FRIENDLY PERSUASION: Blu-ray (Allied Artists, 1956) Warner Archive

In development for 8 years, William Wyler’s Friendly Persuasion (1956) hit theater screens with all the generosity, appeal and heartwarming human interest for which Wyler’s movies are best known and even more widely regarded today. Wyler’s career ought to be taught, critiqued and revered. In his day, he was much appreciated. But for some unpardonable rationale, his name today never seems to garner the renewable interest of a Hitchcock, Hawks, Capra or Cukor. And yet, when directly compared, the breadth of Wyler’s mastery, not to mention his chameleon-like ability to migrate – seemingly with effortlessness – into any genre and make a stunning exemplar of it, is peerless. Could one man really be responsible for Dodsworth (1936), Jezebel (1938), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Heiress (1949), Detective Story (1951), Roman Holiday (1953), The Desperate Hours (1955), The Big Country (1958), and, the grand-daddy of all Bible-fiction epics, Ben-Hur (1959)?!? And that’s just for samplers. Friendly Persuasion falls smack dab in the middle of Wyler’s most prolific period as a bona fide Hollywood hit-maker.  And, it remains as nostalgically sophisticated and beguiling as anything in his artistic tenet.

Wyler brought Friendly Persuasion to Allied Artists from Paramount. The picture would mark his first feature in color and, with an initial budget of $1.5 million, a lot was riding on its success – or failure.  That Friendly Persuasion ultimately cost $3 million to produce, forced Allied to sell a controlling interest in its distribution to MGM. Wyler had intended to shoot in Indiana, the birthplace of novelist, Mary Jessamyn West on whose story the picture is based. Raised a Quaker, West would be retained by Wyler to contribute her ideas and ‘ideals’ to Michael Wilson’s screenplay, rearranging the novel’s plotless narrative into a working script centered around a single year during the Civil War. Comparatively, the novel covers a 40-year span. Alas, Wyler had to settle for shooting Friendly Persuasion on the Republic Studio ranch and San Fernando Valley estate. While most authors are very territorial about their work, West proved the exception to that rule; very pliable to Wyler’s suggestions. She also created new characters (the Jordans) for the movie, did not complain when other beloved creations from her book were shorn for time constraints, willingly jettisoned Laban – the second son of the Birdwell clan, substituting another character, Caleb Cope (John Smith) for two scenes to bridge his absence – and made Mattie Birdwell a composite of two daughters in the novel to streamline the cast. For her contributions, Wyler campaigned heavily with the Writer’s Guide for West to receive a writing co-credit. Alas, he was overruled.

While Gary Cooper was always Wyler’s first choice for the congenial Jess Birdwell, Cooper was not at all certain this was his kind of character. Although 55-yrs. at the time of shooting, Cooper was certain he did not want to play someone old enough to have grown children. Approaching West, Coop’ also expressed a desire to at least partake of the penultimate battle in the movie, explaining to the author that his audience expected him to be a man of action. “I need to do something,” Cooper insisted, to which West replied, “You will. You will furnish your public with the refreshing picture of a strong man refraining!” Although Cooper complied, he would always regard Friendly Persuasion as a ‘lesser’ effort. Wyler approved of Dorothy McGuire to play Jess’ wife, Eliza, though only after his first choice, Katharine Hepburn, politely declined to partake. Casting was also notable for the second screen appearance of Anthony Perkins, whose only other movie appearance had been in 1953’s The Actress. Throughout his formative years, Perkins struggled to keep his closeted homosexuality a secret. His appearance in the Broadway run of Tea and Sympathy, replacing John Kerr, kept him busy between The Actress and Friendly Persuasion. But his inexperience as a film star exuded an almost juvenile innocence on the screen. This endeared Perkins to both Cooper and Wyler, each of whom assumed an almost paternal protectiveness towards the actor.

Friendly Persuasion unfurls during the summer of 1862, set in Jennings County, Indiana. Jess Birdwell (Gary Cooper) is a farmer with a family whose Quaker religion is strangely at odds with Jess’ own passion for worldly pleasures like music and horse-racing. Jess' wife Eliza (Dorothy McGuire) is a Quaker minister and staunchly committed in her stance against violence. Their daughter, Martha/‘Mattie’ (Phyllis Love) is a devout Quaker - alas, smitten with U.S. cavalry officer, Gard Jordan (Mark Richman), much to Eliza’s chagrin. The Birdwell’s elder son, Josh (Anthony Perkins) is conflicted. Though against violence, Josh firmly believes he must join the ‘home guard’ in order to protect the family. And then, there is Little Jess (Richard Eyer), a precocious lad forever warring with mum’s pet goose. Meanwhile, runaway slave, Enoch (Joel Fluellen) works as a laborer on the Birdwell’s farm, even as his own children remain enslaved in the deep South.

The movie’s establishing scenes set the tone for the Birdwell’s desire for peace. This is in direct contrast to the feisty resolve of their neighbor, Sam Jordan (Robert Middleton) as well as the rest of the community of the nearby Methodist Church who vow to defend their neighborhood, whatever the cost. Quiet animosity brews after Major Harvey (Theodore Newton) puts a challenge to the Quaker men: how can they refuse to protect their homesteads?  Confronting his own resistance, Josh concurs, part of his decision might stem from fear. Alas, such honesty only serves to provoke Purdy (Richard Hale), a Quaker elder who condemns all who do not believe as he does. The Quakers struggle to maintain their faith in spite of temptations from the local county fair. Jess purchases new organ, its ostentatiousness alarming Eliza. She is also not amused after Jess, having acquired a new horse from the widow Hudspeth (Marjorie Maine), defeats Sam in a spirited race.

