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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Entertainment: Books, Movies, Music & Art > Civil War in Movies and on TV > A Non-Battle Civil War film that would suceed? |
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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Entertainment: Books, Movies, Music & Art > Civil War in Movies and on TV > A Non-Battle Civil War film that would suceed? |
| Moderated by: javal1 | Page: 1 2   |
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| A Non-Battle Civil War film that would suceed? | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Sun Jan 24th, 2010 06:04 pm |
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1st Post |
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javal1 Grumpy Geezer 
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Well, reading the Last Full Measure thread (or as Susan calls it, the thread that refuses to die), I saw some discussion on whether a non-battle-centric Civil War film could be a box office success. interesting, and deserves a thread of it's own. I would throw out a couple that might. Sickles, the original American Scoundrel, has everything for a box office hit. A villain, sex, some action, etc. There would have to be some battle scenes but the movie wouldn't be about the fighting. Second, and much tougher, would be Team of Rivals. This would require exactly the right cast, producer, director, etc. Lack of romance/sex might be a problem, but the psychological interplay between the characters holds potential. Any comments or other ideas?
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| Posted: Sun Jan 24th, 2010 06:56 pm |
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2nd Post |
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susansweet3 Member 
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First thanks for the quote. lol. I would love to see Team of Rivals made into a movie. I would also love to see American Brutus made into a movie. A few years ago friends and I cast the movie . We were mainly matching up actors with how much they looked like Booth and others. I wish I had save the email as I can't remember who we had as who now. The new book on Sickles would make a good move as would Stealing the General . Susan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 24th, 2010 07:20 pm |
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3rd Post |
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OVVI Member
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"Civil War" movies can be about battles, skirmishes, raids etc as well as about people (famous and otherwise). We are talking about a time period in which the CW was the central event. But that is not to say that any number of subjects would not make good movies provided they told an engaging story and had characters the audience will invest in. Is not "Pharoah's Army" a Civil War film? Kent Dorr
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| Posted: Sun Jan 24th, 2010 07:36 pm |
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4th Post |
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fedreb Member 
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Team of Rivals is an absorbing story but I'm not sure that it would hold a cinema audience but I do agree that the Sickles story could make a great movie. I also like the idea of the J.W Booth story, the build up to, and the plotting of, the assassination, the assassination itself and the manhunt after, in the right directors hands would have all the potential of being a great movie. Alternatively, could always remake Little Women!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 25th, 2010 02:50 pm |
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5th Post |
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PaulaC Member
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Sickles at Gettysburg would indeed make a great movie along with Marching Through Culpeper. Just a thought!!!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 25th, 2010 03:33 pm |
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6th Post |
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TimK Member
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I'm kind of partial to biographies, so I think a GOOD movie about Mosby or Forrest would be worth my money.
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26th, 2010 01:27 am |
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7th Post |
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Mark Member
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My vote would be for a film about a slave family during the war. I think the pathos of watching their world torn apart and the eventual freedom at the end (perhaps brought by Soldiers of the USCT) would definitely be worth the price if it was done well. -Mark
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26th, 2010 06:39 am |
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8th Post |
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susansweet3 Member
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A film on the life of Harriet Tubman or Sojourner Truth would also be interesting
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| Posted: Sun Aug 1st, 2010 08:39 am |
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9th Post |
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Doc Editor Member 
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WHAT would the objections be to make the LAST Full Measure and complete the triology?=+
____________________ "War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over." William T. Sherman |
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| Posted: Sun Aug 1st, 2010 06:01 pm |
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10th Post |
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Doc C Member 
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Frederick Douglass possibly the most influencial black man in history, no insult to the Rev. King. Doc C
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| Posted: Mon Aug 2nd, 2010 01:21 am |
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11th Post |
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CleburneFan Member 
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Speaking of slaves, I wonder why no one has ever attempted a drama based on the tragic Ebenezer Creek incident. This is when Union Brigadier General Jefferson C Davis and his brigade raced across Ebenezer Creek in Georgia in 1864. Davis ruthlessly left a large number of runaway slaves and their children who had been accompanying the Union army stranded on the other side of the creek by taking away the pontoon bridge. Wheeler's Confederate cavalry was bearing down hard on the slaves and Davis's men. Davis did this to rid himself of the large entourage that was slowing down his column and also consumed valuable resources to feed and shelter. Many slaves tried to swim the creek in desperation, but drowned in the attempt. Others were killed or recaptured by Wheeler's troopers and returned to their slave masters. This tragic scene could be either the dramatic start of a movie about Georgian slaves during and after Sherman's March or the end of such a movie. It might be too controversial though. Davis was never reprimanded for his actions, not even by Sherman.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 2nd, 2010 12:42 pm |
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12th Post |
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j harold 587 Member 
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I would pay to see a movie based on team of rivals, however it would probably draw the same cricisims as G&G for too long and to many long speeches, and too difficult to understand what is going on in the characters mind.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 2nd, 2010 03:43 pm |
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13th Post |
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HankC Member 
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I think a war biography of Grant would be a good flick. It'd give a good view of the war in the west as well as the protagonist's growth... HankC
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| Posted: Mon Aug 2nd, 2010 08:28 pm |
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14th Post |
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9Bama Member
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A movie based on Gen Forrest would have to be done very carefully or no one would believe it. That is one story that has to be learned and absorbed over time. Mosby has been done on TV...long time ago and rather poorly IIRC A grant movie would be good if done right but it would be too easy to make him 3 times normal size and immune to criticism
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| Posted: Tue Aug 3rd, 2010 03:12 pm |
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15th Post |
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LiveVegan Member 
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9Bama wrote: A movie based on Gen Forrest would have to be done very carefully or no one would believe it. It would nice to have a movie that settled once and for all that he didn't start the KKK. I think I'd be super picky about who played him.  But yea, I agree that a well done and non bias movie about him would be very interesting.
