User reviews

Jack Holt is a college football coach, and has been for decades. However, his teams have not been performing well, and there's talk of getting rid of him. When his son, Richard Cromwell, comes to college, his father puts him on the team. He ever, Cromwell dies poorly under pressure, and wants to quit. Holt won't let him.

It's a great start to the movie, and if they had followed through, it would have had something serious to say about fathers, sons, toxic masculinity and other subjects. This however, is a Columbia picture with Holt their biggest star, so they pulled up short for a sentimental ending. Too bad.

It's an early supporting role for John a Wayne as the captain of the team. He's sixth-billed and gets three lines. His USC team mate, Ward Bond, doesn't get a screen credit.

The 24 year old Law student turned actor (John Wayne) has incredible timing in this film. He captures your attention in the medium shots even though he is the not the principal artiste. He reacts to situations rather than instigates them.

An American drama; A story about a student who can't cut it on the football field and is rejected by his father who is also team coach, the school and even his girlfriend. He joins a rival college to prove a point. This melodrama has a a theme about machismo and a son trying to live up to a father's unreasonable expectations. Richard Cromwell is fine as the lead but it's Jack Holt who shoulders the load to make their conflict work. The story's setting is livened by a lot of exterior photography but the field action is not always knitted in to the story. For a short feature it built up the tension but the finale was banal and wrapped up far too quickly.