| Photos (see all 12 | slideshow) |
| John Wayne | ... | Col. John Marlowe | |
| William Holden | ... | Maj. Henry 'Hank' Kendall (regimental surgeon) | |
| Constance Towers | ... | Miss Hannah Hunter of Greenbriar | |
| Judson Pratt | ... | Sgt. Maj. Kirby | |
| Hoot Gibson | ... | Sgt. Brown | |
| Ken Curtis | ... | Cpl. Wilkie | |
| Willis Bouchey | ... | Col. Phil Secord | |
| Bing Russell | ... | Dunker, Yankee Soldier Amputee | |
| O.Z. Whitehead | ... | Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins (medical assistant) | |
| Hank Worden | ... | Deacon Clump | |
| Chuck Hayward | ... | Union captain | |
| Denver Pyle | ... | Jackie Jo (rebel deserter) | |
| Strother Martin | ... | Virgil (rebel deserter) | |
| Basil Ruysdael | ... | The Reverend (Jefferson Military Academy) | |
| Carleton Young | ... | Col. Jonathan Miles, CSA | |
| William Leslie | ... | Maj. Richard Gray | |
| William Henry | ... | Confederate lieutenant | |
| Walter Reed | ... | Union officer | |
| Anna Lee | ... | Mrs. Buford | |
| William Forrest | ... | Gen. Steve Hurlburt | |
| Ron Hagerthy | ... | Bugler | |
| Russell Simpson | ... | Acting Sheriff Henry Goodbody | |
| Althea Gibson | ... | Lukey - Hannah Hunter's maid | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Sarge Allen | ... | Union officer (uncredited) | |
| Danny Borzage | ... | Ned (uncredited) | |
| Otis Courville | ... | Soldier (uncredited) | |
| Richard H. Cutting | ... | Gen. William T. Sherman (uncredited) | |
| Fred Graham | ... | Union soldier (uncredited) | |
| Sam Harris | ... | Passenger to Newton Station (uncredited) | |
| Stuart Holmes | ... | Passenger to Newton Station (uncredited) | |
| Stan Jones | ... | Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (uncredited) | |
| Fred Kennedy | ... | Soldier (uncredited) | |
| Roy Kennedy | ... | Wrangler (uncredited) | |
| Jack Pennick | ... | Sgt. Maj. 'Mitch' Mitchell (uncredited) | |
| Charles Seel | ... | Newton Station bartender (uncredited) | |
| Jan Stine | ... | Union General (uncredited) | |
| William Wellman Jr. | ... | Bugler (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| John Ford | |||
Writing credits | ||
| John Lee Mahin | (written for the screen by) and | |
| Martin Rackin | (written for the screen by) | |
| Harold Sinclair | (novel) | |
Produced by | |||
| John Lee Mahin | .... | producer (uncredited) | |
| Martin Rackin | .... | producer (uncredited) | |
Original Music by | |||
| David Buttolph | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| William H. Clothier | (director of photography) (as William Clothier) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Jack Murray | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Frank Hotaling | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Web Overlander | .... | makeup artist | |
| Fae M. Smith | .... | hair stylist (as Fae Smith) | |
Production Management | |||
| Allen K. Wood | .... | production manager | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Ray Gosnell Jr. | .... | assistant director | |
| Wingate Smith | .... | assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Victor A. Gangelin | .... | set dresser (as Victor Gangelin) | |
| Sam Gordon | .... | property | |
Sound Department | |||
| Jack Solomon | .... | sound mixer | |
Special Effects by | |||
| Augie Lohman | .... | special effects (as Auggie Lohman) | |
Stunts | |||
| Jim Burk | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Everett Creach | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Dick Dial | .... | stunt double: William Holden (uncredited) | |
| Chuck Hayward | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Tom Hennesy | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| John Hudkins | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Fred Kennedy | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Jack Lewis | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Cliff Lyons | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Ted White | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Jack N. Young | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Frank Beetson Jr. | .... | wardrobe (as Frank Beetson) | |
| Ann Peck | .... | wardrobe | |
Other crew | |||
| Stanley Scheuer | .... | script supervisor | |
| Meta Stern | .... | script supervisor | |
| John Veitch | .... | location manager | |
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| Major Dundee | The General | Custer's Last Stand | The Bridge on the River Kwai | All Quiet on the Western Front |
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This film has the usual Hollywood-style errors about the Civil War -- men talking about Andersonville Prison months before it was established, minor diversions treated as the pivotal event of a campaign, that sort of thing. The biggest error though was the replacement of the fascinating Colonel Ben Grierson with Wayne's railroad man character. Grierson was a music teacher who was afraid of horses because one kicked him in the head as a child. Joining the Union army to fight slavery (he was a staunch abolitionist) he wanted infantry duty but was assigned to the cavalry by mistake. He turned out to be good at it and stayed in the cavalry after the war, becoming the first Colonel of the 10th Cavalry (Buffalo soldiers). It'd have been nice to see Grierson on screen.
Historical inaccuracy aside though the movie did quite well. The film showed multiple viewpoints and a fair degree of respect for most of them. It showed aspects of the war that were generally ignored in other films of the period -- the bloody horror of battlefield amputations, the desire of people to give up on the whole thing (I can't think of an earlier film that talked about deserters and the way they disrupted the southern home front), and the pain of the sheer physical destruction of the war -- a pain that affected the destroyers as well as the victims, something Gone With the Wind never quite admitted.
Some posters have complained about southern belle Hannah Hunter's overuse of sex appeal to spy on Union soldiers -- while there was no historical Hannah Hunter there were plenty of southern women who did just that, including Belle Boyd, Rose Greenhow and others. Some posters have complained about the way the film trivializes slavery -- this is unfair. It underplays slavery but never trivializes it. It shows conflicts within the Union army about the institution and addresses the issue of personal loyalty between some slaves and masters without glamorizing the institution as a whole. Does the film go far enough by modern standards? No. But it goes much farther than its contemporary and treats the slavery issue more honestly than modern travesties like Gods And Generals.
One poster actually complained about how inaccurate southern snipers were -- this is completely unfair. There was no indication that the "snipers" were specially trained men with Whitworth rifles or anything like that. They looked more like ordinary troopers out skirmishing, or perhaps the even more poorly trained militia. Ordinary soldiers fired more than 100 rounds for every hit they scored, so poor shooting on either side is nothing to be surprised about.
8 out of 10