Shenandoah (1965)

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

29 Jan 2008 11:19 AM

The 1965 film "Shenandoah" is evidence that Jimmy Stewart is one of the finest actors we've ever seen come out of Hollywood. He truly was at his best in this film about a Virginia farmer named Charlie Anderson. Now a widower with a grown family, Charlie owns land in the Shenandoah Valley and is concentrating on his home, his family, and his own life. The Civil War is raging all around him, but he has decided it doesn't concern him, and he chooses to stay out of it. His six sons have differing opinions, and their dinner conversations are often strained, but Charlie feels strongly about the need to remain neutral, and so the Anderson clan isn't in the war.

The war, however, comes to them.

Boy, the youngest son in the family at sixteen, finds a Confederate cap in the river, and takes to wearing it. He's captured by a Union army patrol while out hunting, and they take him for a young soldier. He tries to convince him that he came by the cap accidentally, but they think he's lying to save his skin.

When Charlie finds out his son has been taken, he rides off to find a Union authority who can help him free his son. But Boy has been relocated, and Charlie can't find him. The Anderson family mobilizes to get their son and brother out of the prisoner of war camp, but they aren't reunited-Boy escapes and joins up with another unit, going into the war for real, and is injured.

This movie is about the ravages of war on everyone, not just soldiers or soldiers' families, but all those who live near or around the battle scenes as well. It's not possible to remain untouched, as Charlie learns. The acting in this film is heart-felt and gut-wrenching. It's not a film for young children, although it's not graphic and I would recommend it as a great learning tool for children age ten and over who may be studying the Civil War.

This film was not rated.

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Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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