''Brother Rat'' is a 1938 American

comedy drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by

William Keighley William Jackson Keighley (August 4, 1889 – June 24, 1984) was an American stage actor and Hollywood film director. Career After graduating from the Ludlum School of Dramatic Art, Keighley began acting at the age of 23. By the 1910s and 1920s ...

, and starring Ronald Reagan,

Priscilla Lane Priscilla Lane (born Priscilla Mullican, June 12, 1915 – April 4, 1995) was an American actress, and the youngest sibling in the Lane Sisters of singers and actresses. She is best remembered for her roles in the films ''The Roaring Twenties'' ...

Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...

(in his film debut),

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

, and

Wayne Morris Wayne Morris (born Bert DeWayne Morris Jr. February 17, 1914 – September 14, 1959) was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace. He appeared in many films, including ''Paths of Glory'' (1957), '' ...

. The film is 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 William Tracy (December 1, 1917 – June 18, 1967) was an American character actor. Early life and career Tracy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in ''The Shop ...

reprised their roles in the stage productions. After the film's production, Reagan married Wyman in 1940. 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.

Plot

At the Virginia Military Institute, roommates Billy Randolph (

), Dan Crawford ( Ronald Reagan) and Bing Edwards (

) are three good-natured troublemakers who are trying to clean up their act in the weeks leading up to graduation. Still, try as they might, they cannot seem to stop breaking the rules, which include sneaking girlfriends on campus, and pawning the college's valuable sword to get money to bet on a baseball game. When the secretly married Edwards learns his wife (

Jane Bryan Jane Bryan (born Jane O'Brien, June 11, 1918 – April 8, 2009) was an American actress groomed by Warner Bros. to become one of its leading ladies but she chose to retire from acting in 1940 at age 22, after which she became a philanthropist an ...

) is pregnant, his preoccupation leads to events that really send everything out of order.

Cast

* Ronald Reagan as Dan Crawford *

as Joyce Winfree *

as Bing Edwards *

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

as Claire Adams *

as Billy Randolph * Johnnie Davis as A. Furman Towsend, Jr. *

as Kate Rice * Henry O'Neill as Colonel Ramm *

Gordon Oliver Gordon Oliver (April 27, 1910 – January 26, 1995) was an American actor and film producer. He appeared in more than 40 films and television shows between 1933 and 1972. Biography Oliver began working in films in 1936, eventually working ...

as Capt. 'Lacedrawers' Rogers * Larry Williams as Harley Harrington *

as Misto Bottome * Jessie Busley as Mrs. Brooks *

Olin Howland Olin Ross Howland (February 10, 1886 – September 20, 1959) was an American film and theatre actor. Life and career Howland was born in Denver, Colorado, to Joby A. Howland, one of the youngest enlisted participants in the Civil War, an ...

as Slim *

Louise Beavers Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. From the 1920s until 1960, she appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows. She was most often cast in the roles of a maid, servant ...

as Jenny * Isabel Withers as Nurse * Sam Komie as Cadet * Billy Smith as Cadet *

Allan Cavan Allan Cavan (March 25, 1880 – January 19, 1941) was an American film actor. He appeared in 145 films between 1917 and 1941. Cavan was the son of Mrs. Averila Cavan, and he had a brother, Carl. He began working on films with Sam Goldwyn S ...

as Superintendent (uncredited) * Jerry Cecil as Cadet (uncredited) *

Don DeFore Donald John DeFore (August 25, 1913 – December 22, 1993) was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the sitcom ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom ''Hazel'' from 1961 to 1965, the former of w ...

as Baseball Catcher (uncredited) * Jerry Fletcher as Cadet With a Sweet Briar Girl (uncredited) *

Mildred Gover Mildred Gover (1905–1947) was an American film actress.Pitts p.207 Selected filmography * ''Alimony Madness'' (1933) * ''Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' (1934) * '' High School Girl'' (1934) * '' Ring Around the Moon'' (1936) * '' Penrod and ...

as Colonel Ramm's Maid (uncredited) * Fred Hamilton as Newsreel Scott (uncredited) * Dutch Hendrian as Baseball Coach (uncredited) * Howard Leeds as Cadet (uncredited) *

Wilfred Lucas Wilfred Van Norman Lucas (January 30, 1871 – December 13, 1940) was a Canadian American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter. Early life Lucas was born in Norfolk County, Ontario on January 30, 1871,US ...

as Ballfield Doctor (uncredited) * Hugh McArthur as Cadet (uncredited) * George O'Hanlon as Orderly (uncredited) * William T. Orr as Member of the Guard (uncredited) * Mark Roberts as Tripod Andrews (uncredited) * Cliff Saum as Baseball Umpire (uncredited) * Tom Seidel as Cadet (uncredited)

Reception

Frank S. Nugent of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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." "None of the factors that made the play a success has been lost ... Albert gives a splendid performance," reported ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. '' 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'." '' Harrison's Reports'' declared it "A delightful comedy" with "excellent" performances.

John Mosher John Mosher (1928–1998) was an American jazz bassist, classical bassist and composer who worked, recorded and toured with a wide range of primarily West Coast artists from the 1950s through the mid-1990s. Early years A native of Sioux City, I ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called it "a serviceable time-filler." A sequel, ''

Brother Rat and a Baby ''Brother Rat and a Baby'' is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and written by John Cherry Monks, Jr. and Fred F. Finklehoffe. It is the sequel to the 1938 film ''Brother Rat''. The film stars Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris (Ameri ...

'', with several of the same main actors, was released in 1940. In 1952,

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

remade it as a Technicolor musical, '' About Face'', with

Gordon MacRae Albert Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 – January 24, 1986) was an American actor, singer and radio/television host who appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals ''Oklahoma!'' (1955) and '' Carousel'' (1956) and who p ...

Eddie Bracken Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' and '' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from ...

and in his first film, Joel Grey.

References

External links

* * * *
Review of ''Brother Rat''
at TVGuide.com
''Brother Rat and a Baby'' (sequel, 1940)
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{VMI Keydets basketball navbox 1938 films 1930s English-language films Films directed by William Keighley Films scored by Heinz Roemheld 1938 comedy-drama films Films set in Virginia Films shot in Virginia VMI Keydets Warner Bros. films American comedy-drama films American black-and-white films 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links