James Stewart is Charlie Anderson, a Virginia farmer determined to keep his family out of the Civil War, even as it rages around him.
He’s a proud man, proud of the 500-acre farm he’s built, proud of the six sons and one daughter he’s raised and proud that he did it all with his own sweat and determination.
He is not a slave owner, doesn’t believe in owning slaves and doesn’t think he or his sons should fight so that others can hold onto their slaves.
When Rebel soldiers come to recruit his sons, he sends them away empty-handed. When federal agents show up to confiscate his farm animals, he and his sons beat them off.
But then his youngest son (Phillip Alford) is mistaken for a Confederate soldier and taken prisoner. Suddenly, Charlie Anderson can’t ignore the war anymore.
He and his other children mount up, determined to reunite the family. All the while knowing the likelihood of finding one 16-year-old lad among thousands of soldiers and hundreds of prisoners is … well, about as unlikely as living in Virginia and escaping the Civil War untouched.
Review:
With a huge assist from star James Stewart, director Andrew McLaglen finds just the right touch with this film, a touch that includes a little humor, but plenty of reminders of the tragedy of war.
“The undertakers are winning,” Charlie Anderson says, kneeling by the grave of his long departed wife. And the undertakers will visit his family more than once, though not a single son marches off to fight.
Stewart’s capable supporting cast includes Glen Corbett as his eldest son; Patrick Wayne as the son who’s married to Katherine Ross and about to become a dad; and Rosemary Forsyth as the daughter who’s being wooed by a young Confederate officer (Doug McClure).
Both women were making their film debuts.
This wound up being Stewart’s most commercially successful film of the 1960s. With American engulfed in the controversial Vietnam War at the time, “Shenandoah” was heralded for its anti-war message even though its star supported the war.
But the film works just fine as pure entertainment too.
Directed by:
Andrew McLaglen
Cast:
James Stewart … Charlie Anderson
Doug McClure … Lt. Sam
Glenn Corbett … Jacob Anderson
Patrick Wayne … James Anderson
Rosemary Forsyth … Jennie Anderson
Phillip Alford … Boy Anderson
Katherine Ross … Ann Anderson
Charles Robinson … Nathan Anderson
Jim McMullan … John Anderson
Tim McIntire … Henry Anderson
Gene Jackson … Gabriel
Paul Fix … Dr. Witherspoon
Denver Pyle … Pastor Bjoerling
George Kennedy … Col. Fairfield
James Best … Carter
Tom Simcox … Lt. Jonson
Berkeley Harris … Capt. Richards
Harry Carey Jr. … Jenkins
Kevin Hagen … Mule
Dabbs Greer … Abernathy
Strother Martin … Train engineer
Kelly Thordsen … Carroll
Runtime: 105 min.
Score: Frank Skinner
Title tune:
Nice variation on “Shenandoah”
Memorable lines:
Jacob Anderson: “They come closer every day, Pa.”
Charlie Anderson: “They on our land?
Jacob Anderson: “No, sir.”
Charlie Anderson: “Then it doesn’t concern us… does it?”
Charlie Anderson, saying grace for his family: “Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvest it. We cook the harvest. It wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be eating it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same for the food we’re about to eat, amen.”
Pastor Bjoerling: “Charlie Anderson, I wonder if you’d be good enough to tell me exactly why you even bother coming to services. Meaning no disrespect, of course.”
Charlie Anderson: “It was my wife’s last request, Pastor Bjoerling. Meaning no disrespect, of course.”
Charlie Anderson, after watching Lt. Sam romance his daughter Jennie: “Your sister is ripe and the pickers are here. Of course, I don’t suppose you know what I mean, do you Boy?”
Boy Anderson: “I’m not as dumb as you think I am, Pa.”
Lt. Johnson, a Confederate officer, upon stopping by the Anderson farm: “When are you going to take this war seriously, Mr. Anderson?”
Charlie Anderson: “Now let me tell you something, Johnson, before you get on my wrong side. My corn I take seriously, because it’s my corn. And my potatoes and my tomatoes and fences I take note of because they’re mine. But this war is not mine and I take no note of it.”
Lt. Johnson, trying to recruit Anderson’s sons for the Confederate cause: “Virginia needs all her sons, Mr. Anderson.”
Charlie Anderson: “That might be so, Mr. Johnson, but these are my sons. They don’t belong to the state. When they were babies I never saw the state comin’ around here with a spare tit.”
Lt. Johnson: “Mr. Anderson, if you can sit in the middle of this war and not get touched, I congratulate you.”
Charlie Anderson, after a Rebel patrol is ambushed on his land: “What do you do with dead soldiers?”
Jennie Anderson, to a federal agent trying to confiscate horses from the Anderson farm: “I’m not in the habit of makin’ promises to strangers, mister, but you have my word on it. If you and these other animals don’t get off this farm this minute, I’m going to shoot you stone dead.”
Charlie Anderson, by his wife Martha’s grave: “I don’t even know what to say to you any more, Martha. There’s not much I can tell you about this war. It’s like all wars, I guess. The undertakers are winning. And the politicians who talk about the glory of it. And the old men who talk about the need of it. And the soldiers, well, they just wanna go home.”
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