In which Gene & Greg just say NO

As I reread Todd Henry's DIE EMPTY,  am reminded over & over of two very different fictional characters who ended up on two very similar paths.

The character of Tommy Albright debuted on the NY stage in 1947, in BRIGADOON, played by an actor unfamiliar to me.  I am thoroughly versed in the role as portrayed by Gene Kelly in the 1954 movie.  A Manhattan business exec, Tommy is anchored to the rat race, brilliantly defined in one of the final scenes of the film - all frenetic, unsatisfying energies.  Dragging his feet to finally marry his socialite fiancee, Tommy hied himself off to Scotland with his good friend, Jeff, for some grouse shooting.  While there, he falls in love - the real deal - with a highland lassie, under circumstances that ultimately lead him to turn his back on what beckons, the promise of true love crumpled under the press of common sense.  He immediately regrets his choice, but there is no going back.

In THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT, Tom Rath (Gregory Peck) is a WWII vet who, ten years after returning from war, is experiencing nightmares about battle & a young Italian woman with whom he had an affair. The film opens with him working for a nonprofit but having problems making ends meet maintaining his striving for the American Dream upper middle class lifestyle.  He lands a job in network television PR & quickly finds himself being asked to compromise what is right for what is expedient.  On the personal side, his long-ago love affair becomes a delicate issue, one he is torn about how to share with his wife.

What's interesting is that both films were made in the mid-1950s, when landing the big job & corner office was the pinnacle of many a dream, yet both films show the climb up the corporate ladder as dehumanizing, requiring people to make sacrifices in the name of advancement that sabotage genuine happiness.  Will Tommy Albright be able to come to terms with all he's sacrificed in the name of the reasoned & rational?  Will Tom Rath be able to hold onto principles ~and~ his position?

Both men face whether they want to die emptied of what truly matters or to die empty, used up by love honor purpose.  Will Tommy become like hard-drinking Jeff, using alcohol in vain efforts to drown out the voices that remind him of what he gave up?  Will Tom put money above his family & familial obligations?

(Hint - check the subject line,  Or watch the movies!)