"The Blue and the Gray" (1982) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writers:

Bruce Catton (story)
Ian McLellan Hunter (writer)

Release Date:

14 November 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

America just before and during the Civil War, as seen through the eyes of an artist correspondent.

Plot Keywords:

President | Mary Todd Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln | U.S. President | TV Mini-Series

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins

Cast

Stacy Keach	...	Jonas Steele
John Hammond	...	John Geyser
Lloyd Bridges	...	Ben Geyser
Rory Calhoun	...	Gen. George Meade
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Maggie Geyser
Warren Oates	...	Preacher / Maj. Welles
Geraldine Page	...	Mrs. Lovelace
Rip Torn	...	Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
Robert Vaughn	...	Sen. Reynolds
Sterling Hayden	...	John Brown
Paul Winfield	...	Jonathan Henry
Gregory Peck	...	Abraham Lincoln
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bruce Abbott	...	Jake Hale Jr.
Royce D. Applegate	...	1st Cell Reporter
Lyle Armstrong	...	Lincoln's Advisor
Diane Baker	...	Evelyn Hale
Kathleen Beller	...	Kathy Reynolds
Paul Benedict	...	Arbuthnot
Walter Brooke	...	Gen. Herman Haupt
Janice Carroll	...	Mary Todd Lincoln
Fredric Cook
Dean Denton	...	Union Soldier at Union Camp
David Doyle	...	Phineas Wade
Julia Duffy	...	Mary Hale
Robin Gammell	...	Jacob Hale Sr.
David W. Harper	...	James Hale
Julius Harris	...	Swamp Preacher
Alex Harvey
Gregg Henry	...	Lester Bedell
Michael Horton	...	Mark Geyser
Cooper Huckabee	...	Matthew Geyser
John Dennis Johnston	...	Lt. Hardy
Brian Kerwin	...	Malachy Hale
William Lucking	...	Capt. Potts
Charles Napier	...	Maj. Harrison
Walter Olkewicz	...	Pvt. Grundy
Gerald S. O'Loughlin	...	Sgt. O'Toole
Gregg Palmer	...	Bull Run Colonel
George Petrie
Penny Peyser	...	Emma Gayser
Rick Ramey
Veronica Redd
Duncan Regehr	...	Capt. Randolph
David Rounds
Dan Shor	...	Luke Geyser
Warwick Sims
Christopher Stone	...	Maj. Fairburn
Fred Stuthman	...	George (older employee at the Gettysburgh Newspaper)
Robert Symonds	...	Gen. Robert E. Lee
John Vernon	...	Secretary of State Seward
John Voldstad	...	Alvin Mooney
Peter von Zerneck	...	Prussian General
Noble Willingham	...	Cavalry General on Balloon Field

Runtime:

296 min (Recut 2005 Version) | 381 min (Original 1982 Version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Arkansas, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Television

Trivia:

One of Gregory Peck's greatest heroes from childhood was President Abraham Lincoln. Peck was initially concerned about playing him since at 66 he was a decade older than Lincoln was when he was assassinated.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When John Brown is hanged for the uprising at Harper's Ferry, the apple trees are in full blossom. John Brown was hanged on 2 December 1859.

Quotes:

Jonas Steele: [has just been addressed as a "Bluebelly Colonel"] Major. Bluebelly Major.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Walker (2007)

Soundtrack:

Tenting On the Old Camp Ground

OK Story. Could have been more realistic like Gettysburg

The Blue and the Grey had a great plot and I really enjoyed this mini series. It showed the horrors of war and showed how some families were broken up by the conflict where in real life brother fought brother. I only wish that the Blue and the Grey could have been more realistic like Gettysburg. The uniforms used in this film are just too generic and too "Hollywood" unlike Gettysburg where the uniforms look authentic. I also dislike the over dubbing of the rifles and cannon that was so common until the last 15 years or so that seems so fake in comparison to Gettysburg. The battle scenes have a lot of action but there just seems to be too few people fighting the battle. Gettysburg on the other hand had plenty of extras; almost all of them Civil War reenactors, making the battle scenes more realistic. Perhaps if the producers of The Blue and the Grey had used reenactors they could have had better battle scenes and the mini series would have been more realistic.