The Blue and the Gray 

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

Creator:

John Leekley

Stars:

Stacy Keach, John Hammond, Julia Duffy

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Stacy Keach	...	Jonas Steele 3 episodes, 1982
John Hammond	...	John Geyser 3 episodes, 1982
Julia Duffy	...	Mary Hale 3 episodes, 1982
Robin Gammell	...	Jacob Hale Sr. 3 episodes, 1982
David W. Harper	...	James Hale 3 episodes, 1982
Julius Harris	...	Preacher / ... 3 episodes, 1982
Gregg Henry	...	Lester Bedell 3 episodes, 1982
Cooper Huckabee	...	Matthew Geyser 3 episodes, 1982
James Carroll Jordan	...	Professor Lowe 3 episodes, 1982
Brian Kerwin	...	Malachy Hale 3 episodes, 1982
William Lucking	...	Capt. Potts 3 episodes, 1982
Charles Napier	...	Maj. Harrison 3 episodes, 1982
Walter Olkewicz	...	Pvt. Grundy 3 episodes, 1982
Penny Peyser	...	Emma Gayser / ... 3 episodes, 1982
Duncan Regehr	...	Capt. Randolph 3 episodes, 1982
David Rounds	...	Christopher Spencer 3 episodes, 1982
Christopher Stone	...	Maj. Fairburn 3 episodes, 1982
Diane Baker	...	Evelyn Hale 3 episodes, 1982
Kathleen Beller	...	Kathy Reynolds 3 episodes, 1982
Paul Benedict	...	Arbuthnot 3 episodes, 1982
Lloyd Bridges	...	Ben Geyser 3 episodes, 1982
Rory Calhoun	...	Gen. George Meade 3 episodes, 1982
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Maggie Geyser 3 episodes, 1982
David Doyle	...	Phineas Wade 3 episodes, 1982
Michael Horton	...	Mark Geyser 3 episodes, 1982
Warren Oates	...	Maj. Welles / ... 3 episodes, 1982
Gerald S. O'Loughlin	...	Sgt. O'Toole 3 episodes, 1982
Geraldine Page	...	Mrs. Lovelace 3 episodes, 1982
Dan Shor	...	Luke Geyser 3 episodes, 1982
Rip Torn	...	Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 3 episodes, 1982
Robert Vaughn	...	Sen. Reynolds 3 episodes, 1982
John Vernon	...	Secretary of State Seward 3 episodes, 1982
Sterling Hayden	...	John Brown 3 episodes, 1982
Paul Winfield	...	Jonathan Henry 3 episodes, 1982
Gregory Peck	...	Abraham Lincoln 3 episodes, 1982
Bruce Abbott	...	Jake Hale Jr. 3 episodes, 1982
Janice Carroll	...	Mary Todd Lincoln 2 episodes, 1982
Veronica Redd	...	Hattie 2 episodes, 1982
Fred Stuthman	...	George (older employee at the Gettysburgh Newspaper) 2 episodes, 1982
John Voldstad	...	Alvin Mooney 2 episodes, 1982

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

civil war | u.s. civil war | epic battle | river battle | husband wife relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Blauen und die Grauen

Filming Locations:

Arkansas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Larry White/Lou Reda Productions,Columbia Pictures Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some of the filming took place at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Arkansas. The film crew built a false side onto one of the historic buildings there and then blew it off for a special effect - assuring the State park officials that no harm would come to the building. The explosion was rather larger than promised and caused some damage to the structure of the historic house.

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Goofs

The scene showing the First Battle of Bull Run shows the trees without leaves, indicating autumn or winter time. The battle actually took place in July, so the trees would be full of leaves.

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Quotes

Abraham Lincoln: It's well known that the more a man speaks, the less he's understood.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Time of the Apes (1991)

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Soundtracks

Tenting On the Old Camp Ground
Traditional

User Reviews

Brother Against Brother

Back in the early Sixties there was a short lived television series called The Americans about two brothers who after their father was killed decided to fight on opposite sides in the Civil War. The whole business about brother against brother was no exaggeration. Right up to the very top with Mary Todd Lincoln having relatives who fought for the Confederacy, families were torn apart. The Blue And The Gray brings that aspect of the Civil War better than any other film made for the big or small screen since The Americans.

The families are the Geysers and the Hales related by the mothers, Diane Baker and Colleen Dewhurst being sisters. The Hales are from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and the Geysers from what would now be West Virginia in and around Harper's Ferry and that's not even 100 miles distance. But the families are true to the sectional divide.

With the exception of John Geyser played by John Hammond who has made a black friend, a free man played by Paul Winfield who gets lynched for helping runaway slaves. He won't fight for a section that espouses slavery as a cause, but won't enlist in the Northern Armies either. A passing acquaintance played by Stacy Keach who gets himself involved in a lot of the major events of the war and married into the Hale family with Julia Duffy persuades Hammond to become a war correspondent and put his artistic talents to good use. Hammond becomes a pictorial chronicler of the seminal event of his generation.

Without ever losing control of the main story lines, what happens to the various Geyser and Hale family members, The Blue And The Gray captures the sweep and pageantry of the Civil War. Such real characters as Abraham Lincoln played by Gregory Peck and John Brown played by Sterling Hayden in what was his farewell performance do take a life of their own. With Peck we see a public and a private Lincoln which is true to the Lincoln mythology and yet quite a human character.

If I had to single out one performance that was especially touching it would be that of David W. Harper as one of the Hale brothers. The young man was eager to be the first to enlist in his town of Gettysburg, but he never made it to the battle that town became famous for. A not well covered portion of the war was the lack of sanitary facilities in army camps. Young Harper falls victim to dysentery and his performance will move you.

A few years later North and South covered a lot of the same ground that this particular mini-series did and it was as well done as The Blue And The Gray. I would recommend them both highly especially for young audiences to gain a real understanding of what the Civil War meant to the average individual/