Brilliant and touching

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Poor Ji-Ji-Ji-Jimmy Stewart. He can't talk to his dead wife's grave for two minutes without being interrupted by his creepy daughter.Thar's war in them thar hills... the Civil War, and Stewart and his clan are being pressured by city-bred rebel officers who want Stewart's eight strapping sons to join up for the cause, that is, if they've finished slopping the hogs and bailing the hay and other farm stuff like that.Meanwhile Doug McClure wants to hose the aforementioned 'creepy daughter' (Rosemary Forsythe), but he's called off to battle right before the honeymoon. Dang, all that courtin', and he don't even get a taste of the creepy pie.Melodramatic, but passable family drama with a good performance by Jimmy Best as a confederate soldier.

Shenandoah is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and written by James Lee Barrett. It stars James Stewart, Patrick Wayne, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Rosemary Forsyth, Phillip Alford and Katharine Ross. Music is by Frank Skinner and Technicolor photography is by William H. Clothier.As the American Civil War rages, a Virginian patriarch keeps his large farming family in the act of isolationism. But will the war leave them alone? A superbly acted and written Civil War Oater, Shenandoah is moving and poignant without over doing the anti-war message. First half of the pic lets us into the lives of the Anderson family, their beliefs, their loves and losses, and decisions that will shape their futures. Circumstances will of course come knocking at the door, which shifts the film into darker territory, where it is here that McLaglen and his team brilliantly show the emotional and physical hardships of the war between the North and the South. Story and the characters are consistently compelling, all while the locations envelope the dramatics with a beauty that is realised by the legendary Clothier. And then there is Stewart, a class act and the axis, the fulcrum of everything that is great about the pic, his character brought vividly - and crucially believably - to life, one of the best father portrayals in classic film. Battles rage, of the war, the heart and of the mind in one of the 1960s best American Oaters. 9/10

Virginia patriarch James Stewart tries to keep his family out of the civil war as it rages around them, but wars aren't like that.This beautifully filmed 1965 western doesn't have a plot so much as a series of events which take place as Stewart takes most of his children looking for one son who was taken prisoner. These events serve to challenge Stewart's (and our own) perceptions of the value of trying to avoid a war which is taking place in your back yard. From a moral position this makes the film a powerful statement, albeit one of mixed viewpoint. From a narrative position, the film is less successful: it does not meet the conventional story beats one expects (the 3 marauders, for instance, are no more than convenient contrivances to deliver an emotional event: this has no subsequent follow-up or payoff).For all that, this is a good film with a powerful performance - one of his best - from Stewart.

Shenandoah has excellent actors, cinematography and screenplay. Its the story of a man, Charlie (James Stewart) who does not want to get involved in a war which is not in agreement with his reasoning. since besides his distaste for slavery, he and family always did all the farm work themselves and never needed any help. But the motivation to fight will arise out of unexpected circumstances. Since this film came out during the Vietnam war it is obvious that the comparison is intentional, also,it can be compared to any war. James Stewart gives one of his best performances, also Doug McLure and Phillip Alford. The direction, by Andrew McLaglen is almost without flaws, but a slight tendency at certain scenes, involving many people, to come close to a musical number in its artificiality.