Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"March 8, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
March
8, 2002
West
Point and West Point grads favorite subjects of screenwriters over the decades
By Pfc. Nate Jastrzemski
Staff Writer
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| A wall-sized six-paneled poster for the 1955 film "The Long Gray Line" is only one small part of the Ike Hall display in the 1929 Gallery. This framed poster has been permanently donated to the Academy. |
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| Ike Hall Theater Director Bill Yost describes some of the features he enjoys from the art of early West Point-related cinema. |
As movie buffs old and new are well aware, West Point has been featured in films since they became a popular entertainment medium. But just how pervasive has that coverage been?
"There have been many films and made-for-TV movies made over the years," said U.S. Military Academy Historian Dr. Steve Grove. "Certainly dozens, ranging from cadet-based to those more involved with graduates in their careers."
A few prime examples of West Point in the movies are "Classmates," 1924; "Flirtation Walk," 1934 and 1955’s "The Long Gray Line."
But if you want to get a real feel for Hollywood’s love of the academy, just visit the fifth floor of Eisenhower Hall. There, in celebration of the academy’s bicentennial, you will find scores of original movie posters featuring USMA and its graduates.
Bill Yost, Ike Hall theater director, said he asked a friend and movie poster collector named Mike Piepel to compose the collection, and Piepel did so with gusto -- adding dozens of pieces from historic films and a massive six-panel poster from "The Long Gray Line."
Besides films directly related to USMA and the cadets, have been scores of movies that prominently feature graduates such as "Patton" and "Gettysburg."
"If you’re going to make a war movie, Grove said, "it’s likely there will be people from West Point involved [in the conflict]."
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| One of many agencies relating tales of USMA, this National Geographic crew interviews 1980 grad Col. Kathleen Snook. |
The hubbub of the USMA bicentennial has once again stirred up the desire to get West Point on film.
Innumerable news agencies and television networks have been calling the USMA Public Affairs Office about filming West Point. Included in that group are National Geographic, PBS and The History Channel.
Public Affairs Policy and Plans Director Andrea Hamburger surmised the media’s interest in West Point continues because of its significance to the people of this country.
"There’s a certain mystique about West Point that’s different and interesting to people. That speaks to West Point’s role in both the nation’s history and future.
"Even Charles Dickens visited here," she said. "It’s an institution that helps shape the nation, and it’s important that the American public understands that."
The Ike Hall poster display is in the 1929 Gallery on the fifth floor and is open to the public weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m.
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