Two Mighty Armies Trampled Its Valley... A Fighting Family Challenged Them Both!
Great story and script, set in Virginia near the end of the American Civil War, centred on a family which has managed to remain separate from the conflict. Strong opening, with Stewart's character taking an aggressive stance against involvement.
One wonders about the links to real wars faced by the American people, such as WWII and the war in Vietnam. As US involvement in the Vietnam war had just finished, it is likely that this story was a veiled discussion of US separatism vs. involvement. During the course of the film, some of the horrors and foolishness of war are pretty well illustrated. Despite the comic interludes, there are some harsh moments along the way.
The character of Stewart very interesting, forthrightly opposed to involvement, and more or less atheistic, though respectful of his wife's wishes.
Shame about some of the male cast (apart from the youngest son, Stewart's sons and McClure seem to be stolid but dull (unkindly expressed: beefy fatheads).
Interesting portrayal of women's roles, very traditional in many ways, but offset to a degree by Stewart's daughter's response to the plight of her young brother. Includes rather dated comic interludes with Stewart trying to explain the differences between men and women (or in reality, between himself and his wife) to crass young men.
- Rating: Full price
- When seen: 7 Feb 2011
- Where seen: Home, on iPad
- More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia
Amendments: Added writer tag: "James Lee Barrett"; actor tags: "Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, Rosemary Forsyth, Phillip Alford, Katharine Ross". Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.
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