Union forces have won the Battle of Atlanta and the Confederate army is in retreat.
That places residents of Atlanta in a precarious position as Northern forces lay seige to one of the south’s largest cities.
Knowing it’s only a matter of time before Union forces take over Atlanta, Confederate Gen. Hood (William Wylie) orders three cavalrymen (played by Jerry Chesser, Russell Dodson and Alan Cope) to don the Union blue.
They’re to infiltrate the Union lines and conduct an inventory of Atlanta’s warehouse district, taking special note of arms, ammunition and other supplies that could help Northern forces should they fall into Union hands.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Atlanta and a couple of leading citizens request a meeting with Union Gen. Kilpatrick in hopes of stopping the bombardment of the city.
They’re told the cannons will stop firing when all Southern resistance inside the city ends.
That will eventually include the burning of government buildings inside the city.
Gen. Hood decides the warehouse district should burn too, lest supplies fall into Union hands. And he plans to time the destruction so Northern forces will take the blame.
William Wylie as Gen. Hood, doling out orders about Atlanta’s warehouse district in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Jerry Chesser as Sgt. Chessman, ordered to go undercover by Gen. Hood in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Review:
Having endured about a dozen of director Christopher Forbes’ low-budget Western turkeys. I was wondering how he planned to depict the burning of Atlanta on a shoestring.
Turns out he didn’t. You’ll never see anything resembling a city in this film. Instead, Atlanta’s warehouse district is apparently located in the middle of the woods. And the only thing that burns are a few wooden outbuildings masquerading as warehouses.
Which might be excusable if the film included a compelling plot. Or compelling characters we wind up caring about.
It doesn’t. That means the only redeemable quality the film has are moments of unintentional humor. Like listening to businessman’s wife Charlotte Andrews explain the origin of the term “basket case” two wars too soon.
Or like listening to Col. Peabody and businessman C.W. Parker (played by director Forbes) discuss the difficulty of securing French lingerie for Gen. Sherman’s favorite ladies in the waning months of the Civil War.
Spoiler alert: The lingerie winds up burning in Parker’s warehouse. It’s just a shame the negative for this movie wasn’t in that warehouse too.
Russell Dobson as Sgt. Russell, one of the undercover Rebel cavalrymen in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Alan Cope as Cpl. Copeland, one of the undercover Rebel ‘information seekers’ in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Directed by:
Christopher Forbes
Cast:
Jerry Chesser … Sgt. Chessman
Russell Dobson … Sgt. Russell
Alan Cope … Cpl. Copeland
William Wylie … Gen. Hood
Lizzi Tompkins … Olivia Rivers
Joanne Greene … Adelaide Rivers
Wendy Miklos …. Emilia Rivers
Levi Tompkins … Eliz Rivers
Jay Tompkins … John Rivers
Jezibell Anat … Charlotte Andrews
Eric Poe … James Andrews
Darlene Stokes … Elizabeth Davidson
Joseph Zuchowski … U.S. Col. Peabody
Christopher Forbes … C.W. Parker
Bob Young … Atlanta Mayor Calhoun
Brad Owens … U.S. Gen. Kilpatrick
Runtime: 83 min.
Jezibell Anat as Charlotte Andrews, informing her husband of the warehouse inventories in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Eric Poe as James Andrews, a man struggling to overcome a war wound in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Memorable lines:
Jerry Chesser: “So you want us to be spies?”
Gen. Hood: “I’ve never liked that term. I prefer the term information seekers.”
Jezebel Arnett: “How’s your leg feeling?”
Mr. James Anderson: “This piece of wood they gave me as a replacement? I don’t feel anything really. But when I try to walk on it, it grips my brain like a vice.”
Charlotte Andrews to Mr. Parker: “Yes, you have done well in this war, unlike the other men … some have come back in caskets. Some have come back in baskets, and I think that may be even worse. No limbs at all, and their spirits are broken. Do you know people have taken to calling them basket cases?”
Mr. Parker: “Mr. Peabody, you’ve always been a very fair man to deal with.”
Col. Peabody: “I am a Quaker. I know no other way.”
Mama Rivers: “God, please watch over my family. And send those blue devils back to the hell they came from.”
Joseph Zuchowski as U.S. Col. Peabody, discussing the desperate need for French lingerie in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Christopher Forbes as C.W. Parker, a businessman unafraid of dealing with the Yankees in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Lizzi Tompkins as Olivia Rivers, the young woman who tries to convince her grandma to flee to safety in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
Joanne Greene as Grandma Rivers, a woman reluctant to leave her Atlanta home in The Burning of Atlanta (2020)
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