Shenandoah
by Andrew V. McLaglen
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Actor: Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, James Stewart, Patrick Wayne, Rosemary ForsythDirector: Andrew V. McLaglen
Brand: Universal Studios
Cinematographer: William H. Clothier
Editor: Otho Lovering
Producer: Robert Arthur
Writer: James Lee Barrett
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Shenandoah
DVD Review: THE PRODIGAL PATRIARCH
Summary: 5 Stars
SHENANDOAH has been a favorite since its 1965 release. It concerns the tragedy of the Anderson family during the last stages of the American Civil War. It is a story of how the pride of Charlie Anderson, the patriarch of the family, preserved the family from the strife of the conflict only to have that same pride bring suffering and death to the very footsteps of his household. After over one hundred forty years our emotions and perceptions of the Civil War are still complex and conflicted. Many movie executives worried that showing the war through the eyes of one family would risk the disfavor of entire parts of the country. Yet despite these concerns SHENANDOAH was well received on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.
The reason for this is clear upon viewing the movie. The setting is the Civil War but it is not about the Civil War. The story is actually an inventive retelling of the prodigal son parable from the New Testament. James Stewart is the prodigal. He is a wealthy farmer richly blessed in land and family. He has six sons, one daughter, one daughter-in-law, and in the course of the story acquires a son-in-law and a granddaughter. Yet Charlie Anderson's pride is revealed (humorously) as he prays over the family meal at the beginning of the movie. He gives thanks to God not out of real gratitude but simply because that is what he is supposed to do. But he cannot let the prayer pass without making the point that it was his family's sweat that put the food on the table-not God's. Subsequently, Charlie Anderson dutifully takes his family to church; but his behavior and manners betray a subtle disrespect for the institution. Later events also show us that Charlie Anderson feels no sense of gratitude or obligation to his beloved Virginia nor to the advancing Union forces of the country of his birth. We come to see a patriarch prideful unto himself unwilling to help and asking none of God and country-so sure of himself that if he stood firm and aloof the war would just pass him and his family by. Thus the viewer is shown that the destruction and suffering to befall the Andersons is brought about by a lost Confederate cap.
It is not that Charlie Anderson is a bad man. Throughout the movie we see he is a loving father to all his children and quite devoted husband to the memory of his wife. When he speaks with his soon to be son-in-law about marriage, Charlie Anderson actually has some perceptive things to say. (Charlie Anderson's little lecture on love may strike some as corny. But after thirty years of marriage, I can tell you that there's more behind that speech than you'd guess.) Part of the tragedy is that if Charlie Anderson were consistently a truly bad man perhaps the evil that befalls his family would largely be averted; but it is precisely because he loves his family that the gate is left wide open for the wolves to enter.
Lee's army had protected Virginia well for three years; but Union forces had finally broken through and the war was being fought in the fields and towns in the Shenandoah Valley. Fighting had been getting closer to the Anderson farm until the youngest son is taken prisoner by Union solders after being mistaken for a rebel solder (the lost cap in his procession). Charlie Anderson undertakes an understandable but truly foolish quest to retrieve his son. In the midst of two battling armies, the Anderson's go in search of Charlie's son and his captors. During this quest, the Andersons find a son-in-law; but not the son. The oldest son is killed as the Andersons are mistaken for enemy riders. Meanwhile, back at the farm, another son is killed and his wife is gang-raped and murdered while the house is looted by thieves.
Charlie Anderson returns from his quest without his youngest son and learns that by leaving to save the one he has exposed his family and farm to the worst. In trying to keep from losing one, he failed and lost three more. Charlie Anderson is a defeated and broken man. At the first meal, Charlie Anderson speaks is usual prayer only to realize what a fool he has been all his life. He has depended on God's mercy for every crumb. He was not sufficient unto himself. As blessed and strong as he was in family and land, all God had to do was remove his protection for a moment for it to all come to ruin.
Charlie Anderson's "return" in the church and his youngest son's literal return to the family strike many as sentimental; but these are the natural movements of the parable. SHENANDOAH was made in the 1960's and so does not portray war in much of the grimness we are accustomed to today. It also only indirectly touches on the subject of slavery and race-two subjects some feel should be front and center in any discussion of the American Civil War. Again, it can only be pointed out that the story isn't about the war-it is about a particular family.
SHENANDOAH has worn well over the years and bears repeated viewings. It is an excellent movie and one of Jimmy Stewart's most touching characters.
Description of Shenandoah
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