''All American'' is a 1953 American film noir

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the s ...

directed by

Jesse Hibbs Jesse John Hibbs (January 11, 1906 – February 4, 1985) was an American film and television director and American football player. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC), where he was an All-American tackle ...

and starring

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

and

Lori Nelson Dixie Kay Nelson (August 15, 1933August 23, 2020), known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series ''How to Marry a Millionaire (TV series), How to ...

.''The All-American''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

Plot

A star quarterback, Nick Bonelli is not told by his coach until after winning a game that his parents have been killed in a car crash on their way to the stadium. Angered by the coach's insensitivity, Nick quits the team and the school. He decides to study architecture at a Chicago university called Sheridan but refuses to play football. A professor warns him that things are different at this school and that Nick will need to conform, including getting a shorter haircut. He makes only one friend, Howard Carter, and is soon subjected to hazing and insults from other students, including a fraternity that rejects him. A seductive waitress, Susie Ward, causes a fight that leads to a rift between Nick and Howard, and the latter being placed on academic probation. The architecture professor's secretary, Sharon Wallace, takes an interest in Nick and his troubles at school. Susie, who is candid about wanting to marry a rich Sheridan man someday, persuades Nick to join the football team. "We Want Nick" chants from the spectators precede his finally getting into a game, which Nick promptly wins with a touchdown. With a new haircut and new popularity, he is invited to join the frat. A drunken Howard is tricked by Susie into proposing marriage. When she learns from Nick that Howard is trouble at the school, she angrily hits Nick with a bottle. He is arrested, disgraced and thrown off the team. Nick watches the next game from a bar. Susie has a guilty conscience, however, and explains what happened. Nick is reinstated and rushes to the stadium by halftime. His play wins the game, and Sharon realizes that she is in love with him.

Cast

as Nick Bonelli *

as Sharon Wallace * Richard Long as Howard Carter *

Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957). Early life Van D ...

as Susie Ward *

Gregg Palmer Palmer Edwin Lee (January 25, 1927 – October 31, 2015), known by his stage name Gregg Palmer, was an American film and television actor. Born in San Francisco, California, Palmer served in the United States Army Air Corps as a cryptographer i ...

as Hunt Cameron *

Paul Cavanagh William Grigs Atkinson (8 December 1888 – 15 March 1964), known professionally as Paul Cavanagh, was an English film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1928 and 1959. Life and career Cavanagh was born in Felling, ...

as Professor Banning *

Barney Phillips Bernard Philip Ofner (October 20, 1913 – August 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Barney Phillips, was an American film, television, and radio actor. His most prominent roles include that of Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the 1950s '' Dragnet' ...

as Clipper Colton *

Jimmy Hunt James Walter Hunt (born December 4, 1939) is an American actor.. He is perhaps best known for his role as David in '' Invaders from Mars'' (1953). In the 1986 remake of the same film he plays the police chief. Hunt has also appeared in films l ...

as Whizzer *

Stuart Whitman Stuart Maxwell Whitman (February 1, 1928 – March 16, 2020) was an American actor, known for his lengthy career in film and television. Whitman was born in San Francisco and raised in New York until the age of 12, when his family relocated to ...

as Zip Parker * Douglas Kennedy as Tate Hardy *

Donald Randolph Donald Randolph (January 5, 1906 – March 16, 1993) was a film, television, and radio actor. The actor, who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Topaz'' (1969), acted in dozens of radio dramas, television programs and over thirty films. Randolph ...

as David Carter *

Herman Hickman Herman Michael Hickman (October 1, 1911 – April 25, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Brooklyn Dodgers. ...

as Jumbo *

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

as Stan Pomeroy *

Tom Harmon Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster. Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and playe ...

as Himself *

Jim Sears James Herbert "Jimmy" Sears (March 20, 1931January 4, 2002) was a professional American football defensive back/ halfback in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). High school career Sears prepped at Inglewoo ...

as Dartmore Quarterback * Elmer Willhoite as Kenton *

Donn Moomaw Donn Moomaw (born October 15, 1931) is an American retired professional football player and Presbyterian minister. Moomaw played college football for the UCLA Bruins as the center and linebacker for the team. He was elected to the College F ...

as Jonas

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:All American 1953 films 1953 drama films American drama films American football films American black-and-white films Films set in Chicago Universal Pictures films Films directed by Jesse Hibbs Films scored by William Lava 1953 directorial debut films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films