Did John Wayne Play Fordham University’s Football Coach?
Kevin Bergin
Trouble Along The Way (1953) was released through Warner Brothers on April 4th of 1953. This black & white comedy starred Film Legend John Wayne and was directed by the great Michael Curtiz, who is himself best remembered for Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood & White Christmas.
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Trouble Along The Way (1953) was released through Warner Brothers on April 4th of 1953. This black & white comedy starred Film Legend John Wayne and was directed by the great Michael Curtiz, who is himself best remembered for Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood & White Christmas.

Was this film about Fordham Football?

A Catholic College in The Bronx

Submitted for your approval is the fictitious St Anthony’s Catholic College. It is located in, of all places, The Bronx; Fordham University is located in the Fordham Road community. Which is the busiest commercial section of Bronx County. Also, it is the one Roman Catholic institution in the Borough that played big time football during this era. (Sorry Manhattan College- just in case they are wondering.)

The Society of Jesus (S.J.)

Specifically, it is a Roman Catholic Institute of Higher Learning that is not run by the Archdiocese. But in turn it is managed by “The Order”; Perhaps they mean The Jesuits? No one attempts to explain this any further … So why not.

A Thinly Veiled Version of Cardinal Spellman?

The story includes a fictitious Cardinal O'Shea, who also happens to be a St Anthony’s alumni. In the film, he uses his influence to schedule games with institutions such as the University of Notre Dame. Francis Cardinal Spellman, then the Archbishop of New York, held a B.A., from Fordham University, from 1911. After being elevated to this position back in 1939, he also became the face of the American Catholic Church throughout this period until his death in 1967.

"Winning isn't everything -- it's the only thing."

These words are attributed to Coach Steve Williams, the fictional athletics instructor played by Wayne. In the actual context of the movie, they actually appear in print, on a sign, in his office. However, this sounds a lot like something Vince Lombardi (FCRH Class of 1937) might have said, now doesn’t it?

Dates Sync-Up With Closing Out of the Football Program

Perhaps most importantly, this movie, which was released in 1953, involves a scandal that appears to shut down the football program. It should be noted that Fordham University dropped Big Time Football after the 1954 season.

The Plot Line

Recently divorced, Steve Williams has trouble finding a job due to his inability to get along with his prior superiors. If he doesn't find work soon, he'll risk losing custody of his 11 year old daughter Carole (Sherry Jackson). He needs a job to keep the wolf-at-bay as well as a social worker assigned to see if his daughter should not be taken away from him.

Meanwhile, Father Burke, the school’s rector, played by veteran character actor Charles Coburn, hires Williams/Wayne to improve the school’s failing financial situation. St. Anthony's is heavily in debt. They may have to close their doors. Father Burke reasons that the school could get back on its feet if it had a successful football team. He hoped this would secure the financial support of the school’s alumni too.

Coach Wiliams/Wayne’s character violates the preseason training regulations believing the added “practice” time will give him the advantage over Holy Cross, Notre Dame and "Santa Carla" (perhaps a fictitious version of Santa Clara). This was because conference rules prevent these schools from practicing during summer sessions. The New York Archbishop, who is also an alumni, uses his influence to schedule games with the institutions mentioned above.

Note: The only game that is actually played is against the fictional Santa Carla, where St Anthony’s tactics are discovered. This includes paying players and bringing in athletes much older than the accepted age. Perhaps the film’s producers wanted to avoid complaints from the real California University by creating a thinly veiled phony?

Film critic Hal Erickson of All Movie wrote: “Against his better judgment, Father Burke hires the troublesome Steve Williams, who'll stop at nothing to assemble a winning team. Somehow, Williams has to turn into a regular human being and that's where social worker Alice Singleton (Donna Reed) comes in. Described as ‘More sentimental than most Wayne vehicles, Trouble Along the Way is well worth the ride.’”

On The Other Hand: Was this not Fordham Football?

Why Did Fordham Actually Drop Football in 1954?

The team’s record that final year was 1 win; 7 loses; 1 tie. Average attendance, when home games were played primarily at the Polo Grounds, in Upper Manhattan, were 11,950. This was down from the prior year’s average of 16,000 plus. (Football did not return to campus until students brought the sport back as a “club” team in 1964.)

It seems it was not a scandal, but the inability to fund big-time football in the era of television and coast-to-coast jet travel that brought the sport down. According to Fordham Librarian J.P. McCabe, in his monograph 125 Year of Fordham Football: On December 15 (1954) the President of Fordham, Rev. Laurence McGinely, S.J., announced that Fordham could no longer afford to support a football program.

Would Notre Dame ever play the Fordham Rams?

