Fraternity Row (film)

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Fraternity Row
Fraternity Row FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed byThomas J. Tobin
Written by Charles Gary Allison
Produced byCharles Gary Allison
Thomas Joachim
Thomas Pope
StarringPeter Fox
Gregory Harrison
Scott Newman
Nancy Morgan
Wendy Phillips
Narrated by Cliff Robertson
Cinematography Peter Gibbons
Edited by Eugene Fournier
Music by Michael Corner
Theme song by Don McLean
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • June 3, 1977 (1977-06-03)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English

Fraternity Row is a 1977 American drama film portraying life in a 1950s fraternity at a fictional college.

Contents

Plot

College students pledge the Gamma Nu Pi fraternity at a fictional college [1] and endure common hazing practices such as humiliation, forced eating of onions and severe paddlings.

Cast

Development

The film was originally Charles Gary Allison's thesis as a film student at the University of Southern California. [2] It is said to have been inspired by the 1959 hazing of Kappa Sigma pledge Richard Swanson, who died after attempting to swallow a large piece of raw liver without chewing. [3] [4]

Reception

Fraternity Row met with generally positive reviews, but the film saw very light business at the box office.

The film has not been released on DVD, although it was briefly available on VHS cassette in the early 1980s.

See also

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References

  1. Canry, Vincent (June 4, 1977). "'Fraternity Row,' a 50's Film, Plays Neighborhoods". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  2. "Fraternity Row". Variety. December 31, 1976. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  3. "Hazing death investigation is demanded". Spokane Daily Chronicle. September 18, 1959.
  4. Nuwker, Hank (January 29, 2004). The Hazing Reader. Indiana University Press. p. XXVI. ISBN   0253343704.