Gone with the Wind 1954 reissue one sheet poster (Heritage Auction Galleries)
The Civil War remains one of the bloodiest chapters in American history. Also called the War Between the States, the four-year conflict produced 1,030,000 casualties, including the deaths of 620,000 soldiers from both North and South.
Here are seven classic Civil War movies that no serious film buff should ever miss. Listen closely, and one can still hear the call of the bugles and the Blue and the Gray locked in mortal combat
Gone with the Wind (MGM, 1939)
Producer David O. Selznick brought the 1936 Margaret Mitchell novel to the silver screen, paying the Georgia writer $50,000 for the movie rights. Sidney Howard (with uncredited assistance from four others) penned the screenplay, with Victor Fleming directing the action. Clark Gable (Rhett Butler), Vivien Leigh (Scarlett OHara), Thomas Mitchell (Gerald OHara), Evelyn Keyes (Suellen), Barbara ONeil (Ellen), Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Hamilton), Ann Rutherford (Carreen), Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) and Butterfly McQueen (Prissy) head the large cast.
Budgeted at $3.9 million, Gone with the Wind was filmed in California, primarily at Selznick International Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City. The first scene to be filmed was the spectacular burning of Atlanta, a $25,000 controlled blaze staged at MGMs backlot that purposely consumed unwanted sets from King Kong (1933) and The Garden of Allah (1936).
Gone with the Wind is a sweeping historical epic set against the background of Scarlett OHaras beloved Tara and the savagery of the Civil War. As God is my witness, Ill never be hungry again! Scarlett thunders in one of many memorable scenes.
Gone with the Wind won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Leigh) and Best Supporting Actress (McDaniel). Mr. Selznicks film is a handsome, scrupulous and unstinting version of the 1,037-page novel reported Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times (12/20/39).
Glory (TriStar, 1988)
Kevin Jarre wrote the screenplay and Edward Zwick directed this Civil War drama set in 1863. Matthew Broderick (Col. Robert Gould Shaw), Denzel Washington (Pvt. Trip), Morgan Freeman (Sgt. Major John Rawlins), and Cary Elwes (Maj. Cabot Forbes) head the strong cast.
Made for $18 million, Glory was filmed on location in Massachusetts and Georgia. The climactic 1863 battle at James Island, South, Carolina, was shot on Rose Dhu Island, Georgia.
Glory an inept title, as getting hit with a minie ball provided so little of it follows the campaigns of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Leading the all-black outfit is Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, a young white officer who battles both the enemy and his own superiors. Glory is steeped in the blood and gore that was the American Civil War, complete with ferocious battle scenes that seemingly leap from the pages of history.
Glory won three Oscars: Best Supporting Actor (Washington), Best Cinematography and Best Sound.
Shenandoah (Universal, 1965)
The Civil War rudely intrudes on a neutral Virginia farmer in this popular film scripted by James Lee Barrett and directed with flair by Andrew V. McLaglen. The incomparable James Stewart (Charlie Anderson), Doug McClure (Sam), Glenn Corbett (Jacob), Patrick Wayne (James), Rosemary Forsyth (Jennie), Phillip Alford (Boy) and Katharine Ross (Ann) head the cast.
Shenandoah was filmed in Oregon and California. Much of the shooting took place in the latter at Golden Oak Ranch (Newhall) and Janss Conejo Ranch (Thousand Oaks).
Shenandoah features Stewart at his cantankerous best, a hardy, grizzled Virginia farmer determined to keep his family out of the Civil War. But when his youngest son is mistaken for a Johnny Reb and taken prisoner, Stewart and his clan set out to find the boy. One of the best scenes comes early, with Stewart and his brood fending off a Confederate procurement detail at their Virginny farm.
You cant do that! You cant burn my train! Strother Martin pleads. But Jimmy Stewart has other ideas, torching the Union transport carrying Confederate prisoners, one of whom is his son-in-law Sam.
Shenandoah (1965) movie window card (Heritage Auction Galleries)
Raintree County (MGM, 1957)
Romance and the Civil War come to Raintree County, a movie based on the novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. Millard Kaufman penned the screenplay and Edward Dmytryk directed. Montgomery Clift (John Shawnessy), Elizabeth Taylor (Susanna Drake), Eva Marie Saint (Nell Gaither), Nigel Patrick (Prof. Stiles), Lee Marvin (Flash Perkins), Rod Taylor (Garwood Jones), Agnes Moorehead (Ellen Shawnessy) and Walter Abel (T.D. Shawnessy) head the cast.
