Glory (film)
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| Glory | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Edward Zwick |
| Produced by | Freddie Fields |
| Written by | Kevin Jarre |
| Starring | Matthew Broderick Denzel Washington Cary Elwes Morgan Freeman Andre Braugher |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Freddie Francis |
| Editing by | Steven Rosenblum |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Running time | 122 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18,000,000 (est.) |
| IMDb profile | |
Glory is a 1989 drama war film based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the American Civil War. The 54th was one of the first formal units of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African American men (apart from the officers). The first was the 1st South Carolina Volunteers.
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[edit] Synopsis
The movie begins with newly promoted Captain Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) at the battle of Antietam, on September 17, 1862. But he cowardly left his troop, and ducked right beside a dead body. He is awaken by an African-American grave digger named John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). Despite what happen at Antietam, Shaw is appointed commander of the fist all black regiment, the 54th Massachusetts. Hesitated, he agrees, with his childhood friend, Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes), as the executive officer. Their fist volunteer is an other one of Shaw's friends, an intelligent African-American man named Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher).
They soon have hundreds of men joining the regiment, including John Rawlins, an arrogant escaped slave name Trip (Denzel Washington), and a young, free African-American name Jupiter Sharts (Jihmi Kennedy). Once at camp, Thomas, Rawlins, Trip, and Sharts all share one tent along with a mute drummer boy. Shaw soon finds out that any escaped slave found serving the army will be captured and sent back to its owner, where he will be severely punished. Further more, any one who is seen commanding them will be killed. After learning this, he gave the men and Forbes the chance to leave. But to his surprise, no one left the following morning.
Shaw then hires someone to train the men, so that they can prepare for the battles ahead. Shaw also became much stricter, as when the guns arrived he makes Sharts, who already has the best shooting among the men, shoot while he fires toward the sky right behind his head. Even though disgusted, Forbes carried out Shaw's actions. Meanwhile, Thomas is finding life hard in camp, as he is the weakest and slowest of the men, and is constantly being teased by Trip for being smart. Despite that, Thomas, even though tempted, never left the camp. Trip was also not liking camp life, and is always at ends with the other men, mainly Rawlins. He leaves camp to get some shoes, as his current shoes are worn out. He is then caught and it is assumed by Shaw that he was trying to leave the regiment, so he has him whipped. After learning from Rawlins the truth, he was able to force the military to finally give the men uniforms and new shoes.
Before finally marching south, Shaw appointed Rawlins as Sergeant Major, making him the highest ranking enlisted man in the regiment. Shaw soon learns that there is an other all black regiment, but becomes disgusted at it, as the commander commands the men like animals, in which they act. But he is forced to listen to the commander, no matter how wrong it is. Shaw and the other men also got frustrated that have not been in any battles, and that other soldier do respect them. But they eventually did join a battle in which they won. Thomas, who earlier in the battle save Trip from a southerner, got injured in the battle, but lived.
Not long after that, Shaw enlisted the 54th Massachusetts as the first regiment to attack Fort Wagner. On the night before the attack, the men sang at the camp fire to rise their spirits up for tomorrow. The next day, the 54th Massachusetts were being honored by both white soldiers and generals as they slowly walk to Fort Wagner. They then charged to Fort Wagner, with canon balls firing towards them. They then take shelter and stayed there until night. Shaw, after seeing the American flag down, gets up and attempts to rally the men forward. He is soon shot and killed. Trip (who earlier in the film, said that he doesn't want to hold the flag) gets up and grabs the flag. He is then shot, but is still holding flag, even when dyeing. Then the rest of the men stand up, and started charging at the southerners. Forbes and Rawlins leads them, while they are slowly making there way to the top. But they are all seemingly shot by canons. The movie concludes with the south winning, while all the bodies of the 54th Massachusetts, including Shaw and Trip, are being buried in a massive grave
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Matthew Broderick | Colonel Robert Gould Shaw |
| Cary Elwes | Major Cabot Forbes |
| Morgan Freeman | Sergeant Major John Rawlins |
| Denzel Washington | Private Silas Trip |
| Jihmi Kennedy | Private Jupiter Sharts (pronounced "shäts") |
| Andre Braugher | Corporal Thomas Searles |
| John Finn | Sergeant Major Mulcahy |
| Donovan Leitch | Captain Charles Fessenden Morse |
| JD Cullum | Henry Sturgis Russell |
| Jay O. Sanders | General George Crockett Strong |
[edit] Character biographies
[edit] Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
Robert Shaw is a shy and quiet man but is determined to do his best as a leader. He and his other commanding officers train the freed African American slaves to fight in the 54th Massachusetts (which consisted of all African American troops). A wounded veteran of the battle of Antietam, he is hard on his troops if only because he knows what battle will require of them. In the movie, he comes to understand that there is a spirit of sacrifice in the regiment as the men wish to prove the worth of blacks to the world. Knowing this, he volunteers his regiment to lead the assault on Battle of Fort Wagner, knowing full well what the likely outcome would be for him personally.
