Sherman's March (2007) (TV)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Rick King

Writer:

Rick King (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History | War

Plot:

This documentary chronicles General William Tecumseh Sherman's fabled "March to the Sea" through Georgia and the Carolinas, utilizing state of the art production techniques including CGI, special effects and historical re-creations. |

Plot Keywords:

William Tecumseh Sherman | March | General | American Civil War | American

Cast

Bill Oberst Jr.	...	General William Tecumseh Sherman
Christopher Clawson	...	Theodore Upson (as Chris Clawson)
Jared Morrison	...	Maj. Henry Hitchcock
Mike Brown	...	Gen. Oliver O. Howard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allen Brenner	...	Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis
Harry Bulkeley	...	Ulysses S. Grant
Guy Gane	...	Major Rhoads
Shaun C. Grenan	...	Confederate Officer, Union Soldier
Robert A. Guadagnino	...	Soldier
Lucas N. Hall	...	1st Lieutenant C.S.A.
Russell Haynes	...	Soldier
Marc A. Hermann	...	Sherman's bummer, US Artillerist, CS Soldier
Henry Jaderlund	...	Union Soldier
Eric U. Lowman	...	Executioner, Western Zouave
Todd McCall	...	Gen. Sherman's Staff Officer
Joan Moses	...	Dolly Burge
Gavin Peretti	...	Hanged Man
Norman J. Pfizenmayer III	...	Soldier
A.J. Roberts	...	Gen. Judson Kilpatrick
Jeffrey F. Smith	...	General Joe Johnston
Tim L. Smith	...	Union Soldier (as Timothy Smith)
Keith E. Whitehead	...	Griswoldville Soldier
Brad Wyand	...	Soldier

Directed by
Rick King

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rick King		writer

Produced by
Lori Gibson	....	producer
Lori Gibson	....	supervising producer
Jessica Harrington	....	co-producer
Margaret Kim	....	executive producer: The History Channel
Rick King	....	producer
William Morgan	....	executive producer
Jason Williams	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Mark Adler

Cinematography by
Rob Lyall

Film Editing by
Mickey Green

Casting by
Jessica Harrington

Production Design by
Kathryn Coombs

Makeup Department
Deanna Bell	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Kathryn Coombs	....	production manager
Mike Luipersbeck	....	pre-production manager
Russ Richards	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John D. Bert	....	second assistant director
Scott Carter	....	second second assistant director
Ruben Flores Rios II	....	first assistant director (as Ruben Rios)

Art Department
Buddy Garrett	....	key set dresser
Jeremiah Hornbaker	....	assistant property master
Linda Hughes	....	second props
R. Mark Hughes	....	property master
Ed Mantell	....	head set dresser (as Edwin R. Mantell)
Ed Mantell	....	propmaker (as Edwin R. Mantell)
Bill McIntosh	....	props
Ann Minarik	....	art department coordinator

Sound Department
William Britt	....	sound mixer
Skip SoRelle	....	sound designer

Special Effects by
William Bishop	....	special effects technician
Sam Edens	....	special effects assistant
Brian Merrick	....	special effects coordinator
Austin Murray	....	special effects technician

Stunts
Joseph Congema	....	stunt coordinator
Tim Dillinger	....	utility stunts

Casting Department
Mike Luipersbeck	....	casting assistant
Jodi Nolan	....	extras casting coordinator
Russell Richards	....	casting: re-enactor

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dana Bogdanski	....	key set costumer
Boyd Miles	....	wardrobe supervisor
Joan Moses	....	set costumer
A.J. Roberts	....	assistant wardrobe supervisor

Transportation Department
Jeffrey F. Smith	....	wardrobe transportation

Other crew
David Michael Brown	....	catering coordinator
Mike Brown	....	lead wrangler
Kathryn Coombs	....	digital propmaker
Kathryn Coombs	....	historical coordinator
Jay Dunn	....	catering assistant
Sam Edens	....	craft service assistant
Sarah Fales	....	catering assistant
Guy Gane	....	assistant military coordinator
Jeremiah Hornbaker	....	armorer
Samantha Iles	....	craft services coordinator
Samantha Iles	....	set medic
Tom Maracino	....	craft services coordinator
Tom Maracino	....	location assistant
Ann Minarik	....	re-creations production coordinator
Jessi Nolan	....	production assistant
Jodi Nolan	....	re-creations office manager
John Nolan	....	wrangler
Russell Richards	....	locations key
Russell Richards	....	re-creations supervisor
A.J. Roberts	....	deputy historical coordinator
Tim L. Smith	....	locations key (as Timothy Smith)
James Thompson	....	military coordinator

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

Boonsboro, Maryland, USA

Decent history lesson.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This brand new documentary on The History Channel isn't bad at all, though it seems to carry with it a certain limited view of its own demographics.

It's historically accurate, at least as far as I can tell, and has reasonably good production values.

When I say that it has a limited view of its demographics, what I mean is that it is designed as if its intentions were to draw in the lowbrows and pubescent kids in the audience and have them cheering at the violence and villainy. It reads rather like a tabloid news article and begins by telling us right off the bat that William Tecumsah Sherman is still thought of in many circles as a bloodthirsty and ravenous pillager. Fortunately, by the end, the myth of Sherman's march has been corrected and that, maybe, is the most important feature of the film.

There are quite a few quotes from letters, diaries, and official records. They tend to keep the dialog stilted but thoroughly believable. The actors don't help. Whoever plays Sherman LOOKS enough like Sherman. The poor guy who plays Grant looks like he was chosen because he happened to look more like Grant than any of the other non-actors available. Under that kempt beard he seems Hollywood handsome.

Maybe I'm asking too much of the film to address itself to an adult audience. Maybe there should be a bit of the tabloid style in it. It was only a few years ago that a national survey revealed that more than half of high-school seniors couldn't place the American Civil War in its proper half century. (It was 1861 to 1865, kids. PS: the North won.) Sherman's mythos has grown glorious over the years. Every Southerner's great-great-grandfather seems to have had his barn burned by Sherman, even if he was nowhere near it. Northerners tend not to know or care about Sherman because their great-great-grandfathers lived in Lithuania at the time and their families didn't come to these shores until 1902. I'm only kidding, but I'm doing it in order to emphasize the fact that Sherman is a much more important figure in Southern folk history than he is in the North. Hitler's "popularity" will probably also outlive that of the men who won the war. For all our faith in angels, we really seem to NEED the devil.

Some tidbits are left out. After first Bull Run, says a talking head, Sherman was "unjustly accused of being crazy," whereas he sounds like a pretty good example of a bipolar to me. And Sherman didn't simply "hate the South," as the film says. He actually had many Southern friends. He was not only the "failed businessman" of the film; he'd been a professor for some years at an institution that was to become Louisiana State University.

It would be nice to believe that this program will be seen by all school kids. Maybe we can bump up the percentage who have heard of the Civil War. Adults will find it interesting as well. It's colorful, full of action, and presented in a way that doesn't make the issues difficult to grasp.