Would legendary Notre Dame ever play the Rams in football? An examination of Fordham football seasons from 1928 to 1954, an era which saw them playing back-to-back major bowl games, shows many battles against other leading catholic colleges and universities. Boston College, Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s and Villanova pop-up as regular opponents. In reality, Notre Dame never played against Fordham.

In fact, whenever some of the catholic schools talk about rebuilding their Division 1-A program, conversations often turn to possibly booking a game with Notre Dame. Now, the only other Power-5 catholic program-Boston College-has met them 26 times but that rivalry didn’t start until 1975. This was during these latter years when both programs found themselves together in two different major sports conferences-The ACC and before that the now splintered Big East Conference.

“Much like an old-time Irish Ward boss, Notre Dame knows they already have the Catholic Vote. They want to be a national darling; So don’t count on those big pay days.”

A Bronx Setting? The ‘Shoot’ Never Left Southern California.

Many of the exterior football scenes were filmed at Pomona College in Claremont, California. In fact, under IMDB.com Goofs section, there appears to be a State of California Flag on a poll in the background in one scene.

Fordham Has Produced Many Church Leaders

According to the List of Fordham University alumni, there have been almost twenty Archbishops, Auxiliary Bishops, Bishops and Cardinals. This includes our own Class of 1980 Gordon Bennett, SJ, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Mandeville Diocese: https://www.pinterest.fr/bergin0639/famous-fordham-graduates-from-class-of-1980/

It is not really a stretch to imagine a loyal alum in a position of church authority willing to use his influence to acquire top name opposition-now is it? Could the Cardinal Spellman reference simply be a coincidence?

Vince Lombardi Quote Dispute

When this movie comes up, questions arise about the use of a quote that could be attributed to Vince Lombardi (Class of ‘37) and a member of the Seven Blocks of Granite."Winning isn't everything -- it's the only thing."(Maraniss, David (1999). When Pride Still Mattered, A Life of Vince Lombardi. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-618-90499-0.)

These words were from Coach Williams, the fictional football instructor played by Wayne. This sounds like Coach Lombardi … or does it?

The closest offering I can find under ESPN Classic Vince Lombardi quotes seems to be: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all-time thing." Nice, but not exactly the same intense language. Besides, with a release date of April 4th, 1953, and actual filming taking place in the fourth quarter of 1952, this would suggest an A-List Hollywood Picture would be trolling for quotations from the then offensive line coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Lombardi would not start on his way to immortality, becoming the head coach for the Green Bay Packers, of the NFL, until their 1959 season.

Hearing From The Fordham Faculty

“As far as I can tell, film-history-wise, there is no direct connection to a football coach or a football scandal at Fordham.” said Karen Williams, PhD in Communication & Media Studies, in an email response. “Nowhere in the film's promotional material is it suggested that the story is based on real events. The writer of the film's original synopsis (based on a listing of his papers at Boston University) was Robert Hardy Andrews, and based on that it suggests that it is an original story, not based on a newspaper article or other pre-existing source.”

The Rose Hill campus Senior Lecturer added: “Andrews's background also suggests that he does not have any meaningful connections to Fordham.”

What Do You Think?

The Fordham similarities are pretty clear whether or not they were intentional, subconscious or coincidental. My first exposure to this movie was as a child, long before I entertained any notions of attending Fordham; I walked into the livingroom and my dad, who was raised in The Bronx, had just started watching it. He said simply, “This is about Fordham.” So I’m in the positive camp I guess.

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ADDENDUM

Romance or Assault? Is it still a John Wayne Movie?

Donna Reed plays a Social Services worker (Alice Singleton) who is assigned to check-in to charges of abuse of Williams’ 11 year old daughter played by Sherry Jackson. So would romance between the two lead characters be highly inappropriate?

Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NVeSPdMm2s

I forwarded this video clip, contacted several department faculty and asked the following 3 questions:

Were Coach Williams' actions wildly inappropriate? (I know it's the 1950s and he is John Wayne ... but ...?)

What about Ms. Reed's reply?

What would you advise a social worker to do next?

“I'm a fan of re-examining history because we always seem to learn more about ourselves and the world when we do.” Dr. Shirley Gatenio Gabel, the Quaranta Chair for Justice for Children at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service writes: “I'm not sure how you see a social worker being called in here, especially in the 1950s. It appears the character that Donna Reed is playing was being sexually harassed; however, Title VII-the law that prohibits sexual harassment at work-was part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

She added: “I don't know what government agency the Donna Reed character may have called in the 1950s and how a social worker may have gotten involved.”

Note: Having re-watched this movie recently-for the 3rd time-I thought the producers didn’t know what to do with any potential romantic development either. Despite publicity stills suggesting they become one-big-happy-family (see below) these questions go largely unanswered by the film’s ending.

External Links: https://www.pinterest.fr/bergin0639/is-trouble-along-the-way-actually-fordham/