____________________ "I did not come here for the purpose of surrending my command." Forrest, Fort Donelson |
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| Posted: Tue Aug 3rd, 2010 08:35 pm |
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16th Post |
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TimK Member
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Movies about Forrest or Sherman or Grant or Mosby may be of interest to us, but if Hollywood would ever want to make a film about them, you can bet your house they would be inaccurate. Hollywood is not about accuracy - they're about making pictures people want to watch. Embellish some stuff, delete other stuff, add a love scene - make something that both you and your wife (or husband) would pay to see. I think biographies about these guys sound more like a job for a producer that wants make a serious documentary for PBS or The History Channel. I really hope something like this happens for the Sesquicentennial. I really like Cleburne Fan's idea, especially the Ebenezer Creek idea. However, even after 150 years Sherman is still either an angel or the devil. No matter how a movie like this would be done, you would be pis_ing off half the population. I don't know if it would create too much controversy (but then again, that might sell tickets). As usual, just my opinion. Last edited on Tue Aug 3rd, 2010 08:49 pm by TimK |
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| Posted: Tue Aug 3rd, 2010 09:50 pm |
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17th Post |
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LiveVegan Member
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You know, you're right. Hollywood couldn't do any figure in this war any justice. Thats too bad.
____________________ "I did not come here for the purpose of surrending my command." Forrest, Fort Donelson |
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| Posted: Tue Aug 3rd, 2010 11:45 pm |
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18th Post |
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CleburneFan Member
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LiveVegan wrote: You know, you're right. Hollywood couldn't do any figure in this war any justice. Thats too bad. What I'd be afraid of is that the movie industry would do some Civil War scoundrels TOO MUCH justice! 
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| Posted: Wed Aug 4th, 2010 02:07 pm |
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19th Post |
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LiveVegan Member
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Rawr
____________________ "I did not come here for the purpose of surrending my command." Forrest, Fort Donelson |
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| Posted: Thu Jun 9th, 2011 08:30 pm |
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20th Post |
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BrotherhoodandBaseball Member 
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Hi, I just joined and I wish I'd come here to ask questions on my book "Brotherhood and Baseball" (at lulu.com). There is some really great stuff on here. Of course, http://www.civilwarhome.com (where I caught this link) had awesome and the alternatehistory history discussion board really helped. One thing I did in my alternate history (basically, no Chancellorsville Miracle by Lee, Union wins 18 months early, much more lenience by the North and integration of baseball from the beginning bring the races together faster) was cover the lives of ordinary people and have them intertwine with leaders like LIncoln, Douglass, Octavius Catto (a great unknown who died in his early 30s) and others, a la The Winds of War. So, why couldn't Holly wood do a Winds of War type of movie? True, TWoW worked best as a miniseries, but I think by doing a biography not of a famous person, but of an ordinary individual, they could do it - as long as they didn't try to do too much. (TWoW covered a number of families and generations, IIRC) For instance, take a small-time backwoods farmer who doesn't own slaves from Georgia. He thinks he's fighting for freedom for his country, but as the story goes on, he begins to see the problems of slavery - maybe Cleburne Fan's idea can be incorporated as part of that. So can his state's own Governor Brown, who threatened his *own* secession from the CSA. (Governor Brown would make an interesting historical figure to cover in his own right, perhaps?) goes through a character change with only minimal battles shown, if any. In the end, then, our main character realizes how awful slavery was and thinks Davis was a tyrant (like Brown thought by the end), and admits, basically, "We deserved to get whupped." Or words to that effect. Of coruse, it's hard to do character analysis on film, I'll admit, since you generally don't see thoughts. (THough you could have them verbalized in letters home or something?) But, I think a character growth story would be possible. Last edited on Thu Jun 9th, 2011 08:39 pm by BrotherhoodandBaseball |
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