Let's All Get Into a "Row!"

Thanks to various internet sites and streaming services, I've been amazed to tick off so many bucket list movies that I've wanted to see for ages. Today's movie I waited, oh, only about 30 years or so to see...! I really figured it was one I'd never get to watch. And, while the quality of the print I saw was far from the best, at least I could finally lay my curiosity about it to rest. Fraternity Row (1977) was a student thesis project, filmed in 1975 and early 1976 which saw a theatrical release from Paramount Pictures, then promptly disappeared from view, its ownership reverting to USC, the university where it was filmed. If you decide it's something you want to watch, the copy I saw is right here.

As the credits roll, we are shown a series of vintage photographs concerning college fraternity and sorority life through the years. 

The story takes place in 1954 and is told in narration by one of the characters who figures heavily in the plot.

Filmed, but not used in the final cut, was a framing sequence with a now-older Cliff Robertson reminiscing about his college years with John Anderson, Andrew Duggan and Pat Hingle. Young actor Peter Fox may well have landed his role because of his general resemblance to Robertson (and I detected some similarity in voice at times, too) though Robertson ended up not appearing on screen in the end!

A fraternity at fictional Summit College is about to commence with a new round of pledges. Fox joins other established members, along with the elder Robert Emhardt, as they plan over a game of cards. 

Among them is one who will emerge as chief antagonist for the pledges. 

If you don't recognize him, this is Scott Newman (son of legendary actor Paul Newman) in the final screen performance of his brief career. 

Fox and Newman look outside at the incoming pledges while recalling the treatment that they had to undergo when they were in that position. 

Fox is amused to see them having to sit in a circle on the grass until they are called in. 

When they finally are called inside, they're ordered to grab their gonads as they make their way up to the top level where they will be corralled. Fox's girlfriend informs Newman (because Fox can't make it) that she expects the pledges to be at her sorority event that evening. 

Newman, who isn't even the assigned pledgemaster, delights in degrading all the newbies with insults and other behavior. 

Fox then instructs the boys to elect pledge officers amongst themselves and to also learn each other's names and personal information. By dinnertime. When one of them exclaims that it can't be done, he strolls around the room, looking at each one of them and offering up the information that he's committed to memory. I give you the closeups as they listen to him.

Does this one seem familiar? It's Stephen Shortridge, who went on to an acting career (notable as one of "Toni's Boys" on that episode of Charlie's Angels!)

When he's made his way to these two, one of them ought to be a familiar face. 

It's glorious Gregory Harrison! At this time, he was just beginning to find regular work outside of student projects. By the time of the movie's release, he'd landed the lead in the TV series Logan's Run and would proceed to Centennial and, most notably, Trapper John, M.D.

At the sorority event, we meet Nancy Morgan. She also went on to a career on TV, but is perhaps best known as the wife of John Ritter from 1977-1996 when he left her for Amy Yasbeck.

This reasonably elegant and dignified event is interrupted by Newman in football gear, accompanied by the pledges in all sorts of crazy getups, most with underwear (men's and women's) on the outside of their clothing. 

This little stunt doesn't sit well with the established frat brothers, nor the sorority sisters. 

Fox's girlfriend Wendy Phillips is especially perturbed since she's the one who asked him to bring the pledges there in the first place. But not like this. 

Newman is only shown this way for a little bit...

...but because the moment was used by Paramount for a publicity still, this image has been circulated countless times whenever he's referred to. It looks goofy, as you can see, and has cheapened his perception as an actor for those who never saw the movie. (In fact, no less than Vincent Canby praised his work in Row.)

Morgan and Harrison meet up and establish a connection. It's his finesse with the whole situation which keeps the event from collapsing after the rowdy entrance of the pledges.

Back home, we catch another glimpse or two of some of the outfits. Lucky is the man who can still show a bulge in his jockstrap while wearing pants underneath!

The guys elect Harrison as their Pledge Class President because of the way he stepped up and saved them all from being thrown out of the sorority house. 

His acceptance speech is surprisingly heartfelt and seems to have an impact on pledgemaster Fox.

A rather softened Fox declares to his fellow brothers that there are going to be some changes made in the way the pledges are treated. No forced eating of onions, no paddling them in a lineup and so forth. He's trying to steer away from the prior pledgemaster who was basically a sadist.

This disappoints many of the brothers, who already endured their own set of pranks in order to earn their jackets. 

Fox points out that some of the active brothers still hate each other over things that were done previously (oh dear, I shudder to think what happened here...) The blond one of this duo is Doug Davidson, who went on to a very lengthy stint on The Young and the Restless as Paul Williams.

Morgan and Harrison are selected to dress in vintage clothing for a photo shoot promoting the social activity of the Greek organizations. Harrison finds the outfit uncomfortable and tugs away at his crotch. 

