Glory (1989)

Matthew Broderick is Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who gets a taste of the horrors of war when he leads troops into battle at Antietam.

He suffers a minor wound, returns home to Boston and receives surprising news at a dinner party thrown by his wealthy parents.

The governor of Massachusetts has authorized formation of a regiments of black soldiers. And he’s suggested Shaw be promoted to colonel to lead that regiment.

Though hesitant at first, Shaw soon embraces the challenge and convinces good friend and part-time scoundrel Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) to be his second in command.

He finds no shortage of volunteers, including former grave digger John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), embittered escaped slave Silas Trip (Denzel Washington), jovial Jupiter Sharts (Jihmi Kennedy) and Shaw’s longtime black friend Thomas Searies (Andre Braugher).

He finds no shortage of obstacles either, from corruption within the ranks that prevents his troops from getting needed supplies to decisions in Washington, D.C., including one which cuts the pay for black troops to half of what is received by their white counterparts.

And, for a while, it looks like the 54th Massachusetts Regiment will be used for nothing more than foraging and manual labor.

But Shaw’s repeated demands that they be allowed into action eventually leads them to the Charleston Harbor and an impending assault on Fort Wagner in the summer of 1863.

Matthew Broderick as Col. Robert Gould Shaw, getting a minor wound tended after witnessing the horrors of war in Glory (1989)

Matthew Broderick as Col. Robert Gould Shaw, supervising the burning of a Georgia coastal town in Glory (1989)

Review:

Simply one of the best Civil War films ever made, even if it seems formula-driven at times.

And the battle scenes — especially the climatic attack on Fort Wagner — are magnificent, especially considering they include re-enactors volunteering their time for the production.

Having Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman as members of the 54th certainly helps.

The former is a wise-cracking former slave, prone to picks fights with everyone. The latter has seen the horrors of war and is old enough to know it’s best to save a man’s fight for when it matters most.

It helps that the white commanders are flawed individuals too. And that not all black soldiers are depicted as heroic. For example, there’s the looting of a coastal town in Georgia.

As for Shaw, he has experienced battle, and isn’t sure how he’ll stand up if tested again. Yet his men are so eager to enter the fight, he wants them to have that opportunity.

Morgan Freeman as Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins, learning blacks will be expected to fight for less pay in Glory (1989)

Morgan Freeman as Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins, father figure to some of the men in the 5th an a confidant to Shaw in Glory (1989)

Directed by:
Edward Zwick

Cast:
Matthew Broderick … Col. Robert Gould Shaw
Denzel Washington … Private Silas Trip
Cary Elwes … Maj. Cabot Forbes
Morgan Freeman … Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins
Jihmi Kennedy … Pvt. Jupiter Sharts
Andre Braugher … Cpl. Thomas Searies
John Finn … Sgt. Maj. Mulcahy
Donovan Leitch Jr. … Capt. Charles Fessenden Morse
JD Cullum … Henry Sturgis Russell
Alan North … Gov. John Albion Andrew
Bob Gunton … Gen. Charles Garrison Harker
Cliff De Young … Col. James M. Montgomery
Christian Baskous … Edward L. Pierce
RonReaco Lee … Mute drummer boy
Jay O. Sanders … Gen. George Crockett Stronger
Richard Riehl … Quartermaster
Peter Michael Goetz …. Francis George Shaw

Runtime: 122 min.

Denzel Washington as Silas Trip, about to endure another whipping, this one at the hands of the Army he’s fighting for in Glory (1989)

Denzel Washington as Silas Trip, declining the offer to become a flag bearer for the 54th Massachusetts in Glory (1989)

Memorable lines:

Col. Robert Gould Shaw: “Forbes, if you don’t believe in what we’re doing here, maybe you shouldn’t be part of it.”
Maj. Cabot Forbes: “Part of what? Huh? Left, right. Left, right. Little finger along the seams of your trousers. Marching is probably all they’ll ever get to do.”

Col. Robert Gould Shaw: ‘”Never question my authority in front of others.”
Maj. Cabot Forbes: “Well, I is sorry, masser. You be the boss man now and all us children …”

John Rawlins, upon being given the rank of sergeant major: “I ain’t sure I’m wantin’ this, colonel.”
Col. Robert Gould Shaw: “I know exactly how you feel.”

John Rawlins: “That’s right, Hines. Ain’t no dream. We runaway slaves but we come back fightin’ men. Go tell your folks how kingdom come in the year of jubilee!”

Andre Braugher as Cpl. Thomas Searies, enduring a difficult transition from the life of a civilian to that of a soldier in Glory (1989)

Andre Braugher as Cpl. Thoma Searies, welcoming the news that the unit will finally see action in Glory (1989)

Trip:” Let me tell you something, boy. You can march like the white man, you can talk like him. You can sing his songs, you can even wear his suits. But, you ain’t never gonna be nothing to him, than an ugly ass chimp… in a blue suit.

Trip: “Oh, I see, so the white man give you a couple a stripes, and suddenly you start hollerin’ and orderin’ everybody around, like you the massa himself! N—-r, you ain’t nothin’ but the white man’s dog!”
Rawlins: “And what are you? So full of hate you want to go out and fight everybody. Because you’ve been whipped and chased by hounds. Well that might not be living, but it sure as hell ain’t dying. And dying’s been what these white boys have been doing for going on three years now! Dying by the thousands! Dying for *you*, fool! I know, ’cause I dug the graves. And all this time I keep askin’ myself, ‘When, O Lord, when it’s gonna be our time?’ Gonna come a time when we all gonna hafta ante up. Ante up and kick in like men. Like men! You watch who you call a n—-! If there’s any n—-rs around here, it’s YOU. Just a smart-mouthed, stupid-ass, swamp-runnin’ nigger! And if you not careful, that’s all you ever gonna be!”

Jihmi Kennedy as Pvt. Jupiter Sharts, leanring left-right the hard way from Sgt. Maj. Mulcahy (John Finn) in Glory (1989)

Jihmi Kennedy as Private Jupiter Sharts, prepared to take place in the assault on Fort Wagner in Glory (1989)

Cary Elwes as Maj. Cabot Forbes, disagreeing with Shaw’s treatment of the men he commands in Glory (1989)

Cary Elwes as Maj. Cabot Forbes, about to help lead the 54th in the assault on Fort Wagner in Glory (1989)

John Finn as Sgt. Maj. Mulcahy, the professional brought in the help train the 54th in Glory (1989)

Cliff De Young as Col. James M. Montgomery, a bigoted leader of black troops in Georgia in Glory (1989)