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Civil War on TV, Hollywood  Rate Topic 
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 Posted: Wed Oct 26th, 2005 12:11 am
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george franks
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What was your favorite Civil War TV show.  A few that touched on the Civil War at least once: Branded, Gray Ghost, Johnny Yuma, F Troop (flashbacks), Wild, Wild West, Disney (Johnny Shiloh, others), The Twilight Zone (Episodes), The Brothers, others????????????????????

What was your favorite Civil War Movie? A few that touched on the Civl War: Gone with the Wind, Birth of a Nation, North and South (TV), Shenadoah, How the West was Won, Red Badge of Courage, The Horse Soldiers, Custer, The Blue and the Gray (TV), Cold Mountain, Gettysburg, Glory, others?????????????????????

 

George Franks

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 Posted: Wed Oct 26th, 2005 07:02 pm
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David White
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There was a pretty good show that didn't last too long in the late 50s or early 60s that dramatized historical events and in one episode they portrayed the Libby Prison escape.  All I remember is a Bounty Jumper is roughed up by the Union prisoners but he ends up causing a diversion in the middle of the escape.  I know it plays a little loose with the history but I liked that episode and others.  It was 30 minutes long and it always covered historical events but for the the life of me I can't remember the title of the show.

 

Your movie list is pretty good but one I would add is "Pharoh's Army" and "Ride with the Devil."  Both cover the brutallity of the war in different Border states (Kentucky and Missouri).

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 Posted: Wed Oct 26th, 2005 07:39 pm
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javal1
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David, was that "You Were There" or something like that? Fits your description, and I seem to remember it had a very famous host (Walter Cronkite?) . Don't remember that particular episode though.

TV shows - the Twilight Zone episodes dealing with the war are great, and still show quite often. We list them in Civil War on TV often.

Movies (in order) - Ride With the Devil, Glory, Gettysburg. Good thread BTW...

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 Posted: Wed Oct 26th, 2005 07:43 pm
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David White
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No, it wasn't that.  This was something more along the lines of Death Valley Days, it didn't last to long.

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 Posted: Wed Oct 26th, 2005 07:57 pm
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David White
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Okay, I did a quick search and found it.  It was called "the Great Adventure" and was hosted by Van Heflin.  It only lasted one season but had several Civil War stories.   Episodes were an hour long.   Here is a link to all the episode names and the stars.  I vividly rememeber the one about Thomas Jefferson and the invention of the smallpox virus ("The Plague") and the one I described above entitled "Escape."  Looks like there were episodes about The Hunley and the flight of Jefferson Davis.  I have no recollection of the former but do recall the latter to a degree,  made a big deal out of his escaping in women's clothing.  I think I only saw a few episodes because it was on after my bedtime.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056761/guests

Last edited on Wed Oct 26th, 2005 08:49 pm by David White

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 Posted: Wed Oct 26th, 2005 08:42 pm
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george franks
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Now I remember that show. Wasnt it on Friday or Saturday evenings? I was thinking it was "Profiles in Courage", but no. I clearly remember the one on the Hunley. That left a real impression on me. Thank you for the reply.  Look forward to hearing more about shows and movies of the 50s and 60s.

George Franks

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 Posted: Thu Oct 27th, 2005 02:26 pm
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kj3553
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I wasn't very interested in the Civil War when I was a kid, and only have vague memories of TV shows that touched on a Civil War theme. I do remember watching Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase (does anyone know if it's out on dvd or tape?). It probably interested me more at the time as a train chase story, as my father worked at that time on the old New York Central RR. That, and I knew Fess Parker through his portrayals of Daniel Boone and Davey Crocket.

As for old TV shows, I was watching some old episodes of One Step Beyond the other day (picked up a few budget dvds of old TV shows at the store) and came across a Civil War story among the episodes. I can't recall the title of the episode just now, but it was a kind of ghost story. The episodes were only 30 minutes long (that was with commercials!). My mother tells me (though I don't remember it) that I watched The Grey Ghost (was that the right name?).

When it comes to more modern films, my favorites are Gettysburg and Glory.

Oh well...enough trapsing down memory lane.

~ KJ

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 Posted: Thu Oct 27th, 2005 02:53 pm
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MAubrecht
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Great question.

I would have to say as far as movies go my favorites would be Gods and Generals and The Horse Soldiers (John Wayne). TV... hmmm actually I would have to say the Gettysburg Battlewalks that are regularly broadcast on PCNTV in PA.

I watch when I go up north to visit the folks. Its several hours and basically a cameraman follows the actual battlefield tours given by the park rangers. They have them broken down into different aspects of the fight and their presentations are usually very insightful.

