Top Man
Cast & Crew
Charles Lamont
Donald O'connor
Susanna Foster
Lillian Gish
Richard Dix
Peggy Ryan
Film Details
Technical Specs
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Synopsis
Tom and Beth Warren are worried about the poor grades that their teenage son Don is getting at Burlington Junior College. When questioned by his father, Don states that he is only interested in becoming a flyer, as Tom was in World War I. As he is being chastised for his laziness by his two sisters, Jane and Patricia, Don sneaks out of the house and discovers a new family moving in across the street. The new neighbors include an attractive young girl named Connie Allen. Don takes Connie to Higgins' soda fountain, where she is an immediate hit with all the young men, if not with the jealous young ladies. Don soon falls in love with Connie, but Pat is not as lucky, as her longtime boyfriend, Ed Thompson, is spending all his time working at the Federated Aircraft factory. The Warrens' lives are further disrupted when Tom re-enlists in the U.S. Navy. Jane, however, misunderstands her parents' conversation and tells all that Don has been accepted into flyer training. Don's joy is short-lived, as he soon learns the truth, along with the fact that his childhood friend, Bud Haley, has just been killed in an air battle. After his father leaves, Don becomes "the man of the family," and begins to take his studies more seriously. His commitment to the books is so complete that he is even called into the principal's office to discuss his vastly improved grades and misses numerous rehearsals at Connie's house for the college variety show. Later, Ed and Pat have a fight and break up, so Don goes to the aircraft factory to talk to the engineer. He is stopped at the gate by a security guard, but is later let in by Mr. Fairchild, the plant superintendent and Connie's uncle. Learning that the factory has a man-power shortage, Don suggests the he and his college friends come to work at the factory on a part-time basis. At first, his friends are unwilling to sacrifice their leisure time, but with Don's encouragement, they all agree to go to work to help the war effort. With the extra workers, the factory's production increases drastically, so Fairchild agrees to let the students put on their canceled variety show at the plant. As an extra attraction, Connie uses her uncle's money to hire Count Basie and His Orchestra. The show is a great success, and the plant itself is decorated by the U.S. Army and Navy for its contribution to the war effort. Don himself receives a special citation from the Bureau of Aeronautics, which is presented to him by his father. The young man, however, insists on sharing the credit with Connie.
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Director
Charles Lamont
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/DonaldOConnor.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Donald O'connor
Susanna Foster
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/LillianGish.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Lillian Gish
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/RichardDix.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Richard Dix
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i125/PeggyRyan_188x141_021120110354.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Peggy Ryan
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/AnneGwynne.78513.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Anne Gwynne
Noah Beery Jr.
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/SamuelSHinds.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Samuel S. Hinds
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/LouiseBeavers.12301.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Louise Beavers
Dickie Love
Marcia Mae Jones
David Holt
Count Basie
Borrah Minevitch Rascals
Bobby Brooks Quartette
Barbara Brown
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/IrvingBacon.7795.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Irving Bacon
Pat Dillon
Jimmy Vey
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/MarthaVickers.198567.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Martha Macvicar
Barbara Fleming
Jean Davis
Lowell Mcpeek
Harold Bell
Lou Payetta
Pat Phelan
Edwin Blalock
Bobby Davis
Ronald Stanton
Walter Carter
Bobby Scheerer
Lu Anne Jones
Barbara Brewer
Wanda Smith
Shirley Dryer
Iris Kirksey
Barbara Strong
Joan Terry
Shirley Mills
Sidney Miller
Gladys Blake
Herbert Heywood
Milton Kibbee
Billy Newell
Harry C. Bradley
Carl Vernell
Harry Harvey Jr.
Al Thompson
George Eldredge
Charles Mcavoy
John O'connor
Jack C. Smith
Eddie Bruce
Crew
Harry Barris
Count Basie
Bernard B. Brown
Bernard W. Burton
Robert Clatworthy
Louis Da Pron
Stanley Davis
Milton Ebbens
Bradbury Foote
William Fox
R. A. Gausman
Zachary Gold
Ken Goldsmith
John B. Goodman
María Grever
Clifford Grey
Victor Herbert
Inez James
Ted Koehler
Paul Landres
Frederick H. Martens
Hal Mohr
Billy Moll
Buddy Pepper
Charles Previn
E. R. Robinson
Robert Russell
Victor Schertzinger
Milton Schwarzwald
Milton Schwarzwald
Frank Skinner
Harry B. Smith
V. O. Smith
Vera West
Mack Wright
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Film Details
Technical Specs
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Articles
Peggy Ryan (1924-2004)
Born Margaret O'Rene Ryan on August 28, 1924, in Long Beach, California, Ryan began dancing professionally as a toddler in her parents' vaudeville act, the Dancing Ryans, and was discovered by George Murphy when she was 12. Murphy arranged for young Peggy to dance with him in the Universal musical Top of the Town (1937). She would go on to make a few more film appearances over the next few years - the most striking of which as a starving, homeless girl in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - yet for the most part, she was hardly noticeable apart from a few dance numbers.
Her luck changed when Universal cast her opposite another teenage hoofer, Donald O'Connor in What's Cookin'? (1942). From then on, they teamed in a series of innocuous musicals that were low on production values, but high on youthful pluck. Just check out some of their titles: Private Buckaroo, Give Out, Sisters!, Get Hep to Love (all 1942); Top Man, Mr. Big (both 1943); Chip Off the Old Block, This Is the Life, and Bowery to Broadway (all 1944). They may have not been high art, but jitterbuggin' kids loved it, and given the low investment Universal put into these pictures, they turned quite the profit.
Her career slowed down after the war. In 1945, she married songwriter James Cross, and didn't return to films until 1949, when she made two minor musicals that year: Shamrock Hill, There's a Girl in My Heart. She divorced Cross in 1952 and met her second husband, dancer Ray McDonald, in her final film appearance, a forgettable musical with Mickey Rooney, All Ashore (1953). Tragically, McDonald died in 1957 after a food choking incident, and the following year, Ryan moved to Honolulu after marrying her third husband, Honolulu Advertiser columnist Eddie Sherman. She kept herself busy teaching dance classes at the University of Hawaii, but in 1969, she found herself back in front of the camera as Jenny Sherman, secretary to Detective Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) on the long-running show Hawaii Five-O,. She played the role for seven years, remaining until 1976.
Eventually, Ryan relocated with her husband to Las Vegas, where for the last few years, she was teaching tap dancing to a whole new generation of hoofers. She is survived by her son, Shawn; daughter Kerry; and five grandchildren.
by Michael T. Toole
![Peggy Ryan (1924-2004)](https://prod-images.tcm.com/img/film-participant-detail/Featured-Artilce_Placeholder.png)
Peggy Ryan (1924-2004)
Quotes
Trivia
To promote another Universal Film, Peggy Ryan's character at one point says (for no apparent reason): "Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man."
Notes
The working title of this film was Man of the Family. Universal producer and writer Ken Goldsmith died at the age of forty-three while working on the pre-production of this film. He was replaced as associate producer by Bernard W. Burton.
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