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Friendly Persuasion
Sign in to save1956 film by William Wyler
Film · TMDB
6.7The story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religious sect is strongly opposed to violence and war. It's not easy for them to meet the rules of their religion in everyday life but when Southern troops pass the area they are in real trouble. Should they fight, despite their peaceful attitude?
Cast
- Gary Cooper as Jess Birdwell
- Dorothy McGuire as Eliza Birdwell
- Anthony Perkins as Josh Birdwell
- Richard Eyer as Little Jess Birdwell
- Robert Middleton as Sam Jordan
- Phyllis Love as Mattie Birdwell
Themes
- indiana, usa
- based on novel or book
- faith
- slavery
- pacifism
- religion
- goose
- pacifist
- american civil war
- quakerism
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Ratings
IMDb
7.3/10
7,987 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
73%
- Year
- 1956
- Runtime
- 137 min
- Genres
- Drama, Family, Romance
- Rated
- Approved
- Awards
- Nominated for 6 Oscars. 5 wins & 11 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Key facts
- Directed by
- William Wyler
- Screenplay by
- Michael Wilson
- Based on
- The Friendly Persuasion , 1945 novel, by Jessamyn West
- Produced by
- William Wyler
- Starring
- Gary Cooper , Dorothy McGuire , Anthony Perkins , Richard Eyer , Robert Middleton , Phyllis Love , Mark Richman , Walter Catlett , Marjorie Main
- Cinematography
- Ellsworth Fredericks
- Edited by
- Robert Swink , Edward A. Biery , Robert Belcher
- Music by
- Dimitri Tiomkin
- Production companies
- William Wyler Productions, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
- Distributed by
- Allied Artists (USA), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (foreign)
- Release date
- November 25, 1956 ( 1956-11-25 )
- Running time
- 137 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $3 million
- Box office
- $8 million (as of 1960) , 3,051,784 admissions (France)
via Wikipedia infobox
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Friendly Persuasion is a 1956 American Civil War drama film produced and directed by William Wyler. It stars Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton, Phyllis Love, Mark Richman, Walter Catlett and Marjorie Main. The screenplay by Michael Wilson was adapted from the 1945 novel The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West. The film tells the story of a Quaker family in southern Indiana during the American Civil War and the way the war tests their pacifist beliefs.
The film received positive reviews, praised for its performances, but faced some criticism for inaccuracies in portraying Quaker views. It earned $4 million at the box office, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Michael Wilson, the screenwriter, was initially uncredited due to being on the Hollywood blacklist but was later restored in 1996.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Friendly Persuasion” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.