Friendly Persuasion (1956)

Director:

William Wyler

Writer (WGA):

Jessamyn West (book)

Release Date:

25 November 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War | Western

Tagline:

You'll love SAMANTHA, THE GOOSE! (re-release print ad - all caps)

Plot:

The story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religous sect is strongly opposed to violence and war...

Plot Keywords:

Religion | Quaker | American Civil War | Crisis Of Conscience | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Gary Cooper	...	Jess Birdwell
Dorothy McGuire	...	Eliza Birdwell
Anthony Perkins	...	Josh Birdwell
Richard Eyer	...	Little Jess
Robert Middleton	...	Sam Jordan
Phyllis Love	...	Martha 'Mattie' True Birdwell
Peter Mark Richman	...	Gardner 'Gard' Jordan (as Mark Richman)
Walter Catlett	...	Prof. Waldo Quigley
Richard Hale	...	Purdy (violent Quaker)
Joel Fluellen	...	Enoch (black hired hand)
Theodore Newton	...	Maj. Harvey (recruiter in meetinig)
John Smith	...	Caleb Cope (wrestling Quaker)
Edna Skinner	...	Opal Hudspeth
Marjorie Durant	...	Pearl Hudspeth (pipe-smoking woodcutter in braids)
Frances Farwell	...	Ruby Hudspeth

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (as De Luxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (certificate #17955) | Norway:12 | Canada:G (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bidwell Park - Manzanita Avenue, Chico, California, USA

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

Although Gary Cooper's performance was widely praised, he himself hated the movie, describing it as a "boring piece of crap".

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Jess Birdwell sends the children upstairs after mother Eliza retires to the barn, he says, "up stairs to bed, all of thee!" In Quaker dialect, the pronoun thee is used as the objective case of thou, and is used only when addressing an individual. He should have said, "up stairs to bed, all of you!".

Quotes:

Josh Birdwell: I don't want to die. I don't think I could kill anyone if I tried. But I have to try, so long as other people have to.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Laverne & Shirley: Friendly Persuasion (#7.9)" (1981)

Soundtrack:

Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)

An exceptional film!

Wyler's "Friendly Persuasion" and "The Big Country" entitle an authentic and significant theme which is somewhat expressed in stronger terms in "Friendly Persuasion" but which meet with the impressive "The Big Country."

The story is simple, lovely and sensitive...

Gary Cooper, head of a Quaker family, is a loving husband and a caring father who has to consider his position at the outbreak of the Civil War in Southern Indiana... Cooper believes - as a father - that a man must be guided by his own conscience...

Anthony Perkins takes the part of Cooper's son which he plays beautifully... He is the 'peace-loving' young man who does not believe in fighting... He is like his mother shattered and teared apart by the events, but also feeling uncertainty about his capacity to meet danger without giving way to fear... Perkins sees that he has to convince himself that he is not a coward, so he becomes a member of the Home Guard, ready to defend the community...

Dorothy McGuire emits pleasant emotions as the Quaker mother, projecting inner beauty to her family...

Sentimental and well done, "Friendly Persuasion" is superbly acted and directed, beautifully shot in color... The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound Recording and Best Song...