Glory (1989 film)

Glory (1989 film)

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Glory
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Edward Zwick
Produced by	Freddie Fields
Written by	Books: Lincoln Kirstein Peter Burchard Screenplay: Kevin Jarre
Starring	Matthew Broderick Denzel Washington Cary Elwes Morgan Freeman
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Freddie Francis
Editing by	Steven Rosenblum
Studio	Freddie Fields Productions
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	December 14, 1989 (1989-12-14) (Limited) February 16, 1990 (1990-02-16) (Wide)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$18,000,000[1]
Box office	$26,828,365[2]

Glory is a 1989 American drama war film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes and Morgan Freeman. The screenplay was written by Kevin Jarre, based on the personal letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, and the novels Lay This Laurel, by Lincoln Kirstein, and One Gallant Rush, by Peter Burchard.

The story is based on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first formal unit of the US Army to be made up entirely of African American men, as told from the point of view of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, its commanding officer during the American Civil War.

The film was co-produced by TriStar Pictures and Freddie Fields Productions, and distributed by Tri-Star Pictures in the United States. It premiered in limited release in the US on December 14, 1989, and in wide release on February 16, 1990, making $26,828,365. It was considered a moderate financial success taking into account its $18 million budget. The soundtrack, composed by James Horner in conjunction with the Boys Choir of Harlem, was released on January 23, 1990. The home video was distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. on June 2, 2009, a widescreen Blu-ray version, featuring the director's commentary and deleted scenes, was released.

The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Editing and Best Art Direction. It won a number of awards from the British Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. Denzel Washington won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Trip.

 

Plot

Captain Robert Gould Shaw leads a company of Union soldiers from a Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in an attack on Confederate troops at the Battle of Antietam, on September 17, 1862. His regiment suffers heavy losses, Shaw is wounded, and later loses consciousness. He is awakened by a black gravedigger named John Rawlins and sent to a field hospital. While receiving medical attention, Shaw is told that President Lincoln is on the verge of passing the Emancipation Proclamation; freeing slaves in rebel held territory. While on leave in Boston, Shaw is promoted to Colonel, and given command of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-black regiment. He accepts, and asks his friend, Cabot Forbes, to be his second-in-command. Their first volunteer soldier is another of Shaw's friends, an educated black man named Thomas Searles.

Many more men join the regiment; including an escaped slave named Trip, a free black man named Jupiter Sharts, as well as the gravedigger Rawlins. At the military camp, the company is forced to endure the unyielding strict discipline of Sergeant Major Mulcahy. After spending time doing mostly menial work, Shaw realizes his unit is to be used only for manual labor. Shaw confronts his commanding officers Charles Garrison Harker and James M. Montgomery, whom he finds are involved in war profiteering and corruption, and threatens to report them to the War Department if the 54th infantry is not deployed for combat. Shaw's request is granted, as the regiment later participates in a skirmish in South Carolina where they successfully repulse a Confederate attack. Soon after, Shaw volunteers the 54th infantry to lead an assault on Fort Wagner. After nightfall, he leads the men in a charge upon the fort. Shaw attempts to rally the men forward, but is shot and killed. Numerous other soldiers including Trip, Rawlins, Thomas, Forbes and Jupiter also charge up the parapet and die in the fighting.

The film's epilogue displays a series of graphics stating that Fort Wagner was never taken. It also notes that news of the regiment's courage spurred the recruitment of numerous black volunteers and that, by the end of the war, there were more than 180,000 African American men in uniform; a fact which President Lincoln considered instrumental in securing a victory for the Union.

[edit] Cast

• Matthew Broderick as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
• Denzel Washington as Trip
• Morgan Freeman as Sergent Major John Rawlins
• Cary Elwes as Major Cabot Forbes
• Cliff De Young as Colonel James Montgomery
• Andre Braugher as Private Thomas Searles
• Jihmi Kennedy as Private Jupiter Sharts
• Alan North as Governor John Albion Andrew
• John Finn as Sergent Major Mulcahy
• Donovan Leitch as Captain Charles Fessenden Morse
• Bob Gunton as General Charles Garrison Harker
• Jay O. Sanders as General George Crockett Strong
• Raymond St. Jacques as Frederick Douglass