Shenandoah (film)

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This article is about the 1965 Jimmy Stewart film. For other uses, see Shenandoah.

Shenandoah

Directed by	Andrew V. McLaglen
Produced by	Robert Arthur
Written by	James Lee Barrett
Starring	James Stewart Doug McClure
Music by	Frank Skinner
Cinematography	William H. Clothier
Editing by	Otho Lovering
Distributed by	Universal
Release date(s)	June 3, 1965
Running time	105 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Shenandoah is a 1965 Western war drama starring Jimmy Stewart and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Though set during the American Civil War, the film's strong antiwar and humanitarian themes reflect attitudes toward the Vietnam War. Upon its release, the film was praised for its message, as well as its technical production. In 1966, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound. Due in part to her performance in Shenandoah, Rosemary Forsyth was nominated for a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer - Female.

[edit] Plot

Charlie Anderson (Stewart) is a widowed farmer in Shenandoah, Virginia during the Civil War. He hopes to keep his family out of the war, believing that it is not "his" war. Confederate recruiters visit his farm in an unsuccessful attempt to enlist some of the young men in the Anderson family. Anderson also has two daughters, one of whom gets married to a young Confederate officer early in the film. Anderson is able to keep his family uninvolved in the war even as combat takes place on his land. His new son-in-law is immediately posted to his unit as his wedding ends.

One day while out hunting, the youngest Anderson son finds a discarded Confederate cap. He begins wearing it each time he is out. One day, again out hunting, he is taken prisoner by a Union Army patrol who believe him to be a Confederate soldier. The boy denies he is a soldier at all, but his rifle and cap make it impossible to convince the Union soldiers. His friend, a local slave named Gabriel, is told by the soldiers that he is now free. Gabriel runs nonstop to Mr. Anderson's house to tell him that the boy has been taken by the Union men. Mr. Anderson then decides it is "our war". He rides off to find the nearest Union encampment, believing that if he talks to a commander he can sort out the issue and free his son. Meanwhile, Gabriel asks one of the Anderson's daughters what it means to be free. She tells him he is free to go anywhere he wants. Gabriel runs down the road towards an unknown destination.

Anderson visits a Union Army camp and finds a sympathetic officer who has lost his own son in the war. But he also finds that the prisoners have been sent to another location. Returning home, he gathers most of his sons and assembles a group to go find the boy. He leaves behind one son, his daughter-in-law, and his young granddaughter. As the boys assemble to leave, Mr. Anderson's recently-married daughter also prepares to go on the search. Although the father wants her to stay behind, she points out that she can out-ride and out-shoot most of the boys. He relents, and the group sets off.

The boy, now a prisoner of war, befriends other prisoners. Eventually a small group escapes and attempts to return to Confederate lines. Eventually, after a period of wandering through rural Virginia, they succeed in joining a Confederate unit.

The Anderson group searches camps, railroad stations and tracks to find the boy. In one such encounter, they free an entire trainload of Confederate prisoners and coincidentally free Mr. Anderson's new son-in-law. Mr. Anderson then orders his sons to burn the train, saying "That's a train that takes people where they don't want to go". His sons and the freed Confederates burn the train and then move on.

Eventually, knowing their cause is hopeless, the boys confront the father, saying they should return home. Mr. Anderson agrees, but says that they had to try; he tells them "if we don't try, we don't do, and if we don't do, why are we here?". They head home.

While the rest of the Andersons have been away, stragglers have killed his son and daughter-in-law. Only the grandchild survives, in the care of a black woman.

The boy, now truly a soldier in the Confederate Army, finds himself in battle. During a Union attack his is shot in the leg; as a Union soldier rushes up to finish him off with his bayonet, he looks up and sees Gabriel, the former slave. Gabriel recognizes the boy and carries him to safety under cover before rejoining his unit.

In the final scene, the Andersons go to church on sunday. In a repeat of one of the opening scenes, the family is late arriving and a bit disruptive as they take their seats. The family is sadly much reduced in number from the opening scene. Yet as a hymn begins, the rear doors open and the wounded boy, leaning on a crutch, walks into the church.