Friendly Persuasion (1956) on Netflix

Passed19562h 17mDrama Family Romance

In 1862 Indiana, Quaker farmer Jess Birdwell and his family live by a peace testimony the Civil War tests. Their son Josh is torn between hating violence and defending the family.

Netflix3.8/5
IMDb7.3/108,547 votes
Rotten Tomatoes80%

Trailer

Plot summary

Jess Birdwell farms in Jennings County, Indiana, in 1862, and his Quaker faith sits uneasily beside his liking for music and fast horses. His wife Eliza, a Quaker minister, holds to the peace testimony while their daughter Mattie is in love with Gard Jordan, a Union cavalry officer, which Eliza does not accept. Son Josh wrestles with his dislike of violence and his wish to protect the family. Little Jess teases Samantha, his mother's goose. Enoch, a runaway slave, works the farm while his children remain enslaved in the South. Neighbor Sam Jordan, a Methodist, races Jess to Sunday meeting, and a Union officer asks the Quakers at meeting how they can stand by while Confederate troops approach.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Friendly Persuasion (1956)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

In the 1980s, US President Ronald Reagan made a gift of Friendly Persuasion to Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at one of their five summit meetings, suggesting he view it as symbolic of the need to find an alternative to war.
When Friendly Persuasion was nominated for six Academy Awards at the 29th ceremony, Michael Wilson's name could not appear on the ballot because he was blacklisted.
A week before the Oscar nominations were announced, the AMPAS Board of Governors adopted a rule denying an Oscar to anyone who refused to talk to a United States congressional committee; the Writers Guild of America protested and gave Michael Wilson its award for Best Written American Drama.
Cameras for the television documentary series Wide Wide World visited the set during production, and host Dave Garroway said it was the first live broadcast from a movie set.
Friendly Persuasion ended up costing over $3 million, and went so far over budget that Allied sold the foreign distribution rights to MGM to raise more funds.
Dorothy McGuire was cast as Cooper's wife in Friendly Persuasion after the director Wyler's first choice for the part, Katharine Hepburn, declined.
Jessamyn West spent a year with the production as story writer and technical adviser, wrote out Laban, the novel's second eldest son, and substituted Josh's friend Caleb Cope (John Smith) as a two-scene surrogate; Mattie was made a composite of the novel's two surviving Birdwell daughters.