The movie was OK,
I am just harping on the first scenes when they get to campus. They forced us to see that "Harvard is the biggest best college around" apparantly.
Of course not. They have to get permission to film on the campus, and in doing so, word gets out and students or boosters put up things that'll be seen in the film.
share
That was certainly the impression I came away with!
If this came out today, it would scream 'Product placement' at the top of it's voice..But I'm not sure how much that worked in those days..
It may just have been that showing Harvard in such a glowing light was the reward for allowing so much access and help. It reminded me so much of the FBI procedurals... Street with no name, House on telegraph street etc, where the FBI allowed filming, use of logo and showed how they painstakingly tracked the bad guys down in return for showing the FBI as guardians of freedom against the Nazi/Communist barbarians at the gates.
few visible scars
Product placement in movies is attested already in 1922:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_placement#Movies_and_television
I was also thinking that the prominent mention and indeed use of Ford cars probably indicates that too was product placement.
Also the period of the late 40s, early 50s was a time of considerable financial challenge for MGM. They might well have welcomed such.