Fraternity Row

Purportedly based on a true incident. This takes place in a (fictional) college in the 1950s. It involves some freshman who want to get into a fraternity. They pledge and have to go through hell and hazing to be accepted. One of the fraternity brothers (Scott Newman in his last role) really has it in for the freshman...and it leads to deadly results.

I caught this years ago on TV. It played with no fanfare on a summer afternoon. I was impressed by how well made it is and the cast of (then) unknowns were very good. Newman and Gregory Harrison especially were excellent. It's a grim sobering look of what can happen when hazing gets completely out of hand. There are laws against hazing in most colleges in the US...but it still goes on and young men still die. This should be required viewing for ALL college students. Also a rare chance to see Paul Newman's only son in an acting role--he sadly died of a drug overdose a year after this came out. Worth catching--if you get the chance.

I worked on Fraternity Row, mostly extra work, and I handled the boom mike for about half the picture. In fact, the unmistakable mike shadow right across an actor's close-up that survives today was my doing -- heck, it was 6 AM at the end of an all-night shoot. But it teaches you the value of adequate coverage.

Anyway, one day we were to shoot a scene that was supposed to put the rest of the story into flashback -- and into the USC classroom we were using come four seasoned character actors who showed up for one day's work -- Cliff Robertson, John Anderson, Andrew Duggan, and Pat Hingle. For me, it was a great thrill to work with these vets whom I had enjoyed on the screen for years. During the lunch break I ate with Messrs Anderson and Duggan, and they were first-class gentlemen, now sadly gone on to their rewards. Too bad that Tom Tobin, who went on to another business, couldn't make that one scene work with the rest of the picture. It never made it in.

I'm in another business now, but I think back to those summer days in 1976 (when the picture was shot) with great fondness. Particularly fond of the gorgeous "sorority girls" who were always around the set. Ah, show business...

This movie tells the story of one college student and his trials and tribulations as he pledges the Gamma Nu Pi Fraternity at a fictional Eastern school. Strikingly honest portrayal that shows what pledging was truly like in the 1950's. Good acting by a largely unknown cast, along with a good script makes for an engaging movie. Almost a must see for anyone who has gone through fraternity pledging.

This is a valuable teaching tool for anyone working with fraternity systems in Colleges and Universities.

I saw it on TV while I was a College student. I eventually worked in Higher Education for over 20 years and for a long time wished I had a copy to use for Greek in-service education. A few years ago I was able to purchase a copy on ebay. I received a document which attests that Fraternity Row is a public domain movie.

The narration is smooth and focused. The acting, centered and honest. While it can be looked on as time capsule body of work the relevance of this true story still resonates with college students today.

When this film was released by Paramount, it was hyped as an anti fraternity, expose'. The marketers played up the alcohol, pledging rituals and other negative stereotypes commonly attributed to fraternities. In actuality, this film which was a student production at USC and depicts a true story from the late 50's, is the loving but critical tribute by its author/producer to his friend whose story is told in this film.

While it looks with an blinking and critical eye at the many shortcomings including bigotry and other evils of pledging in that era it also is clear that the writer has a love for the ideal of fraternity and what it can be to young idealists such as Zac, the protagonist. That the reality, in this instance, falls far short of the ideal and results in terrible tragedy, provides the irony and conflict of this really very well done thesis project.

Although it was released by Paramount, it is still owned by USC and for that reason has never been released to video. Probably the only way to see it is by direct rental from USC or when it occasionally shows up on television.