As much as I admire John Ford, I found this film a little overly sentimental and with far too much Fordian Irish humour in the first half of the film.The film tells the story of Martin "Marty" Maher, an enlisted man who spent over 50 years at the West Point Military Academy as an instructor. It covers the period from his arrival at West Point as a newly landed immigrant to his meeting with President Eisenhauer some fifty years later.Tyrone Power does a excellent job as Maher aging as he does from a young man in his 20s to his 70s. His makeup is quite convincing and realistic for the time. The ever beautiful Maureen O'Hara plays Mary O'Donnell, Maher's wife. The film follows their relationship from their first meeting to their last.Ford's affection for the military is quite evident. He gives us seemingly endless march pasts featuring "long gray lines" of cadets along with their marching band. The film is beautifully photographed with plenty of green grass in evidence. There are a couple of beautiful framed shots, one of the wedding of the William Leslie and Betsy Palmer characters and another at a tragic moment in Maher's life.The John Ford stock company is well represented in this picture. Included in the large cast are Ward Bond as Maher's first commanding officer, Donald Crisp as his father, Sean McClory as his brother, Harry Carey Jr. as Dwight Eisenhauer and a very young Patrick Wayne in his first film as the cadet "Cherub" Overton. Willis Boucher and Jack Pennick also have smaller parts.Also in the cast are Robert Francis, who died tragically shortly after completing this film, Phil Carey, Martin Milner, Peter Graves and Milburn Stone.Be sure and have some Kleenex handy for the finale.

John Ford often veered toward the sentimental, and he gives himself over to it completely in "The Long Gray Line," a 1955 film starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. The script is based on the book by Marty Maher, "Bringing up the Brass," where Irish immigrant Maher writes about his many years as a noncommissioned officer at West Point.Ford intended John Wayne to play Marty, but when he didn't, he called Power, who was in New York, and offered him the role. Power accepted it before Ford could finish his sentence, saying, if you have a part for me, I'll play it.Maureen O'Hara plays Marty's wife Mary, and the cast includes Betsy Palmer, Robert Francis, Peter Graves, Donald Crisp, Philip Carey, Patrick Wayne, Ward Bone, and Harry Carey Jr."The Long Gray Line" is a real tearjerker, and if you thought Tyrone Power couldn't act, rethink it - he does a beautiful job and really makes you cry as Marty. Have a box of tissues nearby. It's a wonderful performance.I never understand people who think Tyrone Power couldn't act - all it tells me is they haven't seen enough of his films to realize how versatile he was and what dreck Zanuck gave him. He was too handsome for the critics to ever take him seriously. I don't think Zanuck did either.Power and O'Hara made a great team in "The Black Swan," and they make a great one here. The beautiful O'Hara gives a lovely performance.Enjoy it.

Just watched this movie (again) last night and still love it after more than 50 years! Having read all 27 comments posted here up to this point, there's little to add, but this might be of some interest to Patrick Wayne fans. I thought Wayne looked a bit young to be a West Point cadet, so checked his biography on this site, which said he was born in 1939. That makes him only 15 during the making of this film (assuming it was made in 1954, as it was released in 1955.) Nevertheless, he pulled the part off well, as lots of college-age students look younger than they are.I noted in other comments that Ford had initially wanted John Wayne for the part of Marty, which I can't imagine. Tyrone Power was perfect for the role.

I saw this movie on TV in the early to mid 60's and then recently caught it again. It is a bit corny and a bit dated and it does play a little loose with the facts of the real Marty Maher's life BUT I did enjoy it immensely. I think it is one of Tyrone Power's best performances and it makes me wonder what kind of a career he might have had if he did not die so young. Having known a number of real Irishmen, I thought his accent was pretty good. He did appear a bit old for the character in the early going. Power was not aging well. He looked even worse in "The Sun Also Rises" and "Witness for the Prosecution". I suppose that might be due to the health problems that resulted in his death at age 44.