word,
marvelous. It's Cinemascope (2:35:1) and glowing
from corner to corner in the rich vibrancy of 50s
Technicolor. Transitions between scenes suffer
from the inherent flaw of all early scope movies
(a momentary degradation in color and sudden
grainy characteristic). But this is a flaw in the
original photography, not the DVD transfer. Colors
are rich, sumptuous and bold. Contrast levels are
bang on. There are rare hints of film grain,
mostly in the wartime flashback that uses actual
newsreel footage. Contrast levels are also a bit
lower than one would expect during these scenes.
Overall, the image will surely NOT disappoint. The
audio is remixed to stereo and recaptures much of
the original vibrancy of six track magnetic
stereo. Extras include audio commentaries,
trailers and a restoration comparison. |
