All American

This is one of the many b-movies where Tony Curtis starred in the first years of career, and also one of the less known. And the plot, especially in the first half, is a bit similar to ''From Here to Eternity'', that came also in 1953!

In the beginning Nick Bonelli (Curtis) is having a great football game, but at the end is informed that his parents died in a car accident and is suddenly shocked. So he decides to leave football and study architecture at the college. But he is treated as an outcast because he came from a poor family and (like Montgomery Clift that didn't want to box) he doesn't want to play football, until an encounter with Sharon Wallace (Lori Nelson) changes his mind, and he has a feud with fellow student Richard Long. And the ending didn't surprised me too much.

It's not a great movie, but it's a nice occasion to see some future stars like Stuart Whitman, Richard Long and Gregg Palmer, and two SEXY ladies of those years: Lori Nelson and Mamie Van Doren. Recommended for Tony Curtis fans only.

Tony Curtis is well cast in this movie as an urban son of emigrant parents who plays college football. He's just made All American -- because his coach didn't tell him before the important game that his folks had been killed in a car crash on their way to see him play. He quits college and gets a scholarship to another school to study to be an architect. Everyone expects him to play football, but he isn't interested; he finally explains to Lori Nelson, when she catches him coaching some kids playing sandlot ball, that they're having fun, and that's great. It's when you get paid for it that it becomes a job.

He takes a lot of heat from the other students, particularly Richard Long, the snobbish scion of a rich family whose name is on all the campus' buildings. When Curtis finally starts to play, and leads the team to victory after victory, he displaces Long, which furthers the plot. Long has been drinking at a local watering hole which has been banned to the students, where Mamie Van Doren has her eye on Long; he's embarrassed by her socially, but Curtis isn't.

There's some stunt casting, with various older All Americans taking roles (including Tom Harmon and Frank Gifford) being credited with the All-American title and the year they won the honor. That includes producer Aaron Rosenberg (U.S.C. '33) and director Jesse Hibbs (U.S.C. '27).

At the beginning of The All American I thought it might be a really good film. It has an opening gambit like From Here To Eternity which came out a year later. Tony Curtis an All American quarterback at Mid State is not told of his parent's deaths in a bus crash on the way to see him play. He quits the school and the team and goes to take up an offer of an architecture scholarship at Sheridan University.

Like Monty Clift who didn't want to box, Curtis doesn't want to play football. But after going to a game with Lori Nelson and seeing how lousy Sheridan's team is he decides to suit up after all. After that he's more popular and the film just turns out to be another college movie.

Tony's running feud is with Richard Long who is the son of the man who gave him the architecture scholarship. Both of them really behave quite like juveniles, Long only more so. Mamie Van Doren as a waitress in a local eating and drinking establishment fuels both these guys hormones.

The film must not really have made much of an impression on Curtis because he fails to mention it in his memoirs. Unless you're a big Tony Curtis fan I doubt it will make much of an impression on you.

Now Mamie Van Doren, there's one girl who will always leave a definite impression.

The outsider who's good at football but too working class for the rich boys at a snobbish college with a bad football team. Feud between the outsider and the scion of the family who finances the college. Girls in the middle. Happy ending at the big football game. But the players are very good even if the script is predictable. I wish Tony Curtis looked a bit more working class (all they did was give him unkempt hair) but Richard Long always looked the scion part, like he was born in formal wear. The girls, Lori Nelson and Mamie Van Doren, very good for their parts but the characters were underdeveloped. Still an ok football film, though, and the feud story line was very watchable even if the love interests weren't that interesting.

"The All American" is a throwback film. Although it came out in 1953, the plot is very old, as William Haines was making similar films (some involving him being a star athlete) back in the late 1920s and early 30s. In the Haines films, the leading man is a wildly talented athlete who is also a bit of a fathead...but who, by the end of the film, has learned the importance of teamwork and selflessness.

Tony Curtis, oddly enough, plays an All-American football quarterback. It's odd casting, as Curtis was a very slight-built man. Sure, quarterbacks were smaller back in the day...but even then he seemed awfully fragile to be playing a guy THIS talented!

When the film begins, Nick Bonelli (Curtis) is having a fantastic game. What he doesn't know until the game is over is that his parents were killed in an accident as they were coming to see him play! This really has a strong impact and he decides to quit football completely and instead go to college to become an architect. While today that might sound nuts, back in the 1950s pro players were NOT all that well paid and his choice was much more logical back then. But at his new college, Sheridan, Nick is persona non grata for many reasons. First, he has a huge chip on his shoulder--mostly because he grew up poor and his fellow students are from privileged families. Second, he refuses to consider playing football for the hapless Sheridan team. And, third, he's just a bit of a jerk! But as I said, the formula has this goat turn to a selfless hero, so the end came as no real surprise.

The film is formulaic but worth seeing. Nothing outstanding by any stretch and his change from jerk to nice guy is oddly abrupt. Still, a decent time passer and a chance to see a young Mamie Van Doren as well.