About Face (1952 film)

1952 film by Roy Del Ruth

This article is about the 1952 musical comedy. For the Hal Roach's Streamliners comedy, see About Face (1942 film).

About Face

Directed by| Roy Del Ruth
Screenplay by| Peter Milne
Based on| Brother Rat
1936 play
by John Monks Jr.
Fred F. Finklehoffe
Produced by| William Jacobs
Starring| Gordon MacRae
Eddie Bracken
Virginia Gibson
Cinematography| Bert Glennon
Edited by| Thomas Reilly
Music by| Ray Heindorf

Production
company

Warner Bros.

Distributed by| Warner Bros.

Release date

* February 28, 1952 (1952-02-28)

Running time

| 94 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Box office| $1.6 million (US)[1]

About Face is a 1952 American musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Gordon MacRae, Eddie Bracken and Virginia Gibson.[2][3] It was future Oscar winner Joel Grey's film debut. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of the 1936 play Brother Rat by John Monks Jr. and Fred F. Finklehoffe and a remake of the 1938 film of the same title.[4]

## Synopsis

[edit]

Three friends enlist at a military academy in the American South. While two of them pursue romantic entanglements, the third tries to keep quiet the fact he is secretly married and his wife is expecting a child.

## Cast

[edit]

* Gordon MacRae as Tony Williams
* Eddie Bracken as Biff Roberts
* Dick Wesson as Dave Crouse
* Virginia Gibson as Betty Long
* Phyllis Kirk as Alice Wheatley
* Aileen Stanley Jr. as Lorna Carter
* Joel Grey as Bender
* Larry Keating as Colonel Long
* Cliff Ferre as Lieut. Jones
* John Baer as Hal Carlton
* Mabel Albertson as Mrs. Carter
* James Best as Joe
* Ferris Taylor as Doctor

## Reception

[edit]

The film was a box-office failure. Bracken later said that "the main reason why audiences rejected About Face, I think, is that most of us were too damn old for the roles."[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
2. ^ "About Face (1952) - Roy del Ruth | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
3. ^ Erickson p.385
4. ^ Goble p.331
5. ^ McClelland, Doug (1989). Hollywood Talks Turkey - The Screen's Greatest Flops. Starbrite.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Erickson, Hal. Military Comedy Films: A Critical Survey and Filmography of Hollywood Releases Since 1918. McFarland, 2012.
* Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

## External links

[edit]

* About Face at IMDb
* About Face at the TCM Movie Database
* About Face at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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Films directed by Roy Del Ruth

* The Cat's Meow (1924)
* Eve's Lover (1925)
* Three Weeks in Paris (1925)
* Hogan's Alley (1925)
* The Man Upstairs (1926)
* The Little Irish Girl (1926)
* Footloose Widows (1926)
* Across the Pacific (1926)
* Wolf's Clothing (1927)
* The First Auto (1927)
* If I Were Single (1927)
* Ham and Eggs at the Front (1927)
* Powder My Back (1928)
* Conquest (1928)
* Five and Ten Cent Annie (1928)
* The Terror (1928)
* Beware of Bachelors (1928)
* The Desert Song (1929)
* The Hottentot (1929)
* Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929)
* The Aviator (1929)
* Hold Everything (1930)
* The Second Floor Mystery (1930)
* Three Faces East (1930)
* The Life of the Party (1930)
* Divorce Among Friends (1930)
* My Past (1931)
* The Maltese Falcon (1931)
* Side Show (1931)
* Blonde Crazy (1931)
* Taxi! (1932)
* Winner Take All (1932)
* Blessed Event (1932)
* Beauty and the Boss (1932)
* The Mind Reader (1933)
* Employees' Entrance (1933)
* The Little Giant (1933)
* Captured! (1933)
* Bureau of Missing Persons (1933)
* Lady Killer (1933)
* Upperworld (1934)
* Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)
* Kid Millions (1934)
* Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)
* Folies Bergère de Paris (1935)
* Thanks a Million (1935)
* Private Number (1936)
* It Had to Happen (1936)
* Born to Dance (1936)
* On the Avenue (1937)
* Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
* Happy Landing (1938)
* My Lucky Star (1938)
* Tail Spin (1939)
* The Star Maker (1939)
* Here I Am a Stranger (1939)
* He Married His Wife (1940)
* Topper Returns (1941)
* The Chocolate Soldier (1941)
* Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)
* DuBarry Was a Lady (1943)
* Broadway Rhythm (1944)
* Barbary Coast Gent (1944)
* It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
* The Babe Ruth Story (1948)
* Red Light (1949)
* Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)
* The West Point Story (1950)
* On Moonlight Bay (1951)
* Starlift (1951)
* About Face (1952)
* Stop, You're Killing Me (1952)
* Three Sailors and a Girl (1953)
* Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)
* The Alligator People (1959)
* Why Must I Die? (1960)

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