Richard Chatten
Having worked his way up from second features and through television to the 1963 John Wayne brawler 'McLintock!', this was plainly Andrew V. McLaglen's attempt to make a enduring classic western for grown-ups. Beautifully produced and acted, James Stewart is obviously having a great time in the showy lead role.James Lee Barrett's script is lovingly crafted, but the care he has put into it is rather too obvious and his contrivances too contrived (like the 'surprise' ending unlikely to have surprised anyone who's been paying attention), while the film's vaguely liberal anti-war position is one of many potentially provocative themes - such as Stewart's disdain for religion - that don't really lead anywhere (too bad Barrett's later hawkish screenplay for 'The Green Berets' couldn't have been as ambiguous).Many of the film's attitudes inevitably reflect the early 1960s rather than the early 1860s, while Jennie (Rosemary Forsyth) just happening to prove a crack shot is one of many elements that are a bit too good to be true. Ironically it's usually the women that look too modern in such films, but it's Stewart's boys that here look far too much like square-jawed, floppy-haired sixties hunks.
utgard14
Compelling drama about a man's efforts to keep his family safe and out of the Civil War. It's an anti-war story that was obviously meant to be about the then-current war, Vietnam, as much if not more than the one in the story. The film looks and feels like a western, although it's set in Virginia. Like most westerns from back then, it's a mix of serious drama with action scenes and even some moments of comedy. James Stewart plays the lead and gives an exceptional performance. Fine support from George Kennedy, Paul Fix, Patrick Wayne, Doug McClure, Katharine Ross (in her film debut), Glenn Corbett, and Rosemary Forsyth, who does a great job as Stewart's ballsy daughter. Some riveting emotional scenes and some nice action. Definitely worth a look for Stewart fans or anyone who enjoys films with subtext.
Spikeopath
Shenandoah is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and written by James Lee Barrett. It stars James Stewart, Patrick Wayne, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Rosemary Forsyth, Phillip Alford and Katharine Ross. Music is by Frank Skinner and Technicolor photography is by William H. Clothier.As the American Civil War rages, a Virginian patriarch keeps his large farming family in the act of isolationism. But will the war leave them alone? A superbly acted and written Civil War Oater, Shenandoah is moving and poignant without over doing the anti-war message. First half of the pic lets us into the lives of the Anderson family, their beliefs, their loves and losses, and decisions that will shape their futures. Circumstances will of course come knocking at the door, which shifts the film into darker territory, where it is here that McLaglen and his team brilliantly show the emotional and physical hardships of the war between the North and the South. Story and the characters are consistently compelling, all while the locations envelope the dramatics with a beauty that is realised by the legendary Clothier. And then there is Stewart, a class act and the axis, the fulcrum of everything that is great about the pic, his character brought vividly - and crucially believably - to life, one of the best father portrayals in classic film. Battles rage, of the war, the heart and of the mind in one of the 1960s best American Oaters. 9/10
grantss
A mildly interesting take on the American Civil War, and its effect on the civilian population. Poses some good questions on the morality and reasons for the war, and picking sides. More particularly, not picking sides, and the consequences thereof. Problem is, it doesn't really answer these questions. Maybe that is the answer, that there is no solution, but some degree of attempting an answer would be good.So-so plot. Historically inaccurate at times, and many of the battle scenes seem quite contrived and/or flawed. Could also have been grittier - sometimes felt overly folksy and idealistic. Being made in 1965, however, I guess the producers couldn't be too graphic or tough-minded.Decent performance by James Stewart in the lead role. However, hardly anyone else gets a word in...
AD
