Maureen O’Hara is Carolyn Bainbridge, daughter of a politician and a woman determined to see her father’s dreams of a West Point Academy come true.
She kisses enough politicians to help ensure that it does, then follows beau Howard Shelton (John Sutton) to the school, opening a tavern to help ensure the new cadets live in comfort.
Those cadets come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but none is less refined than Joe Dawson (George Montgomery), a Kentucky frontiersman whose grandpa told him a little learnin’ couldn’t do any harm.
That way he butts heads with Shelton could cause harm, especially when he starts taking a liking to Carolyn, mistaking her for a common cook in that tavern.
The cadets have a bigger problem though. Maj. Sam Carter has been placed in charge of West Point.
He’s a disciplinarian who doesn’t believe in the endeavor and wouldn’t mind seeing all the cadets drop out. He believes soldiers are created on the battlefield, not in a classroom.
Eventually, West Point’s “trial” class is whittled down to 10 determined young men, including Shelton and Dawson.
And they’ll get a chance to prove themselves in battle. Because Tecumseh has taken to the warpath, and everyone is West Point is sent to help quell the Indian uprising.
George Montgomery as Joe Dawson, the frontiersman from Kentucky who winds up at West Point in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Maureen O’Hara as Carolyn Bainbridge, trying to keep Joe Dawson from returning to Kentucky in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Review:
A fairly entertaining, though largely fictitious, depiction of the birth of West Point.
The more unique scenes include O’Hara planting kisses on politicians to win votes for the creation of West Point, and a lacrosse match, designed to give veterans (led by Ward Bond’s Sgt. Scully) a chance to beat up the cadets.
In another scene, the cadets are forced to “ride the cannons” as punishment after someone squeals to Washington about the major’s leadership style.
Montgomery breezes through one of his first major starring roles. And viewers will likely root for him to win the battle for Carolyn’s heart over the more refined gentleman from the East. O’Hara would later label Montgomery “positively loathsome.”
Oh, and Montgomery occasionally launches into incredibly patriotic speeches that seem out of character. But remember, this film was released in June 1942, about six months after the United States entered World War II.
John Sutton as Howard Shelton, the Eastern gentleman who enrolls in West Point in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Sheppherd Strudwick as Henry Clay, lobbying for West Point on the floor of Congress in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Directed by:
Henry Hathaway
Cast:
George Montgomery … Joe Dawson
Maureen O’Hara … Carolyn Bainbridge
John Sutton … Howard Shelton
Laird Cregar … Maj. Sam Carter
Sheppherd Strudwick … Henry Clay
Victor Francen … Florimond Massey
Harry Davenport … Bane
Ward Bond … Sgt. Scully
Douglas Dumbrille … Gen. William Henry Harrison
Ralph Byrd … Maloney
Joe Brown Jr. … Benny Havens
David Bacon … Shippen
Esther Dale … Mrs. Thompson
Richard Derr … Chester
Louis Jean Heydt … Jared Danforth
Stanley Andrews … Capt. Sloane
James Flavin … Capt. Luddy
Edna Mae Jones … Letty
Also with: Charles Trowbridge, Tully Marshall, Edwin Maxwell, Edward Fielding, Morris Ankrum, Selmer Jackson, Noble Johnson, Eddie Dunn, Frank Ferguson, Uno
Runtime: 102 min.
Laird Cregar as Maj. Sam Carter, the man put in charge of the cadets at West Point in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Ward Bone as Sgt. Scully, about to be lured into a practical joke in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Memorable lines:
Howard Shelton: “Carrie, I adore you and all your works, but I have a distinct aversion to you kissing politicians. Call me morbid, if you will.”
Carolyn Bainbridge: “I kissed only four.”
Shelton: “Eight.”
Carolyn: “Oh, dear, I hope they haven’t forgotten as quickly as I.”
Joe Dawson, challenged to a fisticuffs by Howard Shelton: “My grandpa told me never to fight a man unless I was good and mad. And I ain’t mad yet. Just a little sour.”
Joe Dawson, catching a glimpse of Carolyn Bainbridge changing: “Moses in the mountains.”
Carolyn Bainbridge to Joe Dawson: “I’m going to make forgetting me as difficult as possible.”
Followed by a kiss.
Joe Dawson: “For once, Shelton, we agree on something.”
Howard Shelton, having proposed rescuing the major: “Well, don’t feel too complimented. If Carter is roasted, I’ll be court-martialed. I don’t enjoy the prospect.”
Howard Shelton: “Dawson, you’re lunacy is no longer just a suspicion.”
Joe Dawson to Howard Shelton: “White skin. Blue eyes. Too bad you weren’t born with red hair. You’d be a walking flag.”
Cadet as an attack is prepared on the Indian encampment: “Remember, you’re the ancient army of France, outnumber and ill-equipped, but full of strategy.”
Sgt. Scully: “And probably full of arrows.”
David Bacon as Shippen, hoping his service will wipe away a taint on his family’s name in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Joe Brown Jr. as Benny Havens, a help in Mrs. Thompson’s tavern in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Esther Dale as Mrs. Thompson, working in the tavern Carolyn opens to serve the cadets in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Victor Francen as Florimond Massey and Harry Davenport as Bane, two of the instructors in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
Maureen O’Hara as Carolyn Bainbridge, promising politicians kisses for votes supporting West Point in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
George Montgomery as Joe Dawson, happily catching Carolyn in her petticoats in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942)
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