As the Regiment's assault is pinned under heavy fire at the base of the glacis of the fort, Shaw attempts to rally them forward and is fatally shot. In the movie, as in history, his death causes his men to stand and charge.
The portrayal of the historic Robert Gould Shaw is credible, and draws much from the real man's letters
[edit] Major Cabot Forbes
Unlike Robert Gould Shaw, the character of Cabot Forbes is fictional and could be seen as a representation of many of the real regiment's officers - his name is a combination of the first name from one of the real Shaw's friends and the last name of another. Many of the officers were Harvard-educated Bostonians and drawn from families with Abolitionist sentiments, and Forbes seems to share that background when he joins with Thomas and Shaw into the 54th regiment shortly after its creation. Shaw had asked Cabot to be the executive officer (second-in-command) of the regiment after the Governor and Frederick Douglass offered the position of commanding officer to Shaw.
Evidently for dramatic purposes, the character of Forbes seems too soft a disciplinarian, protesting Shaw's actions on multiple occasions. However, after seeing action, he takes over the assault on Fort Wagner after Shaw fell, and his fate (death, capture by the Confederates, or departure from the battlefield) is not revealed in the film, although it is suggested that he is killed by cannon fire.
[edit] Private Trip
While most of the volunteers for the 54th Massachusetts were free-born or freemen from the North, the character of Trip (seemingly entirely fictional) is an escaped slave who enlists in Shaw's regiment. Trip is depicted as an embittered and angry escaped slave who is in the Army for the opportunity to take revenge on Southern slave owners.
Trip is fearless, arrogant, callous, and so anxious for combat that he wants to fight anyone. He takes delight in teasing Thomas, whom he resents for being a well-educated black man and calls him "Snowflake" because Thomas has not experienced slavery or hard work, and because he is a close friend of the regiment's commander. During basic training Trip sneaks away from camp, desperate for shoes. He is brought back under a charge of desertion and is whipped. As the movie progresses, Trip is unrelenting in his harassment of Thomas, in an effort to provoke Thomas into a fight. He almost succeeds, but the altercation is stopped by Rawlins. Trip berates Rawlins for being a high ranking black soldier and ordering everyone around, he insults Rawlins by calling him the "white man's dog". Rawlins then slaps Trip in the face and lectures him about what it means to be a soldier.
Trip gradually changes his attitude as the regiment finally starts seeing combat. He is the first to react after Shaw's death at Fort Wagner, and grabs the flag, being shot as he does (Earlier in the film, he says that he doesn't want to hold the flag.) He defiantly continues holding the flag until dying.
[edit] Sergeant Major John Rawlins
The character of John Rawlins seems loosely based on William Harvey Carney, a real Sergeant Major in the 54th, and the first African American to earn the Medal of Honor for his actions in the attempted storming of the fort. Rawlins is a middle-aged former slave. He is first seen by Colonel Shaw digging graves after the Battle of Antietam. Rawlins is one of the many African Americans who answer the call to arms by enlisting in Shaw's regiment. As he is very level-headed and perceptive, Shaw looks to Rawlins as a leader amongst the black soldiers, as well as a source of information on their feelings and needs. Rawlins is soon promoted to Sergeant Major making him the highest ranking enlisted man in the regiment.
