Friendly Persuasion (1956)

This piece of authentic homespun Americana is still one of a handful of truly great films made by its director William Wyler. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, something almost unheard of for an American film at the time. It's simplicity itself; a tale of Quakers during the American Civil War and very smiliar in style and tone to Andrew McLaglen's "Shenandoah". Gary Cooper, (never better), is the peace-loving farmer, Dorothy McGuire, (equally good), is his wife and Anthony Perkins, (brilliant in only his second film and picking up an Oscar nomination), is the son who goes off to fight.Wyler, who himself served in the Second World War, was too canny a director to make an outright anti-war film though the message of the picture is clear. He was also too good a director to fudge it. It may move at a quiet, almost stately pace while remaining one of his most overtly cinematic pictures. A huge hit in its day, it seems now to have all but disappeared.

Maybe it's me but the film just didn't click for me. With Gary Cooper in the cast, even portraying a Quaker, I thought there would be more in the way of conflict for the main character to face and persevere against. I know, the conflict turned out to be more of an inner one, with conscience winning out against hate and revenge, but within the context and setting of the Civil War, the outcomes of the various characters didn't ring true to me. Now should Jess (Cooper) have slain the Rebel soldier who killed his friend Sam Jordan (Robert Middleton)? It was a self defense situation and Jess would certainly have been justified, war or not. If the intent of the story was to see Jess through to standing by principle, then I guess it worked. But Jess could have wound up dead just as well.The more principled stand was probably taken by son Josh (Anthony Perkins), who was determined to protect his family's land and property. When the Rebs overran the farm and then wound up basically as house guests of Eliza (Dorothy McGuire), that's where I thought credibility went completely out the window. These weren't even uniformed soldiers for the most part, and initially acted more like marauders when they arrived at the Birdwell farm. Their behavior turning on a dime wasn't realistic in the least; not even one of them was portrayed as a cutthroat soldier. Even the guy who went after the goose seemed to see the error in his ways rather quickly once it was explained to him.I guess what I was expecting was something more along the lines of John Wayne's 1947 film "Angel and the Badman", and more recently, a modern take on the pacifist theme in the 2002 TV movie "The Outsider" with Tim Daly. However in both of those films, the principal male character was not a Quaker and brought conflict into the story by virtue of their gunslinging reputations. Which reminds me, in both of those films, Wayne and Daly left their holstered weapons outside, honoring a Quaker tradition of not allowing weapons to cross the home's threshold. In this picture, Jess and son Josh both have rifles that are stored in the farm house. I don't know if that's an important point or not, but it's something I wondered about having seen the other pictures mentioned.

There is a richness of the old Technicolor which makes every frame an oil portrait. Combine that visual beauty with Tiomkin's lush score, and you have a motion picture masterpiece. The film provides not only a lesson in the lifestyle of a Quaker family in Indiana, it reveals the personal impact and heartbreak of the American Civil War. It was hard for a young man to adhere to his family's pacifist beliefs when he knew his friends were going off to war to defend the very place he called home. Civil War buffs unwittingly romanticize this national trauma which took the lives of over 600,000 young men. This movie brings it down to a personal level. Although filmed closer to Hollywood, the story takes place in Jennings County, Indiana. Although the soil of the Hoosier State was very lightly touched by battle, the fear of invasion was real. The little town of Vernon, mentioned in the movie, is still much the same as it was in the 1860s.

Friendly Persuasion is directed by William Wyler, is based on the novel by Jessamyn West and stars Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire and Anthony Perkins.The film takes a hard hitting look at violence and ways to avoid it.Should we all learn to love each other and not resort to violence or is violence the only answer in certain situations?Southern Indiana 1862.A peaceful Quaker family farm their lands and struggle with the knowledge that soldiers fighting in the Civil War are heading towards them.Farmer Jess Birdwell(Gary Cooper)his wife Eliza(Dorothy McGuire),eldest son Josh(Anthony Perkins),daughter Mattie(Phyllis Love)and youngest son Little Jess(Richard Eyer)must choose between being passive and hoping for peace,or violence to bring about peace.Dimitri Tiomkin's score is sweeping and fitting,and singer Pat Boone performs the title song Friendly Persuasion(Thee I Love).Cooper who is best known for his cowboy roles is completely convincing as the gentle Jess.There's fine support from Robert Middleton as Sam Jordan, a friend of Jess who takes great delight in challenging him to a horse race on the way to church.Also Joe Fluellen is excellent as Enoch the family farm hand.