Movies with an American Civil War backdrop -

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a four-year conflict fought between the United States and 11 Southern states that seceded after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 to form the Confederate States of America. At the heart of the war were the interconnected issues of slavery and territorial and sectional political control. As early as 1915, Hollywood was drawing on some of the bloodiest battles of the conflict for cinematic inspiration. But the focus has also fallen on the cultural, economical, and emotional impact of those terrible four years. So, what are the pictures that have best portrayed one of the darkest chapters in US history?

Click through and take a look at the movies with an American Civil War backdrop.

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'Gone with the Wind' (1939) -

Often cited as one of the greatest films of all time, this lavish historical melodrama is set in the Old South against the Civil War and the Reconstruction era. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh enjoyed career-defining roles as, respectively, a cynical, charming, and mocking philanderer and a proud Southern belle. But it's Hattie McDaniel as the first African American to win an Academy Award who's the real scene-stealer.

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'Glory' (1989) -

This historical drama centers on the the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the Union Army's first African-American regiment. The film, starring Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, and an Oscar-winning Denzel Washington, pays tribute to the 200,000 or so black Americans in Union ranks who, despite having to deal with rampant racism and inequality, helped win the war and end slavery.

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'Lincoln' (2012) -

The final four months of Abraham Lincoln's life is majestically portrayed by Danial Day-Lewis in Stephen Spielberg's cerebral take on the president's endeavors in January 1865 to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude. The set piece Siege of Petersburg is a masterclass in battlefield cinema.

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'The Conspirator' (2010) -

Robert Redford directed this thoughtful historical drama that tells the tale of Mary Surratt, the only female conspirator charged in the Abraham Lincoln assassination and the first woman to be executed by the US federal government. James McAvoy and Robin Wright star.

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'Cold Mountain' (2003) -

In Anthony Minghella's acclaimed Civil War romance, Jude Law stars as a wounded deserter from the Confederate Army struggling to make it back home to his sweetheart, portrayed by Nicole Kidman. For her part, Renée Zellweger took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

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'The Outlaw Josey Wales' (1976) -

Clint Eastwood's portrayal of a Missouri farmer bent on revenge after his family is murdered by Union militias was widely applauded by critics, regarded as it is as pacifist allegory for the national trauma of Vietnam.

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'Gettysburg' (1993) -

At 254 minutes, 'Gettysburg' is one of the longest Hollywood films ever released. But this four-hour plus epic about the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg serves as a compelling forensic analysis of the most important engagement of the American Civil War. The ensemble cast includes Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, and Sam Elliott. 

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'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' (1966) -

Italian director Sergio Leone's sprawling epic plays out in 1862 as a trio of gunslingers set out to find a fortune in a buried cache of Confederate gold amid the violent chaos of the American Civil War (specifically the New Mexico campaign). A memorable title track and sterling performances from Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef help make this movie the definitive "spaghetti Western."

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'Gods and Generals' (2003) -

'Gods and Generals' serves as a prequel to 1993's 'Gettysburg' and features many returning cast members. The film follows Confederate general Stonewall Jackson (Stephen Lang) from the outset of the Civil War until his death in 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Robert Duvall plays Robert E. Lee.

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'The Birth of a Nation' (1915) -

Directed by D.W. Griffith and originally called 'The Clansman,' this silent epic is considered a landmark of film history. Its plot chronicles the relationship of two families on opposing sides during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Hugely controversial in its use of blackface, racist stereotyping, and the heroic portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, 'The Birth of a Nation' was nonetheless a commercial success—but remains as divisive now as it did over 100 years ago.

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'Sommersby' (1993) -

This romantic period drama starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster is actually set in the Reconstruction era following the Civil War but centers on a man called John Sommersby who returns home from the war after being presumed dead for six years. However, his wife (Foster) suspects her 'husband' to be an imposter.

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'The Beguiled' (1971) -

Wounded Union Corporal John McBurney seeks sanctuary in a seminary for young ladies in rural Mississippi. Starved of male company, the female residents each become infatuated with their Yankee guest. Soon the sexually-repressed atmosphere of the school becomes filled with jealousy and deceit, and ultimately leads to a terrifying conclusion.

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'The Horse Soldiers' (1959) -

Starring John Wayne and William Holden, 'The Horse Soldiers' is a John Ford picture that focuses on the glories of soldiering and the romance of reunion. Constance Towers plays the love interest, a Southern belle sympathetic to the Confederate cause who finds herself falling in love with a Union colonel.