Budgeted at $5 million, Raintree County was filmed on location in Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. MGMs backlot #3 served as the setting for the town of Freehaven in fictional Raintree County, Indiana.
Indiana schoolteacher John Shawnessy falls for southern belle Susanna Drake. The Civil War comes, with Shawnessy enlisting in the Union Army and searching for his lost love amidst the horror and chaos of the decimated South.
Raintree County complete with antebellum mansions, elegant southern balls, exquisite costumes and some pretty fair battle scenes garnered four Oscar nominations, including one for Johnny Greens magnificent music score.
Friendly Persuasion (Allied Artists, 1956)
Michael Wilson adapted the screenplay from the 1945 novel by Jessamyn West. William Wyler directed, with Gary Cooper (Jess Birdwell), Dorothy McGuire (Eliza Birdwell) and Anthony Perkins (Josh Birdwell) starring.
Made for $3 million, Friendly Persuasion was filmed in California. There was friction on the set between Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire husband and wife in the movie with Cooper strongly questioning McGuires abilities as an actress.
Set in southern Indiana, Friendly Persuasion centers on the Birdwell family, who are practicing Quakers. When the rebel Morgans Raiders threaten their homestead, Josh Birdwell decides to abandon pacifism and take up arms, urging his father and neighbors to do the same.
Friendly Persuasion garnered six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Perkins) and Best Song. Regarding the latter, Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love) written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster became a big hit (#5 on the U.S. charts) for Pat Boone.
As they put it in Friendly Persuasion, thee should be pleasured by this film, opined Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (11/2/56).
The Red Badge of Courage (MGM, 1951)
The film adaptation of the classic 1895 Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane hit movie theaters in 1951. John Huston and Albert Band penned the screenplay with Huston also directing. Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier of World War II, stars as Henry Fleming, with Bill Mauldin (Loud Soldier), Douglas Dick (Lieutenant), Royal Dano (Tattered Man) and Andy Devine (Cheery Soldier) also in the cast.
Budgeted at $1.6 million, The Red Badge of Courage was filmed in California, both at MGM and the John Huston Ranch in Tarzana. MGM chief Louis B. Mayer never cared for the production, arguing (correctly as it turned out) that it lacked the necessary romantic angle to score at the box office.
The Red Badge of Courage tells the story of Henry Fleming and his baptism of fire as a Union soldier during the Civil War. Audie Murphy, who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor in Big Two, didnt have to dig very deep to portray the greenhorn infantryman, as his own horrific combat experiences in Europe were never far away.
John Huston artfully projects the characters to capture a seemingly allegorical mood of all wars and the men involved in them. His battle scene staging has punch and action reported Variety.
The Red Badge of Courage (1951) one sheet poster (Heritage Auction Galleries)
Gettysburg (New Line Cinema, 1993)
One of the big, bold new Civil War pictures of the modern era, Gettysburg was scripted by Ronald F. Maxwell from the 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Maxwell also directed, with Tom Berenger (Gen. Longstreet), Martin Sheen (Gen. Robert E. Lee), Stephen Lang (Gen. George Pickett), Jeff Daniels (Col. Joshua Chamblerlain) and Richard Jordan (Gen. Lewis Armistead) heading the strong cast.
Gettysburg was made for $25 million, with portions of the movie actually filmed at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. Civil War reenactors were used to create the realistic battle scenes, including the suicidal Picketts Charge into withering Union artillery and rifle fire.
The pivotal Battle of Gettysburg fought from July 1-3, 1863, in Adams County, Pennsylvania is the focus, with Union and Confederate troops going toe to toe at places like Little Round Top, Cemetery Ridge and the Devils Den. The principal commanders involved on both sides are examined, with ferocious battle scenes filling the big screen in a bloody Danse Macabre.
This is a film that Civil War buffs will find indispensable reported Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (10/8/93).
Ten More American Civil War Movie Favorites
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) 40x60-inch poster (Heritage Auction Galleries)
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