[edit] Private Jupiter Sharts
An African American man who is either unable or barely able to read, but throughout the movie gets help from Thomas. He is young and has a stutter which improves over the course of the film. He is one of the best marksmen in the regiment. His fate at the battle of Fort Wagner is unknown like Forbes and Rawlins. Again, as was often the case among the Black Soldiers of the Civil War, he has a relentless appetite for self-improvement, and a genuine zeal for religion.
[edit] Corporal Thomas Searles
Another fictional character, but one who represents the educated free men who comprised much of the 54th. He is a childhood friend of Shaw and Forbes, he is the first to volunteer for the 54th. Because he is educated, can read and speaks "like a white man," Trip bullies him. Throughout the film Searles has a rocky relationship with Trip but just before the battle of Fort Wagner they become friends. He is mortally wounded by a bayonet at the battle of Fort Wagner.
[edit] Comparisons with historical fact
- The film depicts the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry training through the Christmas holidays of presumably 1862 (after the September 1862 Battle of Antietam), but the real 54th Massachusetts did not organize until March 1863, and they were engaged in their first battle on James Island, SC on 16 July 1863, and then Battery Wagner (the final battle in the film) on 18 July 1863.
- The film suggests that most of the black soldiers were former slaves from Southern secessionist states who wished to fight for the abolitionist North, but in fact the majority were born free in the North, although some did escape from slavery.
- Of the major characters in the movie's version of the regiment, only Robert Gould Shaw was a real person. The rest are composite characters. The name of Shaw's executive officer (Cabot Forbes) is a combination of the first name from one of the real Shaw's friends and the last name of another.
- In the film, Shaw is offered and accepts the job to be the commanding officer of the 54th on the same day. In reality, he rejected the offer once and accepted only after many days. Shaw is also shown as promoted directly to colonel, whereas his record indicates he was a major for several months as the regiment grew in strength and was at last promoted to colonel just prior to the regiment being deployed.
- Flogging was banned in the Union Army in 1861. Pvt. Trip would not have been whipped, at least not by someone as by-the-book as Col. Shaw.
- The incident just before the charge into Fort Wagner in which Colonel Shaw points to the flag bearer and asks "If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry on?" is based on a real event. However, the person who asked the question was General George Crockett Strong; Shaw was the person who responded. When the flag bearer fell, another black soldier, Sergeant William Harvey Carney, grabbed the flag and carried it all the way to the bulwarks of Fort Wagner. He remained there under enemy fire until the 54th was forced to retreat. Sergeant Carney struggled back to Union lines with the flag, receiving four wounds from which he recovered. Carney became the first black recipient of the Medal of Honor.
- Colonel Shaw was married, but his wife is not depicted in the film.
- The manner in which Colonel Shaw dies in the movie is based on fact. His final words were "Forward, Fifty-fourth!" before he was shot several times in the chest. However, though the film depicts him falling on the parapet, he in fact made it to the top and his body fell into the fort.[1]
- The final scene of the film shows Shaw's body being thrown into the burial pit alongside his fallen men. This is historically accurate, although his body was in fact first stripped of his uniform,[2] but in the film, only his shoes and socks are missing. When Shaw's parents inquired about his body, the Confederate commander responded, "We buried him with his niggers." It seems to have been meant as an insult, but Shaw's father later said that he was proud that his son was buried next to his men.
- In the movie, it is claimed that "over half" of the regiment was lost during the assault on Fort Wagner. However, official records state that the 54th sustained 272 casualties, which is closer to 40%. Of these casualties, only 116 were fatalities, just under one fifth of the men to storm the fort. If the 156 soldiers that were captured are included, it would bring the total to "over half". In formal military terms, though, "casualties" include captured soldiers. In any event, by most standards, including those of the Civil War, these are heavy casualties and the regiment was widely viewed as having performed bravely indeed.