Last edited on Fri Oct 28th, 2005 04:47 pm by MAubrecht

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 Posted: Thu Oct 27th, 2005 07:05 pm
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kj3553
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Yes, John Wayne's The Horsemen is one of my favorites, too, even though I'm not a big-time JW fan. A few anachronisms, but nothing too serious.

~KJ

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 Posted: Thu Oct 27th, 2005 07:05 pm
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kj3553
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Yes, John Wayne's The Horsemen is one of my favorites, too, even though I'm not a big-time JW fan. A few anachronisms, but nothing too serious.

~KJ

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 Posted: Tue Nov 1st, 2005 02:53 am
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yankswon
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My own thinking is that Hollywood has remarkably ignored the ACW.  The ACW was a watershed event in American History yet there have been relatively few movies devoted to the war.

 

Think how many movies have been made about 1 event in WW2, that is, Pearl Harbor:  Tora Tora Tora, Pearl Harbor, From Here to Eternity, etc.

 

Aside from the movies Gettysburg and Glory it is hard to name many big time ACW movies.  (I hasten to add though, that I liked Ride with the Devil.)

 

I do not consider GWTW to be a movie devoted to the ACW.  It is a soap opera with caricatures.

 

 

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 Posted: Tue Nov 1st, 2005 08:39 pm
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MAubrecht
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ks.... seriously?

North & South... the mini-series?

with that Dirty Dancing guy?

and Grasshopper from Kung Fu? 

and the Cheers lady?

...really? North & South. :P

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 Posted: Wed Nov 2nd, 2005 01:39 pm
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MAubrecht
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Well, ...now that I think about it ks,

Patrick Swayze did look handsome in that Confederate uniform. :P

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 Posted: Wed Nov 2nd, 2005 08:30 pm
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GenHood
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Did anyone ever see the episode of (I think it was anyway) "Outer Limits" that dealt with the battle of Gettysburg?  To summarize, two reenactor buddies, one Reb one Yank are transported back to July 1863 while posing for an old time photo.  The Reb sees the chance to alter the outcome of history, while the Yank tries to stop him.  A great idea, but then it bogged down with an assassination attempt of the present-day  president, whom I think was African-American.  If I remember correctly, the Yank ends up having to stop his buddy to keep history unchanged.  It started out well, but kind of ended up, IMO, as a dud. 

As far as films, I'm in agreement w/ "Gettysburg", "Glory", "Ride With The Devil", in that order of favorites.  I also enjoyed "Andersonville", and to a lesser degree "Gods and Generals".

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 Posted: Thu Nov 3rd, 2005 09:19 pm
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anv57regnc
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Outer limits, yes I did see that one. I thougt at first it was Twilight Zone. But yes it was crap on a stick. But I thought it was like that from almost the very beginning. And again it started to bash the Battleflag. And the reason someone was trying to kill the President was because he was about to get rid of the last battleflag. And as it was said on the show, "The last symbol of racism".
 

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 Posted: Fri Nov 4th, 2005 07:57 pm
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GenHood
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Thanks for filling in the details.  As my post said, I thought the time travel element was interesting, but degenerated from there.  I'm certainly glad I don't remember too many details now, as I try to ignore "the battle flag is racist" theme.  Thanks again.

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 Posted: Wed Nov 16th, 2005 07:08 am
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Hellcat
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For me I haven't really seen any shows I'd label as dramas or anything like that on the Civil War. About the only one I've seen has been an episode of Quantum Leap. Most of the shows I've seen have been documentary style shows on the History Channel and some of the Discovery Channels. Also a couple of Mythbusters episodes, the son of a bullet myth and the Confederate rocket myth (just got done watching a reairing of the latter and for the first time I've seen all of that episode). As for movies, The Blue and the Gray, Gettysburg, and Glory are all good. I've also seen Gods and Generals but I wish they stayed a little closer to the book. The Andersonville Trial is also pretty intresting to watch.

Last edited on Wed Nov 16th, 2005 07:10 am by Hellcat

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 Posted: Sat Nov 19th, 2005 11:07 pm
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SamGrant
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kj3553,

Actually, I think the film you are referring to was called 'The Horse Soldiers'.

It also starred William Holden .....

It did resort to a number of CW cliches, but was a fine movie none the less.

It was based on a true event.  Grieson's Raid through Mississippi to disrupt Confederate communications and serve as a diversion for Grant's movements on Vicksburg.

 

Last edited on Sat Nov 19th, 2005 11:09 pm by SamGrant

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