The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Starring:Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Marisa Pavan, Lee J. Cobb, Ann Harding, Keenan Wynn, Gene Lockhart, Gigi Perreau, Portland Mason, Arthur O'Connell, Henry Daniell, Connie Gilchrist, Joseph Sweeney, Sandy Descher, Mickey Maga, Jerry Hall, Geraldine Wall, Mario Siletti, Roy Glenn
Director: Nunnally Johnson
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

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Gregory Peck plays a young New York executive who defies the wisdom of the corporate class by deciding his family is more important than the offer of a new job. Lots of melodrama, guilt, and a revelation about a wartime affair (told in flashback), but this well-oiled, good-looking 1956 film still holds up pretty well. Based on a novel by Sloan Wilson, the script and direction are by Nunnally Johnson (The Three Faces of Eve). --Tom Keogh

Description

Based on the novel by Sloan Wilson, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit stars Gregory Peck as a haunted New York executive whp defies convention and decides his family is more important than his career in this post-war melodrama scripted and directed by the celebrated Nunnally Johnson (The Three Faces of Eve).

Customer Reviews:

Dated classic from the Fifties.......2007-05-23

While this may have been a classic film from the 50s, it now appears rather dated in the acting and direction compared to the films of 2007. The film plods along slowly, and Gregory Peck does little to improve things with his standard stiff, wooden acting. The story may have been good on paper (and I'm sure the source material was excellent) but the film comes across very awkward, stiff, and melodramatic.

Scenes from a Marriage.......2007-05-22

For some reason, I didn't think I'd seen "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" before when I watched it last night. However, I readily remembered a number of scenes I seen many years ago. Most of the scenes were odd ones involving what I considered to be strange behavior or dialogue. The first one that comes up is the "biography" that the Gregory Peck character has to write for his executive job interview. He gets an hour by himself to write about himself and how he'll be an asset to the National Broadcasting Association (or whatever it's called). Off by himself, he is focussed on a difficult WWII flashback and comes up with three or four sentences that says, essentionally, "What a dumb idea; just hire me". I thought it was extremely lame but the head honcho, played rather absent-mindedly by Fredrick March, thought it was outstandingly original. Thus begins an akward job that doesn't seem to involve anything other than writing a speech for a medical convention. The whole executive staff seems to be involved with "The Speech". Peck's offering gets tossed which is what should have happened with his "biography" instead. Meanwhile, March has a confusing scene with his ex-wife about their 18 year old daughter in which the ex asks March to try and straighten her out. She says that if he doesn't at least try to do this, she'll never speak to him again. People are saying absolutes and accussations left and right in this movie. There is a lot of personal issues that come up but we never get to hear "The Speech". Maybe that's just as well; with so many contributors, it was probably a cure for insomnia. There's an excellent part played by Lee J. Cobb who, with Gregory Peck's performance, nearly saves the film. The ending is strong or else I would only have given this movie "3 Stars".

I mentioned having seen the movie before because those same scenes I mentioned had been in the back of my mind all these years (I just had it mixed up as to which Gregory Peck movie they were from). I guess it says a lot when so many scenes (and there were others as well) stay with you for so long. Maybe I was just confused by how such seemingly important people spent so much time doing nothing. This is a movie about business vs. family and the choices those seeking success need to make. It attempts to portray the pros and cons of both choices (office politics vs. unattentive children, for example) yet the way so many people over-react to the situations that come up alienated me from giving the movie's message more serious attention. Maybe you'll have better luck with it. At least you ought to get a kick out of the rich folk's interior decorator.

OK period piece.......2007-05-10

It is kind of an odd movie to have been made in the mid fifties. It's themes seem more like a movie made in the seventies: the horror of war, PTSD, impacts of infidelity, conflicts of career advancement vs. family obligations. The story is ahead of it's time and is enjoyable.
Though the production values are attractive, the script is meandering and some of the performances are melodramatic.
Overall a OK period piece.

.......Corporate America versus Middle America..... [1956 ].......2007-04-19

What will it be??... as Gregory Peck [Tom Rath] must decide for his future...he is a man of principle coupled with discipline learned from his military past, by which a 'flashback' pops out in his memory/bank while on his daily commute into NYC...how odd, these ne'er forgotten images ingrained, all of a sudden arise from one lil sighting; nonetheless, it shows the PTSD syndrome within those men who were locked in close combat, which images are now far removed from their present civilian daily rush of life...this one scene piqued my total interest in Sloane Wilson's adaptation from his book [bestseller] to the technicolor film production...Peck portrays a good man, devoted husband, observant father as this movie revolves around him for the most part; unfortunately, a very and much talented and beautiful woman [Jennifer Jones] is hardly noticed with mundane prose, too bad, because she and Peck had sultry chemistry in, "Duel in the Sun" previously...Frederick March [CEO] knows exactly the dilemma Peck wrestles with if he wants to come on board full knowing his 'other' life may become flotsam...Peck does the right thing for..Tom Rath...I won't spoil the ending for you...great book and a better film reproduction into PTSD and the personal ramifications that interweave Tom Rath's life after WW2 ends...SSGT CHRIS SARNO-USMC FMF

The Compromises Demanded of Everyone.......2007-02-21

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit concerns the inevitable compromises demanded of everyone while earning a living. Should we always tell our employer the brutal truth? Are we obligated to commit economic suicide? Alas, we all must compromise in the real world. The only real question is how far can we go before betraying our ultimate values. Tom Rath (Gregory Peck) is a WWII veteran trying to make it in the Big Apple. Should he dedicate his whole heart and soul to the company? Is there any room for Rath's family? Where must he draw the line? The only serious negative is that women are treated as stay-at-home moms. Still, this is a well done movie and worthy of your time and interest.

This movie will almost certainly resonate with those viewing it even in the distant future. Its central themes are eternally relevant. However, there is one scene that reminded me that The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is a fictional account of the mid 1950s. Tom Rath is informed by his wife that they must purchase a new washing machine. It will cost $250.00. Please note that this is an era when a $10,000 income was considered to be far above average. This clothes cleaning appliance, for all practical purposes, would therefore retail at about $2,500 in our present era! Do we really want to return to the past? I don't think so.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

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