Nevertheless, he and Morgan opt to stay in these clothes, on a lark, and wear them to class. On the way, he meets an old high school pal Jeffrey Tolstad. 

Newman observes the interaction and is highly displeased. He doesn't want Harrison interacting with someone who once attempted to be a Gamma Nu pledge, but quit.

Morgan gets a similar lecture of her own from Phillips.

In class, Tolstad tries to warn Harrison about how troublesome Newman can be. 

Even so, the pledges all seem to be getting along and are happy together. Until...

Robert Matthews, one of Harrison's closest brothers, gets a fateful phone call. 

Matthews' father, a diplomat, has been accused of being a Communist. Fox can see trouble brewing, as this was during the time of the McCarthy hearings, but Harrison wants to support his friend. 

Matthews, in the light trunks, is a star swimmer.

Harrison is aggravated at the lack of fraternal turnout at the meet and, even though Matthews wins, he's losing against the tide of opinion. 

The whole situation puts a strain on what has been a developing friendship between Harrison and Fox. Fox does decide to try to stand up for the doomed pledge.

As you might guess, Newman has a whole different take and wants Matthews out. 

After the active brothers proceed with a vote, Matthews removes his bow tie and is shown the door, much to Harrison's disappointment.  

One thing, at least, is going Harrison's way. His romance with Morgan.

The two are crazy about one another. Morgan, a bit of a rebel herself, even pushes the limits of curfew in order to make out with Harrison as long as she can.

But now Newman has it in for Harrison. He undoes Harrison's tie to create a rule infraction and makes him eat a raw onion. 

Right before the start of "Hell Week," all the boys and girls are invited to Emhardt's estate for a day of croquet, badminton, horseplay and swimming. 

The price to pay for such luxury is to listen to Emhardt drone on and on (and on!) about the old days. 

Regardless of the feelings they have for one another, Harrison and Morgan's romance is hitting a bit of a speed bump because she's growing tired of their respective organizations while he still has faith in them. 

Phillips and Fox are also on the rocks. She can feel him pulling in another direction while she remains a devout sorority sister. When she asks if he still wants to be pinned to her, he replies that he feels "nailed," which sends her into a crying jag. 

Later, when a pledge has the wind knocked out of him by a thrown beer bottle, Fox expresses his disgust with Newman's antics to another brother, but it goes nowhere. 

After Matthews' father is cleared of being a Communist, Harrison wants to see him reinstated, but Fox informs me that, good as the news is, he's not coming back. As the two of them philosophize about the fraternity...

...Newman is back at the house reading all the pledges the riot act, informing them that things are about to take a major turn. 

Hell Week is about to begin. 

One of the trials is having a square drawn on the pledge's legs and making a fellow pledge remove all the hair from that square with a pair of tweezers...! Ouch. 

Next the guys are stripped down to their jockey shorts (and ever-present ties) and are coated down with all sort of goop and gunk. They're effectively "tarred and feathered," but with honey and cornflakes.

Borateem is going to have its work cut out for it come laundry day...

Next are swats with a wooden paddle. 

Then pushups, with their faces landing on the mucky floor. 

Newman, in ceremonial garb, appears at the top of the staircase, announcing that the Ceremony of the Griffin is about to reach its zenith. 

The boys aren't aware of what the big finale is going to be, but at this point it can hardly happen soon enough. 

Fox is not participating and can't bring himself to watch any more of it. 

The boys are blindfolded and forced to swallow "something" whole without any chewing. (It's pieces of raw liver covered in oil.) This part of the movie was inspired by a real (and deadly) hazing incident in 1959 at the very school where the film was shot. 

Heading upstairs, Fox is increasingly disenchanted with the whole works. But he becomes frantic when it sounds as if one of the pledges is gagging/choking and not able to breathe. It goes without saying that there isn't a happy ending. 

Since the early-1900s, there have been dozens upon dozens of hazing rituals at schools and in the military that have cost people their lives. There was one in the US as recently as April of 2026. I count myself lucky to have never placed acceptance in that way ahead of my own sense of dignity. Two of my favorite phrases to toss around are, "People can only treat you the way you allow yourself to be treated" and "What other people think of you is none of your business." It's sometimes easier said than employed, but I just never wanted to be "in" badly enough to put myself through anything of this sort.  

Although a 1950s nostalgia wave was in place, which went even a step further the following year with Grease (1978), the young stars of the movie were publicized in their contemporary looks rather than the way they appeared in the film. (Misleading advertisement is rarely a successful way of gaining audience approval. The film made money, mostly because it was so very inexpensive to start with, and got decent reviews, but it was not exactly a box office hit.) 

We never get a truly good look at Harrison's legs in the movie, but this promotional still offers a little. Having met the man in person, I can vouch for his mesmerizing handsomeness. It was great to finally see this movie.

The End!