From Allied Artists
Directed by William Wyler
Starring
Gary Cooper
Dorothy McGuire
Anthony Perkins
Richard Eyer
Robert Middleton
Phyllis Love
Mark Richman
Walter Catlett
Joel Fluellen
John Smith
Marjorie Main
I've always thought visiting with the Birdwells for a couple of hours was like visiting longtime but rarely-seen religious friends on their farm. Despite the war element to the famous film, this feels as close to a homespun family tale as one is likely to get. It seems odd that lowly little Allied Artists was the studio behind it rather than Disney. It's right up its alley.
The story opens in 1862 Southern Indiana on a lovely little farm with numerous outbuildings, a gurgling stream and a bridge not far from the house. The mother's pet goose, Samantha, is impatiently waiting for Little Jess, the family's youngest at 10, to make an appearance. They share a mutual hatred. When Little Jess bends over at the well with a bucket to fill, Samantha bites him on the seat of his pants.
The family is clearly run by the mother Eliza, a Quaker minister at the local church. She handles her family with a loving iron hand. No smoking, drinking, swearing, partying, music. (That is likely why I don't visit them so often.) She loves her husband, Jess, her older children, son Josh and daughter Mattie and of course Little Jess with the sore butt.
Eliza has a difficult time keeping her tribe respectable. Jess hates to admit it but he succumbs to too many temptations. In a buggy on the family's way to the meeting house (church), Eliza admonishes Jess, will thee please not race the horse? He is in a sprint to beat neighboring friend Sam Jordan. They enjoy their Sunday morning races but Jess doesn't like always losing.
Despite her concerns, Eliza agrees to accompany the family to the
county fair and is unhappy when she finds Mattie dancing, Little Jess aiding and abetting gamblers and Jess and Josh in a scuffle with bullies who want to taunt Quakers. Eliza is obsessed with what people will say.
She is, however, apoplectic when she learns that Jess has purchased an organ, which she doesn't know until it arrives at her front door. It's her or the organ, she tells Jess. As he moves it into the house, Eliza, with lantern, blanket, pillow and Bible, moves to the barn.
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| Director Wyler with Gary Cooper |
The organ becomes a source of some of the film's humor, of which there is a goodly supply. When Jess and Josh are out making rounds for Jess' job as a nurseryman, they encounter a widow woman and her three grown and horny daughters. It's fun watching Josh... okay, it's fun watching Tony Perkins squirm and duck the advances of these backwoods lasses. The widow announces that she'd like to get rid of her horse because when it's pulling the buggy it doesn't want another horse passing it. Hmmm.
The film's light-hearted, humorous tone becomes darker when the Civil War explodes in their own environs which, in turn, means the Birdwells come face to face with their pacifism. Mattie's beau, Gar, the son of Sam Jordan, is already serving but she is unhappy that he will now see some battle. The Jordans are not Quakers and while understanding of their views, do not share them.
Josh seems to be itching to get into the fight although his mother spends precious time trying to talk him out of it by reminding him of Quaker values and how he's been raised. Ultimately, Josh believes he must fight. How can he stay home while many neighbors go off to defend everyone's property, including the Birdwells? After a short time, Jess rides off in search of his son.
While Eliza, Mattie and Little Jess are home alone, a band of rowdy Confederate soldiers ride onto the property and begin taking animals to keep the troops fed. Eliza offers to feed them which, in turn, hopefully will keep the family safe. But when one of the soldiers corners a squawking Samantha, a terribly upset Eliza beats him with a broom until he lets the goose go. Her children are astonished at her aggressive behavior.
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| The Quaker family, the Birdwells |
Jess finds his friend, Sam, dying from war injuries and ultimately finds an injured Josh in a field and brings him home. The family is reunited and has a good laugh over Eliza's skirmish. It seems they have all learned something about their pacifism. Little Jess is even seen feeding Samantha out of his hand.
The film ends with Pat Boone singing the popular title song over the credits, just as he did at the opening.
Friendly Persuasion had a journey getting to the screen. Novelist Jessamyn West, herself a Quaker from Indiana, wrote her story in 1947 as she was recovering from a bout of tuberculosis. The Birdwells were based on West's maternal grandparents.
She would not write the screenplay although she was a technical adviser on the film. The writing of the screenplay was turned over to Michael Wilson. He was blacklisted during Hollywood's infamous witch hunts and although he did some writing during that period, he went uncredited for it. Actually, the same thing happened on this film, as well, and it was not corrected until years afterward.
Friendly Persuasion was in development for around eight years. It was purchased by director Frank Capra who wanted Bing Crosby and Jean Arthur in the leads. In 1955 Capra sold the rights to his former partner, Wyler, who wanted Montgomery Clift as the lead (they'd worked together on 1949's The Heiress). Wyler then imagined Cooper and Katharine Hepburn as the Birdwells but she turned it down. Cooper agreed to come aboard on two conditions...
that Jess Birdwell had to be made a stronger character and that his old girlfriend, Ingrid Bergman, was cast as Eliza. She turned it down but Cooper remained.
Finally Wyler cast Maureen O'Hara and it looked like the issue was settled until she mentioned her good luck to director John Ford. Despite the fact Ford had directed her in several films, he did not like O'Hara and badmouthed her to Wyler and he reneged on his offer.
Enter Dorothy McGuire. Despite what we see on film, it was apparently not a happy set. For one thing, Cooper grumbled about everything. He said sometime after filming that he would not see the finished product because it brought back too many unhappy memories. One of them apparently was McGuire. How unchivalrous of him to say that he didn't think she was a good actress nor attractive enough to play opposite him. McGuire also had a devil of a time with her director. Wyler thought she wasn't getting Eliza and suggested she go and live a spell with a Quaker family. Of course she didn't do it despite his attempt at friendly persuasion. He also had her kneading bread on set for some odd reason. She apparently nailed it as the National Board of Review saw it... they named her best actress of the year.
This is the film that made Anthony Perkins a star. In only his second film, he stood out as the conflicted Josh and won an Oscar nomination for his efforts. His quirky mannerisms, the suspicion that he was uncomfortable in his own lanky body seemed perfect for the character. It didn't take long before we figured out he was like that in all his films.
Richard Eyer, who worked for Wyler the year before in The Desperate Hours but had made four other films in between, is the comic highlight in this one. I could not imagine a more perfect Little Jess.
The remainder of the main cast, Phyllis Love (Mattie), Robert Middleton (Sam) and Mark Richman (Gar), all turn in credible performances.
Dimitri Tiomkin's score added just the right touch as his work always did.
It is such a delightful film... charming, charming, charming. Thee would find it a treat to watch. Here's a sneak peek:
Next posting:
A final Wyler film... and
we're going wayyy back
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