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North and South, Book I

North and South, Book I (1985)

November. 03,1985
|
8
| Drama History Western

Two friends, one northern and one southern, struggle to maintain their friendship as events build towards the American Civil War.

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Reviews

bkoganbing
1985/11/03

If Margaret Mitchell were writing Gone With The Wind today I daresay it would have wound up a mini-series like North And South. The Seventies and Eighties were the decades for the television mini-series. Two of them, this one and The Blue And The Gray are Civil War epics and both concentrate on the struggles of two families each on the other side of the great divide of the 1860s.One of the things I liked about the series it showed very clearly the difference in development of the sections. The North gradually got rid of slavery nearly all states had slaves at one point, but slavery doesn't work in an industrial society where workers develop some skills and hence have to be paid for those skills. Not much skill in being an agricultural laborer. But the south was following the doctrine of Thomas Jefferson who saw evil in an industrial society and they stubbornly refused to develop industry. Whereas the North followed Alexander Hamilton's emphasis on manufacturing. The South produced some great military leaders, but was overwhelmed by the North's industrial machine.The Hazards were an industrial family in Pennsylvania, ironmongers from the Lehigh Valley. The Mains were a family of southern planters from South Carolina. Two sons of these families James Read from the Hazards and Patrick Swayze from the Mains become the best of friends at West Point and serve in the Mexican War together. Their comradeship endures because of that common bond though it gets severely tested because of the issue of slavery which is splitting the whole country not to mention whole families. Read and Swayze represent the best in a tradition from both sections, each acknowledges their weakness and each ready to defend their section when the crisis comes.An impeccably cast group of players brings to life the characters of the period. Some name guest stars like Gene Kelly and Robert Mitchum have small roles. So do Johnny Cash as John Brown and Hal Holbrook as Abraham Lincoln.Ironically both men have sisters that are the most radical and dangerous in their families. They also have the juiciest roles in the mini-series. Terri Garber is Swayze's sister and Scarlett O'Hara was Mary Poppins next to her. But Scarlett despite her flirtations and scheming had a great strength of character. Garber's character is one evil vixen as her family learns to their regret.Kirstie Alley is Read's sister and the Hazard family is not sympathy with slavery. But she takes it to the extreme. She's an abolitionist and a feminist something like 140 years ahead of her time. She weds a runaway slave, Georg Stanford Brown from the Main plantation who is later killed at Harper's Ferry. She was as radical as they came from the period. But Brown's death totally unhinges her and she descends to madness. That will be seen in Book Two.In the end as war is upon them the personal friendship endures, but no one knows how this will end. I suspect in 1861 few knew with absolute certainty how it would all end.North And South is what mini-series is all about. So many good ones came out of that era and this is one of the best.

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paulaucla97
1985/11/04

I saw this miniseries when it first came out and I was 10 years old. Both the lead actors are so handsome and wonderful in their roles. The girls are very good too. I really recommend this series for teaching about the human aspect of the civil war and that it's not so black and white because even though it seems one side was right, it doesn't mean the other side didn't also have some good in them. It's more of a romance than a historical epic, so be aware of that when watching. For good historical content, watch the Ken Burns series about the Civil War. Anyway, this series is romantic sort of like Gone With the Wind for the 80's generation. I'm so glad it's still available for new audiences to get as much joy out of it as I did.

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Carolyn Downing
1985/11/05

Bill Conti creates an atmosphere of a top notch performance. A supreme combination was series #1.6 frame 13 entitled Ambush - the drum emphasis elevates the section to fever pitch. Absolutely the most appropriate addition to a more than excellent performance. Conti tied all portions of North & South to a momentous event. It is wonderful to see matching music, story, & casting explain the pain of Civil War History. This combination should be included in all American history classes. In the summary interviews filmed in 2005 Conti simply states "I think it delivers the goods" referring to the title. Yes it more than delivers the goods - the music so well matches the mood & message it ties the entire package with huge bow. My second most favorite use of sound is the special melodies & sounds attributed to individual characters, love it.

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rebelcannons
1985/11/06

I recently returned from a vacation in the beautiful city of Charleston, S.C. and having had the opportunity to visit the Boone Platation (Mount Royale in the movie), I decided to rent the DVD of this film that was made more than 25 years ago. I was not disappointed. As a Civil War reenactor, I can attest that the costumes, weapons, customs,and other aspects, including the attitudes about he war and slavery are as near to perfect as you will ever find in any film. The buildings and plantations used in the film are still there and date back hundreds of years. I was amazed at the number of places in the film that my wife and I recognized from our recent visit, Boone Hall especially, even the old slave quarters are still there. For the history buff or someone just wanting to see an excellent film with outstanding acting by an all star cast, this film is a MUST SEE.

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