A surprisingly challenging film about what happens when devoutness to a religion collides with the realities of the world.
Dorothy Maguire is the Quaker mother who wants to do the thinking for her young adult children, misguidedly wanting to prevent temptations from entering their lives rather than equipping them to deal with them when they do. Gary Cooper is the more reasonable father who doesn't see why pleasure and religious faith have to be mutually exclusive. Then a little thing called the Civil War directly affects them, and they have to decide when to stick to their beliefs and when to modify them for something bigger than themselves.
Overall the movie is still a little light for my tastes and doesn't flesh out these questions as complexly as I might have preferred. But still, I was expecting a cornball, wholesome family film and so was pleasantly surprised by what I got instead.
"Friendly Persuasion" garnered six Academy Award nominations but won none: Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Perkins), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song (warbled by Pat Boone), and Best Sound Recording.
Grade: A-
Dorothy Maguire is the Quaker mother who wants to do the thinking for her young adult children, misguidedly wanting to prevent temptations from entering their lives rather than equipping them to deal with them when they do. Gary Cooper is the more reasonable father who doesn't see why pleasure and religious faith have to be mutually exclusive. Then a little thing called the Civil War directly affects them, and they have to decide when to stick to their beliefs and when to modify them for something bigger than themselves.
Overall the movie is still a little light for my tastes and doesn't flesh out these questions as complexly as I might have preferred. But still, I was expecting a cornball, wholesome family film and so was pleasantly surprised by what I got instead.
"Friendly Persuasion" garnered six Academy Award nominations but won none: Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Perkins), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song (warbled by Pat Boone), and Best Sound Recording.
Grade: A-