Friendly Persuasion (1956)

Director:

William Wyler

Writer (WGA):

Jessamyn West (book)

Release Date:

25 November 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War | Western

Tagline:

You'll love SAMANTHA, THE GOOSE! (re-release print ad - all caps)

Plot:

The story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religous sect is strongly opposed to violence and war...

Plot Keywords:

Religion | Quaker | Patriarch | Home Guard | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Jess Birdwell
Dorothy McGuire	...	Eliza Birdwell
Anthony Perkins	...	Josh Birdwell
Richard Eyer	...	Little Jess
Robert Middleton	...	Sam Jordan
Phyllis Love	...	Martha 'Mattie' True Birdwell
Peter Mark Richman	...	Gardner 'Gard' Jordan (as Mark Richman)
Walter Catlett	...	Prof. Waldo Quigley
Richard Hale	...	Purdy (violent Quaker)
Joel Fluellen	...	Enoch (black hired hand)
Theodore Newton	...	Maj. Harvey (recruiter in meetinig)
John Smith	...	Caleb Cope (wrestling Quaker)
Edna Skinner	...	Opal Hudspeth
Marjorie Durant	...	Pearl Hudspeth (pipe-smoking woodcutter in braids)
Frances Farwell	...	Ruby Hudspeth

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (as De Luxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (certificate #17955) | Norway:12 | Canada:G (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bidwell Park - Manzanita Avenue, Chico, California, USA

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

Katharine Hepburn turned down the role of Eliza Birdwell.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Jess Birdwell sends the children upstairs after mother Eliza retires to the barn, he says, "up stairs to bed, all of thee!" In Quaker dialect, the pronoun thee is used as the objective case of thou, and is used only when addressing an individual. He should have said, "up stairs to bed, all of you!".

Quotes:

Prof. Waldo Quigley: I want you to know, sir, I honor your prejudices - -um, uh, convictions.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Boy Meets World: Friendly Persuasion (#6.4)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Marry Me, Marry Me

Quakers handling the Civil War

"Friendly Persuasion" is the second best movie about the Civil War. "Gone With The Wind" is the first. This movie is about the Quakers living in Indiana in 1862 and how they are trying to cope with the Civil War. They live a peaceful life until the war happens in their backyard and they must decide whether to fight or follow their religion and sit back.

The Quaker family consists of: Jess Birdwell, head of the family (Gary Cooper); his wife, Eliza, a Quaker minister (Dorothy McGuire); two sons, and a daughter. The rest of the cast was perfect. This is my favorite of Gary Cooper's movies. The whole family can enjoy it.

The movie received many Academy Award nominations except for Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire as best actor and best actress. My favorite character is the Widow Hudspeth (Marjorie Main). Widow Hudspeth is similar to Ma Kettle. It must have been hard for Gary Cooper to keep a straight face when working with Marjorie Main. They were both funny and delightful together. Ms. Main made one more movie and retired in 1957; she refused to do television because the pace was too fast.