Fraternity Row

At a tony Pennsylvania college in 1954, an idealistic young man--who has faith in his belief of true-blue brotherhood--becomes a new fraternity pledge and tries to change the hierarchy inherent to the somewhat sadistic them-vs.-us system. Oppressive with nostalgia, sentiment, and pathos, this rather unhappy enterprise begins as an affectionate remembrance but winds up a cautionary tale (all the while narrated by Cliff Robertson who, in his fare-thee-well manner, coats the production with a "Waltons"-styled solemnity). Some of the dialogue exchanges are interesting, and screenwriter Charles Gary Allison (who also produced) is deft enough to give us several good guys and not just one sacrificial lamb. However, for a seemingly-autobiographical drama, the film comes up short on dramatic inspiration, and we never get to know most of the characters on display. Allison works his way up to one major plot development, which is handled bluntly by director Thomas J. Tobin, while the impressive cast of young actors get stuck performing all on one note. *1/2 from ****

When this film was released by Paramount, it was hyped as an anti fraternity, expose'. The marketers played up the alcohol, pledging rituals and other negative stereotypes commonly attributed to fraternities. In actuality, this film which was a student production at USC and depicts a true story from the late 50's, is the loving but critical tribute by its author/producer to his friend whose story is told in this film.

While it looks with an blinking and critical eye at the many shortcomings including bigotry and other evils of pledging in that era it also is clear that the writer has a love for the ideal of fraternity and what it can be to young idealists such as Zac, the protagonist. That the reality, in this instance, falls far short of the ideal and results in terrible tragedy, provides the irony and conflict of this really very well done thesis project.

Although it was released by Paramount, it is still owned by USC and for that reason has never been released to video. Probably the only way to see it is by direct rental from USC or when it occasionally shows up on television.

I first saw this movie on vacation in San Diego in 1977 and was immediately struck by the star quality of the two leads, Gregory Harrison (who became a star) and the female (a film student who apparently never made another movie). I'd love to see this again, but have never seen it listed on T.V. and it doesn't appear available on video tape. It was a film project of the USC Film School.

Purportedly based on a true incident. This takes place in a (fictional) college in the 1950s. It involves some freshman who want to get into a fraternity. They pledge and have to go through hell and hazing to be accepted. One of the fraternity brothers (Scott Newman in his last role) really has it in for the freshman...and it leads to deadly results.

I caught this years ago on TV. It played with no fanfare on a summer afternoon. I was impressed by how well made it is and the cast of (then) unknowns were very good. Newman and Gregory Harrison especially were excellent. It's a grim sobering look of what can happen when hazing gets completely out of hand. There are laws against hazing in most colleges in the US...but it still goes on and young men still die. This should be required viewing for ALL college students. Also a rare chance to see Paul Newman's only son in an acting role--he sadly died of a drug overdose a year after this came out. Worth catching--if you get the chance.

This is a valuable teaching tool for anyone working with fraternity systems in Colleges and Universities.

I saw it on TV while I was a College student. I eventually worked in Higher Education for over 20 years and for a long time wished I had a copy to use for Greek in-service education. A few years ago I was able to purchase a copy on ebay. I received a document which attests that Fraternity Row is a public domain movie.

The narration is smooth and focused. The acting, centered and honest. While it can be looked on as time capsule body of work the relevance of this true story still resonates with college students today.