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Actors: James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, Rosemary Forsyth, Phillip Alford, Katharine Ross
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Shenandoah |
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Charlie Anderson (Stewart) is a farmer in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. He regards the Civil War as "not his battle" -- he's against the war but also opposed to slavery -- and hopes to keep himself and his family out of it. But his daughter Jennie (Forsyth) marries a Confederate lieutenant (McClure), and the armies eventually tear through the valley. Worse, Charlie's youngest son gets captured by federal troops because he's wearing a Confederate cap, and Charlie (already mourning the recent death of his wife) must marshal the family to go find the boy, with tragic results. This 1965 film, the collaboration of director Andrew McLaglen and writer James Lee Barrett (who together would also do the equally solid "The Undefeated" with John Wayne and Rock Hudson a few years later) is an old-fashioned, BIG-lump-in-the-throat family epic that hints slightly of the era -- between the height of the civil rights movement and the growing war in Vietnam -- during which it was made. Stewart towers among an otherwise undistinguished cast and so-so script. Familiar faces Tim McIntire, George Kennedy, and Strother Martin turn up among the large supporting cast.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Shenandoah |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 19th century
War impact on civilians/veterans
Yes
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Story of city/rural life?
- Small Town
Culture of surrounding area:
- American South
Kind of conflict:
- war (general)
- war, Civil
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- farmer
Age:
- long lived adults
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Body type
- (man) very skinny
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
Small town?
Yes
Misc setting
- moving train
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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