- The movie's epilogue also claims that "the fort was never taken." While it is true that the fort was never taken by force, it was abandoned by the Confederate Army two months later.
- In the movie, the ocean is on the left side of the regiment when they charge the fort; this was allegedly done in order to get the best quality of light at the time of filming. In reality, however, the regiment charged with the ocean on their right, or coming from the south. Also, the approach was along a narrow spit at high tide.
- The real second in command was first Lt. Colonel Norwood Penrose Hallowell, then later, at the time of the attack against Fort Wagner, was his younger brother Edward Needles Hallowell, who later went on to become colonel and lead the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The fictional Major Cabot Forbes, played by Cary Elwes, is based on Edward Needles Hallowell. Although he was seriously wounded, Hallowell did survive the attack on the fort and led the regiment until it disbanded in 1865. He retired with the rank of Brigadier General.
- In the movie, Shaw is surprised when the men refuse pay that was reduced because they are a "colored" regiment (though he eventually joins them in their refusal). In reality, the refusal was his idea, and he encouraged them to do it (in other words, "tear it up").
- In the attack on Fort Wagner, the regiment volunteers to be the vanguard of the charge, when in fact they did not volunteer, but were commanded to lead the charge.
- Years after the film was made, it came to light that the word Glory was used by one of the men of the Regiment. First Sergeant Robert John Simmons, of B Company, was a twenty-six year old Bermudian clerk, probably from St. George's, believed to have joined the 54th on 12th March, 1863 (many Black and White Bermudians fought for the Union, mostly in the US Navy. Many more profiteered from the war by smuggling arms to the South). Simmons was introduced to Frances George Shaw, father of Col. Shaw, by William Wells Brown, who described him as "a young man of more than ordinary abilities who had learned the science of war in the British Army". In his book, The Negro in the American Rebellion, Brown said that "Frances George Shaw remarked at the time that Simmons would make a 'valuable soldier'. Col. Shaw also had a high opinion of him". Sgt. Simmons was mentioned in an 1863 article of the Weekly Columbus Enquirer, which described him as "a brave man and of good education. He was wounded and captured. Taken to Charleston, his bearing impressed even his captors. After suffering amputation of the arm, he died there." The newspaper also described him as saying that he fought "for glory". Simmons, who has been specially mentioned among the enlisted men of the 54th, and who had been awarded a private medal, died in August, 1863, following the attack on Fort Wagner. [1]
[edit] Soundtrack
James Horner composed the soundtrack to the film. One of the most popular tracks is Charging Fort Wagner. This music plays when the regiment charges the fort. The Boys Choir of Harlem were featured on the entirety of the soundtrack.
[edit] Awards
The film was nominated for five categories and won three Oscars:
- Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Denzel Washington.
- Oscar for Best Cinematography - Freddie Francis.
- Oscar for Best Sound Mixing - Donald O. Mitchell, Gregg C. Rudloff, Elliot Tyson, Russell Williams II.
- Nomination for Art Direction - Norman Garwood (art direction) & Garrett Lewis (set decoration).
- Nomination for Film Editing - Steven Rosenblum.
[edit] References
- Luis F. Emilio, A Brave Black Regiment: A History of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry: 1863-1865 (Boston: The Boston Book Company, 1891).
- James M. McPherson, “The ‘Glory’ Story,” The New Republic, January 8 & 15, 1990, pp. 22-27. (film review)
[edit] Cited references
- ^ Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, ed. Russell Duncan (Athens & London: The University of Georgia Press, 1992), 52.
- ^ Kathy Dhalle, "A Biography of Robert Gould Shaw," http://www.bitsofblueandgray.com/june2003.htm
[edit] External links
- Glory at Rotten Tomatoes
- Glory at the Internet Movie Database
- Analysis of the character Trip in Glory
- Text, Audio, Video of 4 Speeches from the Film
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