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'Free State of Jones' (2016) -

Matthew McConaughey portrays real-life Southern Unionist Newton Knight, leader of the Knight Company, a band of Confederate Army deserters who resisted the Confederacy during the Civil War. A controversial figure, not least for his interracial marriage to a woman named Rachel (played in the movie by Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Knight survived the war and went on to serve in Mississippi's Reconstruction government as a deputy US Marshal.

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'Bad Company' (1972) -

Jeff Bridges is among a small band of men who flee the American Civil War draft and instead seek salvation by forging a living on the country's untamed frontier.

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'Shenandoah' (1965) -

The Civil War Valley campaigns of 1864 are named after the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where this movie is set. James Stewart is the head of a farming family whose lives are nearly destroyed by the conflict. The traditional American folk song 'Oh Shenandoah' features prominently in the film's soundtrack.

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'How the West Was Won' (1962) -

The third chapter of this sweeping tribute to the Old West retells the violence and drama that was the Battle of Shiloh, fought from April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. This section was directed by John Ford. The picture featured a star-studded ensemble cast, including George Peppard and Richard Widmark. 

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'Dances with Wolves' (1990) -

Kevin Costner's revisionist epic is more about his character John Dunbar's dealings with the Lakota people, but the subplot in 'Dances with Wolves' deals with the Union lieutenant's dismay at the conflict he's involved in: he even tries to kill himself by riding up to and along Confederate lines, such is his contempt for the position he finds himself in. The film is credited as a leading influence for the revitalization of the Western genre of filmmaking in Hollywood.

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'The General' (1926) -

Buster Keaton co-directed and starred in this classic silent comedy, inspired by the Great Locomotive Chase, a military raid that took place in 1862 during the Civil War. Regarded as a seminal piece of cinema, 'The General' was one of the last great movies of the silent era.

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'The Great Locomotive Chase' (1956) -

Thirty years later, Walt Disney brought to the big screen its own version of the daring raid, which saw Union soldiers sneak behind Confederate lines in order to steal a train and drive it back to their own camp.

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'Major Dundee' (1965) -

'Major Dundee' revolves around several conflicts. While the Civil War provides the principal backdrop, Sam Peckinpah's early Western drama also deals with ongoing Indian wars and touches briefly on the invasion of Mexico by French troops in the 1860s. Charlton Heston plays the titular character, relying on support from Richard Harris and James Coburn.

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'Love Me Tender' (1956) -

No fighting but plenty of singing in Elvis Presley's debut movie, which sees him play a historical figure, Clint Reno (a member of the notorious Reno brothers clan), who stays at home while his older siblings take up arms for the Confederate cause in the Civil War. The Reno Gang terrorized the Midwestern United States during and just after the conflict.

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'Band of Angels' (1957) -

'Band of Angels' begins before the outbreak of war when Amantha Starr (Yvonne De Carlo) is shocked to lean that her mother had been one of her deceased father's black slaves. She is subsequently 'auctioned' to Hamish Bond (Clark Gable), who introduces her to his other enslaved individuals, including Rau-Ru (Sidney Poitier). Rau-Ru later escapes, and when the Civil War begins he joins the Union Army. Amantha, meanwhile, is embroiled in a love affair with Hamish.

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'Little Women' (1949) -

Set in Concord, Massachusetts, during the Civil War, this version of Louisa May Alcott's 1868–69 two-volume novel of the same name stars Janet Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O'Brien, and June Allyson as the four daughters of a New England family seeking happiness during and after the bitter conflict.

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'Escape from Fort Bravo' (1953) -

A group of Confederate prisoners escape from a Union stronghold under the nose of disciplinarian captain Roper (William Holden). For the fugitives, the real challenge is surviving the desert, marauding Apache Indians, and pursuing Bluecoats. Roper, meanwhile, falls in love with a visiting belle, Carla (Eleanor Parker), who just happens to have assisted the detainees in their breakout.

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'Friendly Persuasion' (1956) -

Jess Birdwell (Gary Cooper), the head of a quiet unassuming Quaker family, has his pacifist beliefs severely tested as the Civil War breaks out and Confederate troops advance on his farm and family.

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'The Red Badge of Courage' (1951) -

Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated combat soldiers of the Second World War, stars as distraught Henry Fleming, a Union private desperate to prove he is no coward after deserting his regiment, in John Huston's film set in Virginia in the early years of the American Civil War.

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'Field of Lost Shoes' (2014) -

'Field of Lost Shoes' depicts the true story of a group of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute who participated in the Battle of New Market against Union forces at Shenandoah in May 1864. Jason Isaacs, Tom Skerritt, and Keith David head the cast.

Sources: (History) (InStyle) (Smithsonian Magazine) (Biography) (The New Yorker) (Arlington National Cemetery) (American Heritage) (HistoryNet)

See also: Films that accurately and realistically portray war

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