...featuring Ben Gazzara as an upperclassman who bullies and torments his classmates at a military school. Eventually his antics go too far, and the others begin to turn against him. Ben Gazzara, George Peppard and Julie Wilson all made their film debuts here. The film was presented in conjunction with the Actors Studio, with all cast and crew being members of that organization.
Based on Calder Willingham's novel and play End as a Man, this film adaptation had to tamp down the more overt gay themes present, but they are still there, and some aren't hidden very much. The character played by Paul E. Richards (an actor that looks like the love child of John Cassavetes and Jerry Lewis) is clearly meant to be gay, and his interactions with Gazzara have a lot of blatant symbolism, like Ben fondling and polishing his sword while Richards gazes on admiringly, or a group shower scene with Richards being the one guy wearing a shower cap. There's also a lot of talk about gag reflexes, Gazzara shoving rubber tubes down guys' throats, and spanking guys with a broom.
The film's chief flaw is with Arthur Storch, playing a very over-the-top buffoonish character wearing coke-bottle glasses, ill-fitting fake buck-teeth, and overdoing it to a degree that nearly every scene he's in is ruined. I can't blame Storch, who played the role on stage as well, as much as director Jack Garfein, who should have seen that this wouldn't play well on screen. In the end, I felt this was a seriously flawed film, but worth seeing for those interested in off-beat 50's cinema and boundary-pushing subject matter. On a side note, Roger Corman's Sorority Girl, released this same year was an unofficial adaptation of the same play, with the setting and genders changed.
Based on Calder Willingham's novel and play End as a Man, this film adaptation had to tamp down the more overt gay themes present, but they are still there, and some aren't hidden very much. The character played by Paul E. Richards (an actor that looks like the love child of John Cassavetes and Jerry Lewis) is clearly meant to be gay, and his interactions with Gazzara have a lot of blatant symbolism, like Ben fondling and polishing his sword while Richards gazes on admiringly, or a group shower scene with Richards being the one guy wearing a shower cap. There's also a lot of talk about gag reflexes, Gazzara shoving rubber tubes down guys' throats, and spanking guys with a broom.
The film's chief flaw is with Arthur Storch, playing a very over-the-top buffoonish character wearing coke-bottle glasses, ill-fitting fake buck-teeth, and overdoing it to a degree that nearly every scene he's in is ruined. I can't blame Storch, who played the role on stage as well, as much as director Jack Garfein, who should have seen that this wouldn't play well on screen. In the end, I felt this was a seriously flawed film, but worth seeing for those interested in off-beat 50's cinema and boundary-pushing subject matter. On a side note, Roger Corman's Sorority Girl, released this same year was an unofficial adaptation of the same play, with the setting and genders changed.