Friendly Persuasion is a period drama and comedy, based on the best selling novel by Jessamyn West. The cast, sets, and cinematography are very good. The lengthy film has been popular since its release, both with movie fans and critics.
Jess Birdwell (Gary Cooper) is a farmer heading a Quaker family in Indiana. His gentle but deeply religious wife is Eliza (Dorothy McGuire). Their grown daughter is Mattie (Phyllis Love), who has a gushing romance with dashing Union soldier Gard Jordan (Mark Richman). Josh (Anthony Perkins) is the oldest son, while impish, freckle-faced Jess Junior (Richard Eyer) is the youngest son.
Set during the Civil War, their town is threatened by Confederate guerilla bands. Cooper and Perkins must decide whether to take arms against the Rebels, or remain pacifist in keeping with their Quaker faith.
Surprisingly, the first half of Friendly Persuasion is a comedy. Little Jess has encounters with Samantha, the family's cantankerous goose. Jess Sr. dreams of beating farmer Sam (Robert Middleton) in their weekly horse race. Josh has to fend off three homely, lovesick spinsters (Edna Skinner, Frances Farwell, Marjorie Durant). Eliza must protect her family against Sin at the county fair. Eliza and Jess Sr. have a battle over the purchase of an organ. Jess Sr. fakes a passionate religious enlightenment for the benefit of three Church elders (Russell Simpson, Charles Halton, Everett Glass).
Most viewers have found the gentle family humor in these scenes to be charming. But this grumpy critic was instead frustrated, particularly in the absence of a plot. The elders are portrayed as gullible fools, the spinsters are apparently founders of the Sadie Hawkins dance, and the fight at the fair is resolved by violence. Eliza, of all people, uses violence to save the life of Samantha.
Violence is first promoted as anathema to Quakers, then used for both dramatic purposes and comic relief. Unrealistically, there are no consequences to the Birdwell family whenever they turn to violence. Which happens on several occasions, especially in the second half of the film.
For all her religious piety, Eliza is nearly powerless in her own family. She can't keep the family from going to fair, where they participate in gambling and get into fights. She can't keep Jess Sr. from racing his horse, or installing the organ. She can't keep Josh or Jess Sr. from bearing arms. While upset, she's unable to effectively express her anger, except once to protect Samantha.
Friendly Persuasion is hampered by an intrusive, saccharine score by Dmitri Tiomkin. Pat Boone sings the maudlin title song, which became a top ten pop hit. It was also nominated for an Academy Award.
Friendly Persuasion was nominated for five other Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Perkins), Best Director (William Wyler), Best Adapted Screenplay (Michael Wilson), and Best Sound. Wilson wasn't credited in the film, as he was blacklisted. He had invoked the Fifth Amendment during his testimony in the Communist 'witch hunt' Congressional hearings.
It was to be the only Academy Award nomination in the career of Anthony Perkins. He would not be nominated for his most famous performance, as Norman Bates in Psycho (1960). Friendly Persuasion was only the second film for Perkins, whose stage career had previously been interrupted only for The Actress (1953). (44/100)
Indiana 1862. Quakers Jess and Eliza Birdwell Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire live on their family farm. There are only minor ruffles in their quiet l...More at Family Video
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