Friendly Persuasion (1956)

FRIENDLY PERSUASION  (1956)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: William Wyler
    Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins,
    Marjorie Main, Robert Middleton, Phyllis Love,
    Mark Richman, Walter Catlett, John Smith
A Quaker family in southern Indiana has to decide whether to take up arms in the Civil War. Homespun Americana in widescreen and color by De Luxe, idealized to the point where you wonder when the Rogers-and-Hammerstein songs are going to kick in. Cooper's the patriarch. McGuire's his wife and the movie's rock-ribbed pacifist conscience. Perkins plays their oldest son, and a pivotal supporting role is played by a goose. A great many "thee"s punctuate the script. Michael Wilson, who wrote it from Jessamyn West's novel, got an Oscar nomination, but no screen credit because of the blacklist.