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:

army | american history | general | bayonet charge | bayonet fight | 

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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:

The Blue and the Gray

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

When John Geyser is shown making his drawings, the sketches you can see in the wide and medium shots rarely match the close-ups of the drawings. Most notably in the John Brown trial sequence, the wide shots show John has just a few doodles or sketchy outlines on his drawing pad, then we cut to a close-up of highly detailed, finished artwork.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in The Cleveland Show: The Blue, the Gray and the Brown (2011)

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Soundtracks

Tenting On the Old Camp Ground
Traditional

User Reviews

A good if somewhat uneven miniseries

This miniseries shows the war primarily through the eyes of a Virginian who wants to witness history but cannot commit to either side of the conflict. His new-found profession of journalism allows him to participate as a neutral observer. He is surrounded by relatives and friends on both sides, and the miniseries shows events through their eyes as well.

The human side of the war is stressed, and it excellently portrays the toll the conflict took on families.

Many of the subplots are taken from Civil War historian Bruce Catton's final work, "Reflections On The Civil War." However, none of the people in the book, including the real John Geyser, appear in the miniseries. Rather, observations made in the book are woven around the main storyline as supplementary material.

Most of the military aspects of the miniseries are laughable and bear little resemblance to reality. Due to the miniseries being done on a miniseries budget we see none of the grand scale evident in "Gettysburg" or "Glory."

Stacy Keach gives a terrific performance as Jonas Steele, the Federal special operations agent. We see from his performance a little of the decentralized, more personalized ways in which intelligence gathering and other non-standard military operations were conducted in the nineteenth century.

The miniseries ran for over six hours on CBS in 1982, but well over an hour was cut for the two-cassette video release. Get the whole treatment if you can.