Friendly Persuasion

Indiana, 1862. The Birdwell family are Quakers; their faith is firmly against violence and they carry no weapons. Jess is the father; although music is not allowed at meeting he buys an organ for the house, and his wife Eliza objects. Daily life goes on this way: the fair, a horse race, the neighbours and small arguments. Then the war comes closer. Southern troops enter the region and the town arms itself. Josh, the eldest son, wants to go. His father does not stop him and tells him to make his own decision. William Wyler directs. Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire and Anthony Perkins are in the cast. The source is Jessamyn West's book. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The writer of the screenplay was blacklisted at the time and his name did not appear in the credits; the matter of the award and the nomination was corrected years later. The matter it treats is the tension between faith and necessity; the film gives no character an easy answer. Anthony Perkins was nominated for an Oscar for the part. Its first half is largely comedy; as the war approaches the register changes. The narrative shows so little of the war as to show none, and keeps its focus on the family. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood drama and narratives built on faith. Who it is not for: it is long, the first half slow, and some sections too sweet.