Product Details

• Actors: Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton
• Directors: William Wyler
• Writers: Jessamyn West, Michael Wilson
• Producers: William Wyler, Robert Wyler
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: October 13, 1998
• Run Time: 137 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305128324
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,685 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #3 in	Video > Westerns > Western Stars > Gary Cooper
  #10 in	Video > Military & War > Civil War
  #16 in	Video > Drama > Family Life > Fathers & Sons

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For two years the Civil War has been elsewhere. Now Confederate forces are nearby, looting and burning. It is time to fight back, Jess Birdwell's neighbors insist. Yet Birdwell, a Quaker, knows there must be a better way to settle things.

Year: 1956

Director: William Wyler

Starring: Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cooper is magnificent, July 16, 2000

By	Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This is a lovely movie, beautifully photographed on location (no phony Hollywood sets here). The performances are stellar throughout, but Gary Cooper is outstanding as the family patriarch. Watch him acting, the subtle shifts in gait, his facial expressions and nuances make him the great star that he was. They don't make 'em like Cooper anymore. Anthony Perkins is also excellent as the vacillating Josh Birdwell, the Quaker boy gone off to fight in the Civil War and Dorothy McGwire is quietly effective. There is much humor throughout the movie, you'll laugh our loud many times.

This is a great movie for everyone in the family, adults and children alike. "Wholesome" is an old-fashioned concept, this this movie lives up to that billing.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An all but perfect movie, June 1, 2000

By	"haleth" (Springfield, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This gentle, sensitively crafted story of a loving Quaker family is the closest thing to a perfect movie I have come across.

Usually touted as an anti-war film, Friendly Persuasion deals with young Josh Birdwell's (Anthony Perkins) crisis of conscience over whether to fight the Confederate forces that have invaded his home area. But, the film has a broader sweep as well, fitting Josh's struggle into the broader life of the Family. Sister Mattie is in love with a Methodist, son of Papa's friend Sam Jordan, with whom he races to Meeting and/or Church on Sundays. Little Jess, the youngest, has a mortal fude with Mama's pet goose Samantha.

And, Mama and Papa? Different as their outlooks on life seem, they love each other very much. Without sinking to the maudlin this film, like The Sundowners, portrays two people who have been married for about twenty years and are totally, charmigly in love.

The story takes place over just a few weeks, but the brief time-span allows for a depth of realization which, by the end, leaves the viewer feeling that she/he kknows and is very fond of this family.

Perfect for snuggling with that special someone, or watchig as a family project.

60 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Hollywood, Not Bad, August 19, 2002

By	Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (Fes, Morocco) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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There's been a lot of give and take on this movie, questioning how good it is at representing true Quakers, and rightfully so. But as a member of Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, I enjoyed it. It is fairly well acted, and full of humor. It also is probably the best one can expect from Hollywood as far as accuracy.

The humor itself is very revealing, often circling around the tendency now, and especially during the Civil War, for Friends to lapse into legalism- such as in issues of dancing, gambling, singing, and racing- in their attempt to truly follow the Spirit and the Word. The movie also accurately represents the wide range of views that Friends had in response to taking up arms in the Civil War (and again in the World Wars), with some choosing to fight and some to nonviolently resist. It brings up the interesting questions of how to respond to one's son who chooses to kill another human, when one wants to honor the child's ability to listen to God.

There are other glimmers of philosophy: the difference between militancy and militarism, as displayed by one strong-feeling pacifist Quaker at the beginning; some wonderful nonviolent action practiced by Gary Cooper and his wife upon each other. She doesn't want an organ in the house, so sleeps in the barn until he removes it. He responds by putting the organ in the house, and then going to sleep in the barn along side her, coming along with her suffering. The end result is compromise, because of the love shown in strong conviction.

I would have liked to see stronger convictions displayed by the Quakers represented. It does seem that too many of them choose the side of violence and darkness, or do not stick with their convictions. But at least one holds out. And I don't remember another movie I've ever seen where the man is shooting at his enemy, and yet crying at the same time- not from fear of war, but because he loves his enemy so much. The language of "thee" and "thou" was also grammatically inaccurate. A Friends production could have done better, but for Hollywood, it was pretty good. And I liked how, as I left the movie, I felt transported back to another time, when the greeting were still full of First Days and Friends.