Friendly Persuasion (1956 film)
Friendly Persuasion is a 1956 American Civil War drama film produced and directed by William Wyler. It stars Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton, Phyllis Love, Mark Richman, Walter Catlett and Marjorie Main. The screenplay by Michael Wilson was adapted from the 1945 novel The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West. The movie tells the story of a Quaker family in southern Indiana during the American Civil War and the way the war tests their pacifist beliefs.
| Friendly Persuasion | |
|---|---|
Poster | |
| Directed by | William Wyler |
| Screenplay by | Michael Wilson |
| Based on | The Friendly Persuasion 1945 novel by Jessamyn West |
| Produced by | William Wyler |
| Starring | Gary Cooper Dorothy McGuire Anthony Perkins Richard Eyer Robert Middleton Phyllis Love Mark Richman Walter Catlett Marjorie Main |
| Cinematography | Ellsworth Fredericks |
| Edited by | Robert Swink Edward A. Biery Robert Belcher |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
Production companies | William Wyler Productions Allied Artists Pictures Corporation |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists (USA) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (foreign) |
Release date |
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Running time | 137 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $8 million (as of 1960) 3,051,784 admissions (France) |
The film received positive reviews, praised for its performances, but faced some criticism for inaccuracies in portraying Quaker views. It earned $4 million at the box office, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Michael Wilson, the screenwriter, was initially uncredited due to being on the Hollywood blacklist but was later restored in 1996.
Ronald Reagan gifted the film to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, symbolizing the pursuit of peaceful solutions to conflicts.