A combination of Civil War drama and domestic soap opera, Universal’s 1965 hit, written by James Lee Barnett and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, stars James Stewart as widower Charlie Anderson, a curmudgeonly Virginia farmer who adamantly refuses to allow his large family—six sons and a daughter—to become involved in the conflict raging around them. Of course, his isolationist stance cannot be maintained indefinitely, especially after his daughter Jennie (Rosemary Forsyth) marries Confederate officer Sam (Doug McClure), who is summoned to the field in the middle of the ceremony.
Shortly afterward, his youngest son Boy (Philip Alford), who foolishly starts wearing a rebel cap he found floating in a stream, is taken prisoner by a Union patrol that presumes him to be a Confederate soldier. Charlie, four of his sons, and Jessie ride off to rescue him from Yankee imprisonment, leaving his son James (Patrick Wayne) and daughter-in-law Ann (Katharine Ross) behind to mind the farm. The Anderson expedition encounters some Union officers who are sympathetic and others who are not; they not only fail to find Boy but lose another son, Jacob (Glenn Corbett), to violence along the way.
To add tragedy to tragedy, Jacob and Ann are attacked and killed by several Confederate scavengers, who spare only their infant daughter. Returning to the homestead, the Andersons are faced with coming to terms with their much-changed life, though a last-minute miracle makes doing so more endurable.
Shenandoah’s contemporary appeal derived from the fact that while set in wartime, it is about the futility of war—a viewpoint that resonated during the Vietnam era. It is hardly lacking in mawkish moments, as when Charlie visits his wife’s grave to talk over his problems; and the ending certainly aims at the tear ducts. There are also early scenes of rambunctious horseplay and fighting among the Anderson boys that are sadly reminiscent of the macho hooliganism of old-fashioned westerns. And the film often moves quite slowly.
Still, Stewart’s intense (if studied) performance, along with fine supporting work, including brief turns from veterans like George Kennedy, Denver Pyle, Paul Fix, Strother Martin, and Dabbs Greer, lovely cinematography and a soaring score by Frank Skinner, make this well-engineered Blu-ray recommendable to both public libraries and individuals.
Extras are a collection of ten trailers, including one for Shenandoah; a Super 8mm short film, The Defiant Virginian, consisting of silent black-and-white footage from the film; and an audio commentary by film historians Michael F. Blake, C, Courtney Joyner, and Constantine Nasr.