Gregory PeckThe Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Gregory Peck has always been one of the best actors of his time. I saw this movie as a kid and it always struck home with me with him being the dedicated, but confused, husband of Jennifer Jones. They make a good pair like they did in Duel in the Sun. For a man known for action films like The Guns of Navarone, this movie demonstrates how Gregory Peck can play just about anything.His role is a businessman complacently working in a small firm in New York. He earns $7,000 a year at a time when that was considered good money, but not enough to grow on. Through a recommendation from a friend on the train, he accepts an interview for an AD agency with the potential of earning more money. His wife, played by Jennifer Jones (herself a great actress), pushes Greg Peck to earn more money so they can move to a better neighborhood. Despite having two children, a beautiful home, and a stable income, they are not happy. She tells him, "I can't stand living in this home!" I'm left to wonder why considering how nice it is. Greg's character is plagued with memories of his experiences in WWII. In Italy he had an affair with a local woman. In the Pacific he loses his close friend in combat. Both have extreme influences on his character as he tries to understand how to keep his family happy and together.At the same time, his work in the AD agency is taking off. The president likes Greg, and we see hints how Greg may remind the president of the agency, played by the great Fredric March. We also learn about other characters in the film that play a significant role in the film. Fredric March is clearly the successful AD-man and head of a powerful agency. But his personal life is a wreck. His wife kicked him out of their home long ago, and their daughter refuses to go to college and is planning on marrying a much older man as a way of getting away from them both. It is heart-wrenching when we see Fredric March try and reason with his daughter and wife. He even explodes on Greg's character about what he sacrificed to get where he is.In the end, Greg Peck must choose between his family and work-life. Although this film was made in 1956, it still rings true today by focusing on the important things that make a family strong and happy.

Catch the anonymous face in the crowd and consider the bright lights and dark shadows of that fellow's existence. This is Peck's performance in The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit and he is brilliant. Several reviewers have noted "the Look" of the film and its quintessential Fifties style. This is true, I felt I was gaining a peak at a long lost world: Post-war America, advancing economically, but struggling morally. The flashbacks make this half a War movie and give it a shared history with its adult intended audience. This was a time when adult movies did not mean pornography, but dealt with mature themes such as honesty in relationships and integrity in your profession.Gregory Peck has some great scenes, many in which he doesn't seem to do much. The look on his face on the train when the man in the coat in front of him triggers a repulsive memory from the war is worth pages of dialogue. The uncomprehending shock from when he accidentally kills his best friend is a real tearjerker. I don't know what other American actor at this time could be so effective.The plot was a surprise to me, I really had no idea this was such an engaging story. The title implies a dull, plodding story, and I have to admit little prior knowledge about this movie except its one of those I'd always heard about. This has got to be one of the best movies out of the Fifties and that is saying a lot. There is poignancy, humor (the kids always glued to the TV and oblivious to the real drama around them), and above all, a slice of life that is absorbing and realistic. This is definitely an overlooked gem needing full DVD glory. Have the popcorn ready, once you start it, you won't want to get off the couch.

I saw this movie years ago and thought I had remembered it. This movie has so much depth that as a younger person I guess I never paid any attention to it . It is a wonderful movie with great values in it.

Video and sound quality was good for this early super widescreen color mellowdramatic movie. It may have given the idea for the many years later "Madmen" t.v. series because the main character is a suburban family man, tall handsome, war veteran working in the late 50's as an adman. Sound familiar? Of course there are no sex scenes and there are huge character differences, but still both lead a life with a wrong they did while serving overseas hidden from family and fellow workers and commute by train to and fro from the suburbs. Very interesting melodrama, well done, (script does show it's age..NO cursing, drugs, overt sexuality, cell phones, so war scene flashbacks are more frequent.... and strongly recommend for big fans of "Madmen".

When “Madmen” first came out I didn’t watch the series. Not sure why. During that time period the Sopranos, Breaking Bad and several other excellent series eclipsed it. I began watching the series this year as things opened up. The series is excellent on so many levels at capturing that post war era that shaped the second half of the “American Century.” The movie “Man in the Grey Flannel Suit,” was prescient in foreshadowing how marketing through television created the myth of the American Dream. How we became a consumer society. Empty and joyless and some would argue soulless.

Watch it....great movie about family and relationships!

About 10 minutes in the DVD began to skip and freeze up. Fortunately, I had a disk cleaner and when finished, it played

I first began to watch this film about 20 years ago on TV. The boyfriend at the time came in and turned switched the channel to football!! I was gobsmacked and a squabble ensued. It has taken me all of this time to track it down and I thought "what if my taste in film was &%*@ back then. Oh ye of little faith!! I sat transfixed, very satisfied. It may have taken me 20 odd years, but it was well worth the wait and I can watch it again, and again, and again, and will. I love an old flick and this is a great story.

Just as I ordered it.

Moving story, an ordinary man's life with his background in WW2 creeping up throughout. And well played.

This movie has already been criticized by earlier reviewers as a hybrid with at least 4 distinct plots, only one of which is resolved at its final curtain. It is the least original and far the most conventional of the lot. The most fascinating theme concerned the ultimate fate of an honest person in the fundamentally dishonest world of Big Business. The next most intriguing was how the battle of two wills would resolve ownership of the House that Tom Rath lived in. One really looked forward to a no-holds-barred court battle that the American Cinema handles so well, but it was not to be. It is hard to know whether the novel, that I have not read, is the root of the problem. The screenwriters are at fault for the rather dreadful dialogue between the children and their parents that represented the Rath abode as a House of Junior Zombies, and such humour as it generated was sickly --------think of chicken pox. Jennifer Jones and Gregory Peck are competent actors, but they need a good story or a great director to set them alight. That is what they got in “Duel in the Sun” where the fire of their lust burns so much more brightly ( and they with it) than the tame fireside embers chit-chat that characterizes the greater part of their relationship here, until the final unexpected blow-up and its even more surprising denouement. Nunnally Johnson is not a director who impresses me, and even the great Frederic March turns in a performance that is poor by his standards. The one bright spot is Lee J Cobb’s benign and slightly comical Judge Bernstein, a role so different from his usual macho roles. He could, on this showing, have become one of Hollywood’s great comedy actors if given more chances. From the visual and acoustic standpoints, the film shows very well on this DVD, and the availability of English Subtitles is a blessing to a hard-of-hearing octogenarian like myself.