Shenandoah

directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
List(s):"Movie One"
Category: "Western"
Year of Release:1965
Date Added:12/31/2014
Date Watched:06/05/2015
Description:Charlie Anderson (James Stewart) lives with his six sons, his daughter and his daughter-in-law (Katherine Ross) on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War. He's determined to keep his family out of the war, despite run-ins with soldiers and men requisitioning his horses. But when his youngest son is taken prisoner, Charlie takes off after him with four of his sons. Along the way, one of the sons is killed by a Confederate patrol, and the son and daughter-in-law he left behind are also killed by scavengers. Finally, at the end of the war, Boy comes home.
My Rating:6

Reviews for Shenandoah

Review - Shenandoah

There was some good acting in this film, but there were too many problems for me to endorse it heartily. For one thing, I had to try to forget everything I knew about the war in the Shenandoah in particular and about the whole war in general. There's now way six grown men would have been allowed to sit out the war in the South. The youngest son was taken prisoner because he was wearing a Confederate hat and carrying a rifle. Duh. Charlie and his sons are able to stop a prisoner train, release the prisoners and burn the train without any problem. Just stuff like that. There was a fairly strong anti-war message, but the movie ended so flatly that I'm not sure what the point was. Throughout, Stewart's character made it very clear that he just went to church and prayed because his dead wife made him promise, but in the end, when Boy returns, he joins in in church and sings "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow," so I guess he changed his mind about that too.
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