stjohn1253 "Friendly Persuasion" deserves every accolade IMDb reviewers have heaped upon it. Wyler and all associated with this film demonstrate what fine work Hollywood can do--absolutely no doubt about that. So, why isn't it more well known and iconic? A possible answer lies in the utter blandness of the title: it has all the intrigue of "Pillow Talk"--too easily passed over when looking for something gratifying to view. Wyler's film is excellent on so many levels; therefore, it should have an excellent title. Why not "Crisis Point" or "Torn Soul" or "Thine Trials"? This is not to say that those titles are excellent, but they're better than "Friendly Persuasion".What if "Ben-Hur" had been titled "Unfriendly Friends"?

ma-cortes This is the interesting and solidly performed story of a family of Quakers in Southern Indiana in 1862 . This religious sect is strongly opposed to violence and war . The official name of the Quaker religion is Society of Friends , members of the faith are called Friends and nicknamed Quakers ; the book written by Jessamyn West is called "The Friendly Persuasion", meaning the faith , which more specifically refers to the Quakers' way of communicating. It concerns about "Jess Birdwell" (Gary Cooper , he initially turned the film down because he didn't believe the American public would accept him as Quaker , and role was originally intended for Bing Crosby) is the patriarch of a family of Quakers , a Christian sect that refuses to take part in wars . His son "Josh" (Anthony Perkins) wishes to adhere to pacifism but worried he's using his religion to hide his cowardice , he then enlists the army , causing angry on his mother (Dorothy McGuire , though Katharine Hepburn turned down the role and Jean Arthur was considered to play her) . Their children are very special : the little boy Jess Jr. (Richard Eyer) lives in conflict with the goose "Samantha" . And "Mattie" (Phyllis Love) falls in love with an Union soldier, "Gard Jordan" (Peter Mark Richman) . As Jess/Gary Cooper (before Cooper became involved Montgomery Clift was offered the role of Birdwell, but turned it down) along with his family attempt to remain to its ideals , despite the Civil War which touches their farm life .This enjoyable film packs comedy , religious and familiar life , sense of mood , spectacular battles and lots of reflection . As it deals with the conflict between maintaining a religious belief and reality when takes place a bloody war ; as the flick utterly catches up the spectator in the family's troubles . This earnest picture captures a tender humor and mirth which pervades the whole story ; in addition , at the end occurs a stirring climax . Agreeable screenplay , originally released without screen writing credit due to blacklisting of Michael Wilson; credits restored in 1996 . Spectacular battle depicted in the film based on facts, as the final is very exciting , it was against the Confederate raiders led by General John Hunt Morgan ; on July 9, 1863, 450 members of the Indiana Home Guard met John Hunt Morgan's raiders in battle south of the town of Corydon, Indiana . Gary Cooper as a devout Quaker father and Dorothy McGuire as his wife are very well as the parents ; furthermore , Anthony Perkins is nice as the son fearing being taken for a coward . Good support cast such as Robert Middleton , Peter Mark Richman , Richard Hale , Russell Simpson and uncredited , almost extras : Robert Fuller , William Schallert , John Dierkes , Joe Turkel and Doug McClure . Spectacular and glowingly gorgeous scenarios , including amusing race horses . Colorful and glimmer cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks in De Luxe Colour Photography . Sensitive as well as moving musical score by the classical composer Dimitri Tiomkin . The motion picture come out of a minor Hollywood studio , Allied Artists , was compellingly directed by the maestro William Wyler . Wyler was considered by his peers as second only to John Ford as a master craftsman of cinema and the winner of three Best Director Academy Awards . Wyler was a great professional who had a career full of successes in all kind of genres as Film Noir : ¨Detective story¨ , ¨The desperate hours¨ , ¨Dead End¨ ; Western : ¨The Westener¨, ¨Friendly persuasion¨ , ¨Big Country¨ , but his speciality were dramas such as : ¨Jezebel¨ , ¨The letter¨ , ¨Wuthering Heights¨ , ¨The best years of our lives¨, ¨Mrs Miniver¨, ¨The heiress¨ , ¨the little Foxes¨ , ¨The collector¨ and Comedy as two films starred by Audrey Hepburn : ¨How to steal a million¨ and of course the immortal comedy-romance ¨Roman's holiday¨ . ¨Friendly persuasion¨ results to be a good film that catches up the audience . Rating : Better than average , worthwhile seeing .

williwaw Gary Cooper was a quintessential male American Actor who reached the heights of movie stardom.His career deserves review as Cooper dead for nearly 50 years is sadly overlooked these days. Cooper's body of work Meet John Doe, Sargeant York, Mr. Deeds, High Noon, et al made Gary Cooper along with Clark Gable the great American Leading Man of his era. William Wyler was the greatest director of his era: Jezebel, The Little Foxes, Wuthering Heights, The Letter, Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years Of Our Lives, The Heiress, Ben Hur, Funny Girl, and this movie Friendly Persuasion. Bette Davis deemed Wyler the Great Love Of Her Life and Her Greatest Director: The Little Foxes, Jezebel and The LetterFriendly Persuasion is a beautiful film with a great co starring role for Dorothy McGuire.One of my favorite movies of all time. Thou Swell! Friendly Persuasion was a movie distributed by Allied Artists, a small studio, now defunct, and I am wondering if this film is on DVD? It is one of Gary Cooper's finest efforts as well as a signature film of William Wyler's. Mr. Wyler was a great Director known for many re takes of a scene, frustrating many of the great stars who worked for Wyler: Bette Davis, Olivia DeHavilland, Frederic March, Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon, Jennifer Jones, Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine. When De Havilland, a great actress, challenged Wyler on the amount of retakes, asked of Wyler, what do you want, Wyler replied " I Want it Better" I wonder how Gary Cooper so great an Actor he made his work seem effortless took to the many takes Wyler demanded in his pictures?

MartinHafer "Friendly Persuasion" is the story about a Quaker family living along the Indiana border during the Civil War. Given that Quakers are pacifists, the family stays out of the action and tries to maintain their separatist ways. However, the husband (Gary Cooper) seems to have more trouble than usual trying to keep this separation, as lots of temptations seem to get the best of him (such as music and his desire to best his Methodist neighbor). As for the wife (Dorothy McGuire), she seems like a giant wet blanket--a veritable black hole that sucks all the fun out of everything! If it's fun, she's against it! As for their three kids, all of them also struggle with temptation and external influences that challenge their commitments to the simple Quaker lifestyle. Ultimately, when Southern raiders attack, each member of the family is faced with the decision to sit by passively, fight for their country or run.This is a lovely film to watch for many reasons. It's obvious that the director, the great William Wyler, took his time allowing the story to unfold. Along the way, there were lots of nice vignettes that served to give this film a lot of heart and a nice gentle sense of humor. In addition, the actors did a very nice job and the end result is very enjoyable--at least up until the end. The end just annoyed me because several of the characters seemed so untrue to who they were throughout the rest of the film. In addition, any respect you had for their religious commitment was negated by some of their actions. The wife, for instance, actually AIDS the Confederate soldiers--and I thought although the Quakers would be against violence, they would NOT condone treason. And, as for the father, after Confederates just killed his friend and one of them tries to kill him, he hits the guy and tells him to just go away. Huh?! It was as if the writers just didn't know how to wrap all this up and I felt dissatisfied--especially after investing well over two hours on the movie.My opinion is that the film is a lovely narrative but the writing at the end just left me cold.