Civil War Movies

It is inevitable that an event as crucial to American history as the Civil War would inspire works of art. Drawings, paintings, songs, photographs, poetry, and books have all treated the subject of the Civil War, but perhaps the most lingering fictional images of the Civil War come from those that have been seen on the silver screen.

Films about the Civil War are a sub-genre all their own; nearly every decade sees at least one or two films, if not more, about the Civil War. However, a number of classic Civil War movies were made in Hollywood in its golden era – the 1910s-1960s. Decade by decade, here are some of the Hollywood Civil War classics.

1910s:
– The Birth of a Nation. Film’s first auteur, D.W. Griffith made one of the most controversial films of all time in The Birth of Nation. Although the film depicts the Civil War and its aftermath from both a Northern and a Southern perspective, Kentucky-born Griffith’s Southern leanings (much of the film is about the origins of the Ku Klux Klan) are apparent. Nevertheless, the film is the first major film treatment of the Civil War, and one of the most popular Civil War films of all time.

1920s:
– The General. One of few movies about the Civil War made in the devil-may-care 1920s, The General is not only one of the most wonderful comedies ever made, it is probably actor/director/writer Buster Keaton’s finest moment. Southern train engineer Keaton must rescue the locomotive known as “The General” – and his captured sweetheart – from Northern clutches. Adventure, comedy, romance – this Civil War film has it all.

1930s:
– Gone With the Wind. The most popular movie of all time, with a story known to nearly everyone on earth, Gone With the Wind has captured the imaginations of millions since its 1939 release. A classic.

1940s:
– Mourning Becomes Electra. Set during the waning days of Civil War and during its aftermath, Mourning Becomes Electra depicts the madness the war wrought on one New England family. The rare film that is set in the North during the Civil War, Mourning Becomes Electra was based on a play by Eugene O’Neill.

1950s:
– Raintree County. Beset by problems during filming (including star Montgomery Clift’s near fatal car accident and subsequent disfigurement), veering scandalously from Ross Lockridge Jr’s great American novel on which it was based, this film is often dismissed as a second-rate GWTW. However, Raintree County is worth watching for it’s more theoretical treatment of the Civil War, and for the always alluring Elizabeth Taylor.

1960s:
– Shenandoah. James Stewart’s portrayal as a Virginian who will neither support the South and therefore slavery, or fight against his fellow Virginians, is the center of this epic film that truly addresses both the Northern and the Southern views of the Civil War. Beautifully shot in super-saturated Technicolor, with a story that is more balanced than many Civil War films before or since, Shenandoah, one of the last films of Hollywood’s classic era, is a fitting bookend to the Civil War films that came before, and a harbinger of those to come in a more liberated era.

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