The tenor shifts to ominous foreshadowing when, while cultivating the fields, Jess spies a rising cloud of dark smoke on the horizon. Shortly thereafter, Josh arrives, informing the family, the neighboring community has been decimated by the Confederacy to ashes, with bodies strewn across the land. Josh is determined to join the fight. But his conviction threatens the civility of the Birdwell’s closeknit family. Eliza suggests, turning away from their religion is akin to denying her. However, Jess sides with Josh. Not long thereafter, Josh must face down a pack of Confederate raiders. Struggling with his principles, Josh eventually fires his gun in self-defense, though only after one of the townsmen standing next to him is severely wounded. Jess resists the urge to take up arms, but does so after Josh’s horse returns home riderless. Confederates invade Jess’s farm. Finding only Eliza and the children at home, they are perplexed when she offers them her outstretched hands of tolerance, warm food to comfort their hungry bellies, and, all the animals they wish to take with them on route to the battlefield. Meanwhile, Jess finds a mortally wounded Sam Jordan. Barely able to question him, Jess is ambushed by a Confederate soldier. However, after a brief struggle, in which Jess successfully disarms his attacker, he lets the soldier return to his regiment unharmed. Jess then finds Josh, badly injured but alive, and delivers him home.

In the pantheon of William Wyler’s mid-50’s screen gems, Friendly Persuasion ranks as a minor offering. This, however, does not diminish its’ potency as a subtle, surprisingly deft, and quaintly captivating meditation on what it means to preserve one’s principles in the face of overwhelming adversity. The ‘Wyler touch’ is working its magic here, and, the results are a beautifully understated masterpiece, imbued with kind-hearted amiability. Though Gary Cooper never warmed to either his performance or this movie in general, he really is astonishingly affecting as the patriarch of the interdependent Birdwells, coalescing brisk fatherly intuition with that more stolid chivalry for which the very best of Coop’s screen alter egos are justly celebrated. Dorothy McGuire’s shining moment remains Eliza’s cordial confrontation with the Confederates. Herein, McGuire transmits a tranquil rectitude that cannot be rescinded in the face of almost certain tragedy. In her acquiescence to the enemy, she towers ever more majestically. Phyllis Love’s Mattie is a starry-eyed girl, wrapped in the promise of a ‘tomorrow love’ for handsome Gard Jordan. In her cameo as the widow Hudspeth, Marjorie Main quite simply steals the show. Aside: one yearns today for the likes of a ‘real character’ like the irascible Main. Cooper and McGuire strike indelible chords, though not always harmoniously, yet persistently with that ‘aged in wood’ bravery and benevolence as the established marrieds. Anthony Perkins’ soulful naïveté as Josh becomes the epitome of masculine delicacy, and was justly Oscar-nominated for this performance. William Wyler effortlessly navigates these high-caliber performances, seamlessly blending the palaver of tender humor with intensely heart-felt drama, and, darkly looming suspense laden to well-timed action set pieces – all if it, stitched together by composer, Dimitri Tiomkin's bravura score.

Friendly Persuasion was a hit with audience and critics, earning $4 million in U.S. box office alone and earning MGM a profit of $582,000. It also won Cannes’ prestigious Palme d'Or and garnered 6 Academy Award nominations – alas, winning none. Viewed today, the picture has not dated – much. It was always a period piece. So, it remains hermetically sealed in that timeless yearning for ‘better times’ – either past, or still ahead.  While Friendly Persuasion did endure minor criticism for artistic liberties taken with certain Quaker principles, the bigger issue facing the production stemmed much earlier, from screenwriter, Michael Wilson being labeled as an ‘unfriendly’ witness during 1951’s House Un-American Activities Committee’s McCarthy ‘red scare’ witch hunts. Wilson was ultimately blacklisted by HUAC and his screen credit expunged from its theatrical release. It was reinstated in 1996. Friendly Persuasion might have come to the screen in 1951 as a Frank Capra picture if not for Wilson’s testifying before the committee.  Finally, Friendly Persuasion comes with a fascinating postscript. In 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan made a symbolic ‘gift’ of the movie to Soviet General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev as a gesture in search of patriotic commonality for peaceful coexistence between Russia and the United States.  

The Warner Archive (WAC) debuts Friendly Persuasion on Blu-ray. It’s a definite improvement over the dusty and digitally enhanced DVD of yore. But it isn’t altogether perfect either. Colors are generally pleasing, though, in a handful of shots, things still look at tad pallid, with fleeting glimpses of digital tinkering, intermittently scattered throughout. Color saturation is greatly improved. Contrast is uniformly excellent and film grain appears indigenous to its source. There are no age-related artifacts to impugn Ellsworth Fredericks’ cinematography. The DTS 2.0 mono has been lovingly preserved. The only extra is Wide, Wide World, a 10+ min. featurette hosted by Dave Garroway, following cast and crew as they shoot on location. There is also a theatrical trailer. Bottom line: Friendly Persuasion is a picture that grows more introspectively uplifting with each passing year. Gary Cooper may not have approved, but William Wyler’s gentle way with the camera and cast elevates Friendly Persuasion from family saga to tender, timeless, and textured masterwork, surely to 'pleasure' even the most hardened cynics. Good stuff here, and represented fittingly in hi-def. Very highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

4

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

1