Friendly Persuasion (4 stars)

Friendly Persuasion, from 1956, is a Civil War-era drama starring Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire, with Anthony Perkins in a supporting role.  Produced and directed by William Wyler, this film, which is based on Jessamyn West's The Friendly Persuasion, is one I recently watched for the second time in celebration of my beloved Coop's May birthday.  Though the setting is during the Civil War, this is not a war film.  It's more the saga of a family and how they live out their moral convictions in the midst of the war.

As the Civil War rages in 1862, the Birdwell family of southern Indiana finds themselves having to re-examine many of their Quaker beliefs.  After a Union soldier makes a visit to their meeting house one Sunday,  Jess (Gary Cooper), patriarch of the family, begins to wrestle with whether it is right to maintain their non-violence policy.  While the Quakers are opposed to slavery, they don't believe it is right to kill one man to free another; however, when the soldier accuses the men of hiding behind their church to save their skin, son Josh (Anthony Perkins) isn't so sure staying out of the war is the right thing to do.

The matriarch of the family is Eliza (Dorothy McGuire), and as the town's preacher, she is bound and determined to live righteously.  Therefore, she is quite beside herself when a visit to the county fair exposes her children to the "evils" of dancing, wrestling, and gambling.  And when Jess, despite knowing that music is against the Quaker beliefs, purchases an organ, Eliza insists that he get rid of it...something he has no intention of doing.  Adding to the "sin" of the music, is Jess's habit of entering into a horse race with a neighbor as he drives the family to church each week.

How can the Birdwells live amidst all the unrighteousness and not be tainted by it themselves?  And what will they do when the Confederate Army approaches and they are forced to defend their home?  How it all plays out is the balance of the film.



Friendly Persuasion is a very enjoyable film.  It is a bit on the long side (2 hours, 15 minutes), but, honestly, it never dragged.  Although the film is a drama, there are a few very comical moments...such as when Jess and Josh go calling on Jess's customers.  Marjorie Main portrays a widow with 3 VERY marriage-minded daughters who see Josh as a prime husband candidate.  Their "hospitality" towards Josh is quite a hoot.  Another funny scene is the one in which the church elders come calling on the possibly-wayward Birdwells.  With the forbidden organ hidden away in the attic, Jess begins to pray very loudly in order to camouflage the sound of his daughter making music on the instrument.  The always-delightful Charles Halton is one of the church elders, and I just love his reaction to Coop's prayer.

This is a very well-acted film.  Gary Cooper is perfect in his role as head of the family, and he and Dorothy McGuire are great together.  However, Anthony Perkins (in only his second screen role) more than holds his own with those two much-bigger names.  I was completely impressed by his portrayal of the coming-of-age Josh.

The Dimitri Tiomkin score of Friendly Persuasion is quite lovely, and the theme song, with music by Mr. Tiomkin, lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, and vocals by Pat Boone, received the Best Music, Original Song Academy Award nomination.



In addition to its music nomination, the film received five others, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Perkins).  While it didn't come away with any wins, it is, nevertheless, a thoroughly entertaining film, which I highly recommend.

Out on DVD, this film should be easy to track down; however, it's also on the TCM schedule for Thursday, June 14th, at 9:00 a.m. (ET).  I hope you get a chance to see it.

Happy viewing!!