Brother Rat | |
---|---|
Directed by | William Keighley |
Written by | Richard Macaulay Jerry Wald |
Based on | Brother Rat 1936 play by John Monks, Jr. and Fred Finklehoffe |
Produced by | Robert Lord Hal B. Wallis |
Starring | Ronald Reagan Jane Wyman Priscilla Lane Wayne Morris Johnnie Davis Jane Bryan |
Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
Edited by | William Holmes |
Music by | Heinz Roemheld |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Brother Rat is a 1938 American comedy drama film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley, and starring Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Eddie Albert (in his film debut), Jane Wyman, and Wayne Morris.
The film is an adaptation of the successful Broadway play of the same name written by two former VMI cadets, John Monks, Jr. and Fred Finklehoffe, which ran for 577 performances between December 1936 and April 1938. Albert and supporting actor William Tracy reprised their roles from the stage productions. [1]
After the film's production, Reagan married Wyman in 1940. [2] The title refers to the term used for cadets in their first year at the Institute. Scenes of the film were shot on site in Lexington on the institute's historic parade ground, and the baseball game scene was filmed at Alumni Memorial Field.
At the Virginia Military Institute, roommates Billy Randolph (Wayne Morris), Dan Crawford (Ronald Reagan) and Bing Edwards (Eddie Albert) are three good-natured troublemakers who are trying to clean up their act in the weeks leading up to graduation. Still, try as they might, they cannot seem to stop breaking the rules, which include sneaking girlfriends on campus, and pawning the college's valuable sword to get money to bet on a baseball game. When the secretly married Edwards learns his wife (Jane Bryan) is pregnant, his preoccupation leads to events that really send everything out of order.
Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times called the film "an excellent transcription of the play, loyal to all its screenable material and matching the playwrights' lively humors in the added scenes." [3] "None of the factors that made the play a success has been lost ... Albert gives a splendid performance," reported Variety . [4] Film Daily wrote that Keighley gave the film "warm, sympathetic direction and has injected many human touches," and called Eddie Albert "a definite screen 'find'." [5] Harrison's Reports declared it "A delightful comedy" with "excellent" performances. [6] John Mosher of The New Yorker called it "a serviceable time-filler." [7]
A sequel, Brother Rat and a Baby , with several of the same main actors, was released in 1940.
In 1952, Warner Brothers remade it as a Technicolor musical, About Face , with Gordon MacRae, Eddie Bracken and in his first film, Joel Grey.
Test Pilot is a 1938 American drama film directed by Victor Fleming, starring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, and featuring Lionel Barrymore. The Oscar-nominated film tells the story of a daredevil test pilot (Gable), his wife (Loy), and his best friend (Tracy).
Jane Wyman was an American actress. She received an Academy Award (1948), four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.
The Lane Sisters were a family of American singers and actresses. The sisters were Leota Lane, Lola Lane, Rosemary Lane and Priscilla Lane.
Jerome Irving Wald was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs.
General Electric Theater was an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
Edward Albert Heimberger was an American actor and humanitarian. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and the second in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid. Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films, traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical Oklahoma!, and the sadistic prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard. He starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the 1960s television sitcom Green Acres and as Frank MacBride in the 1970s crime drama Switch. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on Falcon Crest, with Jane Wyman.
Noah Lindsey Beery was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Beery Jr. seldom broke away from playing supporting roles. Active as an actor in films or television for well over half a century, he was best known for playing James Garner's character's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, in the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). His father, Noah Nicholas Beery enjoyed a similarly lengthy film career as an extremely prominent supporting actor in major films, although the elder Beery was also frequently a leading man during the silent film era.
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 American drama film starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn and featuring the Lane Sisters: Lola Lane, Rosemary Lane and Priscilla Lane. Based on the play Fly Away Home by Dorothy Bennett and Irving White, the film was directed by Michael Curtiz. It was released by Warner Bros. on June 23, 1939.
John Elmer Carson, known as Jack Carson, was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant. He appeared in such dramas as Mildred Pierce (1945), A Star is Born (1954), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). He worked for RKO and MGM, but most of his notable work was for Warner Bros.
Wayne Morris was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace. He appeared in many films, including Paths of Glory (1957), The Bushwackers (1952), and the title role of Kid Galahad (1937).
Frank McCarthy was the secretary of the General Staff of the United States Department of War during World War II; briefly United States Assistant Secretary of State for Administration in 1945; and later a distinguished film producer, whose production Patton won the 1970 Academy Award for Best Picture.
June Travis was an American film actress.
William Jackson Keighley was an American stage actor and Hollywood film director.
Robert Ellis Scott was an American stage, film and television actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1938 and 1994, according to the Internet Movie Database. Sometimes he was credited as Mark Roberts, Bob Scott, Robert E. Scott, or Robert Scott.
The VMI Keydets baseball team represents the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. The team is a member of the Southern Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. VMI's first baseball team was fielded in 1866. The team plays its home games at Gray–Minor Stadium in Lexington, Virginia. The Keydets are coached by Sam Roberts.
Brother Rat and a Baby is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and written by John Cherry Monks, Jr. and Fred F. Finklehoffe. It is the sequel to the 1938 film Brother Rat. The film stars Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris, Jane Bryan in her final role, Eddie Albert, Jane Wyman, and Ronald Reagan. The film was released by Warner Bros. on January 13, 1940.
Priscilla Lane was an American actress, and the youngest sibling in the Lane Sisters' family of singers and actresses. She is best remembered for her roles in the films The Roaring Twenties (1939) co-starring with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart; Saboteur (1942), an Alfred Hitchcock film in which she plays the heroine; and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), in which she portrays Cary Grant's fiancée and bride.
An Angel from Texas is a 1940 comedy film directed by Ray Enright and written by Fred Niblo Jr. and Bertram Millhauser. The film stars Eddie Albert, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. The film was released by Warner Bros. on April 27, 1940. The film is based on the hit 1925 play The Butter and Egg Man, written by George S. Kaufman.
Ambush is a 1939 American drama film directed by Kurt Neumann and written by Laura Perelman and S. J. Perelman. The film stars Gladys Swarthout, Lloyd Nolan, William "Bill" Henry, William Frawley, Ernest Truex and Broderick Crawford. The film was released on January 20, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.
The Kid from Kokomo is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Lewis Seiler and written by Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald. The film stars Pat O'Brien, Wayne Morris, Joan Blondell, May Robson, Jane Wyman and Stanley Fields. The film was released by Warner Bros. on May 23, 1939.