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Friendly Persuasion
Re-release poster
Directed by	William Wyler
Produced by	Robert Wyler William Wyler
Written by	Jessamyn West (book) Michael Wilson (screenplay)
Starring	Gary Cooper Dorothy McGuire Anthony Perkins Richard Eyer Robert Middleton Phyllis Love Peter Mark Richman Marjorie Main
Distributed by	Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Release date(s)	25 November 1956
Running time	137 min.
Language	English

Friendly Persuasion is a 1956 Palme d'Or-winning Civil War film starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton and Phyllis Love. The screenplay was adapted by Michael Wilson from the 1945 novel The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West, and was directed by William Wyler. The film was originally released with no screenwriting credit because Wilson was on the Hollywood blacklist. His credit was restored in 1996.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of a pacifist Quaker family in southern Indiana during the American Civil War.

The protagonist of the story is Jess Birdwell (Gary Cooper) the patriarch of the Birdwell family whose worldliness is forever coming in conflict with his being a Quaker. Jess's wife Eliza (Dorothy McGuire) is a deeply religious woman and is steadfast in her refusal to engage in violence of any sort. Jess's daughter Mattie (Phyllis Love) wants to remain a Quaker but has fallen in love with a dashing cavalry officer (Peter Mark Richman), a love that is against her mother's wishes. Jess's youngest child "Little" Jess (Richard Eyer) is a feisty child whose comical feud with his mother's pet goose causes her nothing but heartache. Jess's eldest son Josh (Anthony Perkins) is a young man torn between his hate for violence and the knowledge that to protect his family he must join the military and fight the invaders.

We are introduced to the family via its youngest member, "Little" Jess, who is forever at war with his mother's pet goose. The story begins as an easygoing and humorous tale of Quakers trying to maintain their faith as they get ready and then go to Meeting on a Sunday. The mood shifts dramatically when the meeting is interrupted by a Union officer who asks how the Quaker men can stand by when their houses will be looted and their families terrorized by the approaching Confederate army. He questions various young men specifically, doubting their courage and suggesting that they are hiding behind their religion out of fear. When directly confronted with the question of his being afraid to fight, Josh Birdwell responds honestly that it might be the case. His honesty provokes the wrath of Purdy, a Quaker elder who is quick to condemn people who don't believe as he does.

The film returns to comedy as the Quakers try to maintain their ways, but one is always reminded throughout that the Confederate States Army is drawing closer every day. When the Confederates finally arrive, the situation turns deadly serious. Jess is cultivating his fields when he notices an immense cloud of smoke on the horizon, the kind that can only be produced by the burning of a city. Josh soon arrives and tells them the entire neighboring community has been reduced to a land of ash and corpses. Josh believes that he must fight, a conviction that threatens to destroy the family. Eliza tells him that by turning his back to their religion he's turning his back on her, but Jess sees things a different way, explaining to her: "A man's life ain't worth a hill of beans except he lives up to his own conscience."

With the story's climax at hand, each member of the family is forced in their own way to confront the question of whether or not it is ever right for a Christian to engage in violence.

Awards

Friendly Persuasion was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Anthony Perkins), Best Music - Song (Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster for "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)"), Best Writing - Screenplay (Adapted), and Best Sound Recording.

The film won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

Remake

Friendly Persuasion was remade for television in 1975, starring Richard Kiley, Shirley Knight, Clifton James and Michael O'Keefe. It was adapted by William P. Wood and directed by Joseph Sargent. This version also included material from Jessamyn West's sequel novel, Except For Thee and Me.

References

External links

• Friendly Persuasion at the Internet Movie Database

From Wikiquote

Friendly Persuasion is the title of a film released in 1956, starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire and Anthony Perkins.

Quotations

Memorable quotes regarding violence include:

• "Are you afraid to fight?"
• "I often ask myself what I would do if I saw my family threatened... my wife and children's lives in danger"
• "They're just humans like us"
• "It's wrong to fight."
• "I wonder what it feels like to die?"
• "This is our home, we'll not leave it"
• "If I'm going down... I'm going down fighting."
• "Any man who kills innocent women and children is my enemy ... my mortal enemy!"
• "Thee wants to get out and fight and give thee live for what thee believes. Anyone of us here is ready im sure to do that. But that's not what thee will be asked to do - no Josh. What thee'll be asked to do ... is to kill"
• "Thou Shalt Not Kill!"
• "I hate fighting... I don't want to die!.. I don't know if I could kill anyone if I tried!... but I have to try so long as others have too!"
• "I'm just his father, Eliza, not his conscience..."
• "A man's life ain't worth a hill of beans 'cept he lives up to his own conscience."
• "Come back alive!"
• "Your thinking may have changed, Purdy, but your hav'nt. Last week you told my son he was going to hell for fighting, this week your telling Jess he's got to fight. Whatever is right for Purdy has got be right for everyone else!"
• "I like to see someone holding out for a better way of settling things."
• "Kill a Johnny Reb for me" - "Never talk that way about a man's life"
• "He's not very old ... I killed him."
• "Thee did what thee had to."

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Friendly Persuasion (film)