Brother Rat

Brother Rat

Directed by	William Keighley
Produced by	Robert Lord Hal B. Wallis
Written by	Richard Macaulay Jerry Wald John Monks, Jr. Fred Finklehoffe
Starring	Ronald Reagan Jane Wyman Priscilla Lane Wayne Morris Johnnie Davis Jane Bryan
Music by	Heinz Roemheld
Cinematography	Ernest Haller
Edited by	William Holmes
Release dates	October 29, 1938 (1938-10-29)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Brother Rat is a 1938 film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Eddie Albert, Jane Wyman and Wayne Morris.

The film was an adaptation of the successful Broadway play of the same name written by two former VMI cadets, John Monks, Jr. and Fred Finklehoffe, which ran for 577 performances between December 1936 and April 1938. Albert and supporting actor William Tracy reprised their roles in the stage productions.^[1]

Brother Rat was Albert's film debut, and during filming Reagan met Wyman, whom he later married.^[2]

The title refers to the term used for cadets in their first year at the Institute. Scenes of the film were shot on site in Lexington on the Institute's historic Parade Ground, and the baseball game scene was filmed at Alumni Memorial Field.

Cast

Ronald Reagan - Dan Crawford
Priscilla Lane - Joyce Winfree
Eddie Albert - Bing Edwards
Jane Wyman - Claire Adams
Wayne Morris - Billy Randolph
Johnnie Davis - A. Furman Towsend, Jr.
Jane Bryan - Kate Rice
Henry O'Neill - Colonel Ramm
Gordon Oliver - Capt. 'Lacedrawers' Rogers
William Tracy - Misto Bottome
Jessie Busley - Mrs. Brooks
Olin Howland - Slim
Louise Beavers - Jenny
Isabel Withers - Nurse

Reception

Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times called the film "an excellent transcription of the play, loyal to all its screenable material and matching the playwrights' lively humors in the added scenes."^[3] "None of the factors that made the play a success has been lost ... Albert gives a splendid performance," reported Variety.^[4] Film Daily wrote that Keighley gave the film "warm, sympathetic direction and has injected many human touches," and called Eddie Albert "a definite screen 'find'".^[5] Harrison's Reports declared it "A delightful comedy" with "excellent" performances.^[6] John Mosher of The New Yorker called it "a serviceable time-filler."^[7]

Sequel

This film was followed by a sequel in 1940, Brother Rat and a Baby, which also featured Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris, Ronald Reagan, Eddie Albert, and Jane Wyman.

References

↑ Brother Rat, Playbill Vault, retrieved 9 January 2015.
↑ Helfer, Andrew (author), Steve Buccatello (artist), and Joe Station (artist). Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography. Hill and Wang. 23.
↑ The New York Times Film Reviews, Volume 2: 1932-1938. New York: The New York Times & Arno Press. 1970. p. 1544.
↑ "Film Reviews". Variety (New York: Variety, Inc.). October 19, 1938. p. 12.
↑ "Reviews of the New Films". Film Daily (New York: Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc.): 7. October 17, 1938.
↑ "Brother Rat". Harrison's Reports (New York: Harrison's Reports, Inc.): 70. October 22, 1938.
↑ Mosher, John (November 5, 1938). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker (New York: F-R Publishing Corp.). p. 74.

External links

Brother Rat at the Internet Movie Database
Brother Rat at the TCM Movie Database
Review of Brother Rat at TVGuide.com
Brother Rat and a Baby (sequel, 1940) at Internet Movie Database

Films directed by William Keighley

VMI Keydets baseball

Venues	Old Patchin Field (1960s–1987) Patchin Field (1988–2006) Gray–Minor Stadium (2007–present)

Culture & lore	Brother Rat Brother Rat and a Baby

Seasons	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

VMI Keydets basketball

Venues	Cormack Field House (1930s–1981) Cameron Hall (1981–present)

Culture & lore	All–Military Classic Brother Rat Brother Rat and a Baby

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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