This was a great film
So few posting on it, i guess the older a film gets, the fan base thins out.
to bad its one of my favorites..
I watch it about 3 time a year with my three sons. It's a good show to escape into for a few moments. One of my favorite part are when the little drummer boy, from the boys academy, disobeys his mother and rejoins his group to fight the well seasoned horse solder. When the drummer boy is captured by a solder the solder asks John Wayne " what should I do with him ser " John Wayne riding his horse in a circle not sure what to say, finally says " Spank him! "
Definitely one of my favorite films.
shareOne of my favorites too. Not particularly historically accurate in spite of what the promotional copy on the DVD claims -- it's based very loosely on Ben Grierson's raid but Grierson was a much more interesting character than the rather stolid fellow Wayne played. I mean, how can you resist the idea of a music teacher who's afraid of horses getting assigned to the cavalry by mistake and being so good at it that he stays in the army after the war and becomes the first colonel of one of the "Buffalo soldier" regiments? Also the constant talk about Andersonville grated on me -- that particular PoW camp hadn't been established yet when the movie took place.
Still, the tension between Holden and Wayne and the excellent performance by Constance Towers more than made up for that. A great film.
One of my favorite John Ford/John Wayne movies, thanks primarily to the Grierson tie-in. The annoyances listed by "gteatr" are there, but only detract a little from the movie. The whole subplot involving Hannah Hunter is just flat-out silly - but Towers not only conquers the role, she's quite easy on the eyes. Thus it's all worthwhile. I also love the characters of Colonel Secord and Major Gray - the one a politician-soldier (a type far too common in the ACW) and the other an aspiring thespian. And your usual supporting cast of John Ford actors (Ken Curtis, Hank Worden, Bing Russell etc) adds to the fun.
In any case, I've been a fan of this one for over 25 years.
If you ever want to read a great book about the actual raid this was (loosely) based on, look no further than D. Alexander Brown's "Grierson's Raid." Not only is the raid itself more amazing than anything Stuart or Forrest ever pulled off, but the book reads almost like a novel. And if you check out a hardcover copy, the endpapers have a great map of the raid with notes on what happened at each point along the way.
"Faith is the most important thing!" "Then why did God plague us with the capacity to think?"
I thought this a really strong movie, good directing, well acted and a good story even if not accurate history. I noticed the way it ended with the confederate horse soldiers riding in and the offer of aid of the regimental doctor. There are some passing observations I might make on the andersonville reference, Holden's character Kendall is very much in the anti-war mode of Shears from Bridge over the River Kwai of 1957 in which Holden/Shears escapes from a POW camp run by the Japanese army and then returns to it, the reference to andersonville at the end may be a knowing nod to this role of Holdens and his to hell with war attitude. Also John Wayne's character Marlowe shows shades of some of the darker characters he plays in Ford films, like Nathan in the searchers, I thought the shot at the end of Waynes shadow approaching Constance Towers as she stood distraught on the riverbank reminded me of the long shadow Nathan cast in the searchers, but maybe I am reading a bit much into the shot though with good directors thats often what happens whether intentional or not. I stayed up late to watch this one saying I'll switch it off now and go to bed but it kept me viewing til the wee hours, very good recommended.
shareI know this is an old post, but to be completely accurate, JW's character in The Searchers is named Ethan Edwards, not Nathan. They do sound the same, so it's easy to miss.
Good post, though!
Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway. John Wayne
Wayne played Nathan Brittles in another Ford film.
I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.
This may be considered heresy by today's Politically Correct standards, but if you take this movie, the real-life history on which it was based and the fictionalizations added to it (including fictional characters), and then do the same to Glory, the two films are roughly equal in historical accuracy. Of course, Matthew Broderick and Denzell Washington are good actors, but they can't hold a candle to The Duke and William Holden! For that matter, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher and Jhimi Kennedy can't hold a candle to Willis Bouchey, Leslie Gray, Bing Russell, Hank Worden, Ken Curtis and the rest of John Ford's stable of character actors either.
shareFor that matter, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher and Jhimi Kennedy can't hold a candle to Willis Bouchey, Leslie Gray, Bing Russell, Hank Worden, Ken Curtis and the rest of John Ford's stable of character actors either.
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I must say these "comparisons" you're making seem arbitrary as hell.
Morgan Freeman "can't hold a candle" to CHARACTER actors? Give me a break. I just watched The Horse Soldiers, and while I enjoyed the film quite a lot, only Wayne and Holden delivered performances that could stand against the finest work in Freeman's career. Everyone else (with the exception of the great Strother Martin, whom you neglected to mention) was forgettable in this picture.
But yes, Matthew Broderick is no John Wayne...as I'm sure Broderick would be the first to admit. His character in that movie was SUPPOSED to be the opposite of a "tough" General. What in the world could make you compare Ferris Bueller to The Duke? We aren't talking apples and oranges here, we're talking apples and kiwis! Besides, Glory isn't the most identifiable role of Brodericks career and The Horse Soldiers is FAR from Wayne's most iconic film...it seems a little goofy to compare these actors based on these two films.
As for Denzel Washington, comparing him to William Holden is another lark. Could any two actors be MORE different than these two? Holden had a better career than Washington has had so far, but that says more about the quality of films today than Washington's inferiority as an actor. Having seen both Inside Man and Training Day, I can say with confidence that Washington deserves to stand toe to toe with any great actor...including Holden.
And in case you're wondering, I'm a BIG William Holden fan; Network and The Wild Bunch alone are enough to place him among my personal favorites (and those films were made in the twilight of his career!).
Comparing these actors is ridiculous...not only did they make films 50 years apart, their acting styles are completely different.
You may call that "politically correct" if you like.
I call it the truth.
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"For that matter, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher and Jhimi Kennedy can't hold a candle to Willis Bouchey, Leslie Gray, Bing Russell, Hank Worden, Ken Curtis and the rest of John Ford's stable of character actors either."
Morgan freeman is not inferior to any actor I have seen. I would rate him at least equal to any actor you mentioned including the duke. Denzel and freeman are superb actors and comparable to any era.