Purely Joyful Movie!

I wanted to but couldn't!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

There are generally two kinds of movies regarding war, those that glorify it, and those that condemn it. Rarely, though, are there ones that bridge that perilous divide with such elegance, insight, and charm. This is due in part to the casting, with an impeccable Gary Cooper, and an equally accomplished co-star in Anthony Perkins. But every great film requires a great man at the helm and who could compare with Billy Wilder, a true American treasure. This movie also stands as a emotional look at the war between the states, what we call the Civil War. Many families and communities were torn apart by that war, and although we hear about those travails in books, capturing it on film is an entirely different story. This film does it so well. In today's films, featuring bloodshed and violence on a scale unheard of when this film was produced, watching it again as a 65-year old man still brought tears to my eyes. It was truly a gentler, "sweeter" time then, which this movie captures so well. Although there is a modicum of violence in this film, it only serves the plot... of the utter senselessness of war.

Not as big a production as "Gone With the Wind", "Jezebel", "Raintree County" and others, but I enjoyed this film and it does the novel justice.The story involves a principled Quaker family which follows their moral code of doing no harm. They reside simply in Indiana, raising their own food, asking and taking nothing from anyone.Tony Perkins is very good as a young man who does not see much for his future, selling fruit tress to the local neighbors. There is one very amusing scene where he and his formidable father, Gary Cooper are attempted to be held hostage by an elderly woman and her three unwed country daughters. Perkins is very amusing here.Eventually he decides to enlist in the Civil War though his father tells him he must kill, which is against their religious upbringing.One of the charms of this film is it is not an overblown production. When Dorothy McGuire is engulfed by Confederate army she offers them food, she cooks, perhaps a bit unrealistic but by the time the soldiers reached Southern Indian they were ragged and fatigued. A hot meal was what they needed.The story itself is important as manifests the futility of war. Those who pay the highest price are usually young countrymen who had no choice, no other alternatives. Highly recommended. 10/10.

A labor of love for director William Wyler, based upon the stories of Jessamyn West regarding the Birdwells, a peacemaking Quaker family in 1862 Indiana who are faced with changing times when Civil War unrest breaks out. Will the Birdwell men fight for their freedom or "hide" behind the sanctity of the church? Gary Cooper plays the family patriarch with a rascally touch; he coasts through the role--never letting us forget he's acting the good sport--though his boyish charm sparks the proceedings and attains the good will of the audience. The children bristle under the strict guidance of their by-the-Good-Book mother (a retread performance from Dorothy McGuire), with eldest son Anthony Perkins questioning the family's refusal to become involved in potentially violent matters. There's also a bad-tempered goose, and a freckle-faced child who opens the movie with a voice-over narration (which is then, thankfully, abandoned). Certainly the most prestigious picture up to this time to be released from second-string Allied Artists, though the plastic coating over the project mitigates against enthusiasm. ** from ****

Why do all movie Quakers have paper thin convictions to their morals? If this had been a movie about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, they would have him gunning down racists by the second reel. If they approached the life of Ghandi the way this movie treats Quakers, Ghandi would have been bombing churches.I am an atheist, but if there are any people on the face of the earth who do not kill, no matter the circumstances, it is the Quakers. If you were to believe this movie, Quakers are blood thirsty zombies out to seek revenge on anyone who crosses them.EVERY PRINT OF THIS FILM SHOULD BE DESTROYED.