NF Filming North and South, Book II - Love and War

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James N.

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Due to a request on another thread for additional pictures taken on the set of the 1986 miniseries, North and South, Book II - Love and War, based on John Jakes turgid melodrama, here are more of the photos shot during the filming of the major battle scenes. Though much of it was apparently filmed in and around Charleston, S.C., the large battles were filmed on a ranch outside Natchez, Miss. in October of 1985. As usual for projects like this, ever since the successful filming of The Blue and the Gray four years earlier, a call went out for reenactors to come and participate. I went for a week, and was present at the filming of what were really grand-scale reenactments of several different battles that were used as background footage. Unfortunately, far too little of what we did for the production company was actually used, and much of it merely as background for more vapid dialogue!

Since this was battle footage we were filming, the cast members involved were reduced to the principal male leads, Patrick Swayze ( above, center as General Orry Main ) and Lewis Smith ( above, left as Cousin Charles Main ) for the South and James Read ( General George Hazard ) and Parker Stevenson ( Brother Billy Hazard ) for the North. The picture above was from my friend artilleryman and gun owner Roy Beckett, who is standing at the right of Swayze; but I took the ones below during a promotional photo shoot one afternoon on the Siege of Petersburg set; they certainly weren't posing for ME - rather, I positioned myself with my dinky Kodak Disc camera to one side of the many press photographers. In one shot Parker Stevenson is posing with the boy actor who played the Berdan's Sharpshooters' drummer who is killed in the story.

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As might be expected, the reenactor response was great; probably not until Glory or Gettysburg was there a comparable turnout. Filming was sequential, with a day or two devoted to the major battles depicted. There may have been others, but I remember First Bull Run, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Appomattox being the main ones, along with an interesting scene of Lincoln ( played by Hal Holbrook ) and Sherman visiting Grant's Petersburg headquarters. The McLean House at Appomattox was merely a false-front "house" with the Union reenactors lining a picket fence in front of as the actors rode by. Above, on the "Bull Run" set Lewis Smith as Cousin Charles Main ( center ) poses with members of a Texas artillery group led by my friend Roy Beckett to his immediate right; at far right is the late Riley Flynn, veteran reenactor cavalryman, who served as wrangler for several later productions, including Son of the Morning Star.

Reenactment groups represented in the filming included, left-to-right in the thumbnails below: The 1st Minnesota and their captain Stephen Osman at right, who had arrived on a chartered bus all the way from Minneapolis, much as they would later for the 125th Anniversary Events like Manassas; The Frontier Battalion from the Missouri area; noted individuals like artillerymen the Paulsen Brothers, seen here in their shirtsleeves, also came and brought their guns; and since Parker Stevenson's character is an officer in Berdan's Sharpshooters members of that particular unit appeared in their green frock coats and forage caps, as seen in the last two pictures!

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We sarcastically referred to the ranch where this was filmed as a Civil War Six Flags or Disneyland because after driving through the gate you were directed by signage to "Bull Run" - "Gettysburg" - Appomattox" as if it was a giant theme park! Most of those were fields or pastureland with minimal set pieces, such as the fake "McClean House" or "Henry House". But the set for "Petersburg" was quite different! It was a WONDERFUL reproduction of a considerable stretch of the siege works on both sides, separated by a realistic distance between them, festooned with details like chevaux-de-frise and gabions. One of our favorite details was the full-size bombproof - one problem with it, however, was that it faced the WRONG way: the "door" was toward the enemy, which would've allowed any passing shell to fly right inside and explode in the powder magazine!

Above, I'm atop the bombproof ( one of our favorite sites for posed photos ); behind you can clearly see the interior of Union "Fort Stedman" and on the horizon the massive Confederate works. In the thumbnails below, left-to-right: note interior details like the gabions stacked between each gun platform position and the tent flys used for shade; the interior of the Confederate trenches; the beginning of the Union assault, led by James Read as General George Hazard at right; the assault goes in toward the Confederate works; my friend Ed Owens beside the notorious bombproof. Since I was with a unit that served as both infantry and artillery, when we were infantry like at Bull Run or Appomattox I had little opportunity to take pictures; here at Petersburg we were artillery, but remained out of the battle once it passed out of our own lines and so had a "grandstand view" of the assault!

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Filming was about as on other projects I've participated in - as I remember the hours were fairly long but not too bad and the weather pleasant, though very warm, dry and not at all Fall-like. We camped in an area reserved for us, in an "authentic" camp much like at an event. Most interesting for me was that our unit was chosen to do some pretty close-up work in the "Grant's Headquarters" and "Lincoln at Fort Stedman" scenes. One of our guns was an original 1864 3-in. ordinance rifle owned by the late John Hooper. Someone on the production staff was shown the 1864 muzzle marking, which was then highlighted in white paint so the gun could be placed between Hal Holbrook ( Lincoln ), Anthony Zerbe ( Grant ), and James Read ( George Hazard ) for a scene involving dialogue as they look out over the parapet. ( A good way to get shot! ) Seen behind it in the film is a gun crew consisting of Hooper, the Paulsen brothers, and other dedicated artillerymen!

Above, James Read and Parker Stephenson pose with some of the Union reenactors; in thumbnails below, right-to-left: The film crew using a camera on a crane shoots a scene between Parker Stevenson and the drummer boy at center; next, in the gray greatcoat at left is Ray Herbeck, Jr., the Californian in charge of the reenactors for the film who I later worked for on several other film projects; one of the "success stories" from the production - I'm sorry to say I don't know this reenactor's name, but he did an outstanding chaplain impression and recieved his own close-up as the camera pans from his open bible to his face, then to the line of marching troops behind; and lastly, my "home" for the week inside a friend's 2/3 scale Sibley tent in the campground - it was too warm to use my original Sibley stove, though. I hope you've enjoyed looking!

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Wow, these are pretty awesome. I never saw that particular series, though my wife had a copy of it on VHS and watched it so much that she wore it out. I just read the first book about a month ago and liked it. I find it strange that Patrick Swayze was picked to be Orry. Oh well . . .
 
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Filming was about as on other projects I've participated in - as I remember the hours were fairly long but not too bad and the weather pleasant, though very warm, dry and not at all Fall-like. We camped in an area reserved for us, in an "authentic" camp much like at an event. Most interesting for me was that our unit was chosen to do some pretty close-up work in the "Grant's Headquarters" and "Lincoln at Fort Stedman" scenes. One of our guns was an original 1864 3-in. ordinance rifle owned by the late John Hooper. Someone on the production staff was shown the 1864 muzzle marking, which was then highlighted in white paint so the gun could be placed between Hal Holbrook ( Lincoln ), Anthony Zerbe ( Grant ), and James Read ( George Hazard ) for a scene involving dialogue as they look out over the parapet. ( A good way to get shot! ) Seen behind it in the film is a gun crew consisting of Hooper, the Paulsen brothers, and other dedicated artillerymen!

Above, James Read and Parker Stephenson pose with some of the Union reenactors; in thumbnails below, right-to-left: The film crew using a camera on a crane shoots a scene between Parker Stevenson and the drummer boy at center; next, in the gray greatcoat at left is Ray Herbeck, Jr., the Californian in charge of the reenactors for the film who I later worked for on several other film projects; one of the "success stories" from the production - I'm sorry to say I don't know this reenactor's name, but he did an outstanding chaplain impression and recieved his own close-up as the camera pans from his open bible to his face, then to the line of marching troops behind; and lastly, my "home" for the week inside a friend's 2/3 scale Sibley tent in the campground - it was too warm to use my original Sibley stove, though. I hope you've enjoyed looking!

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Hi, I am new to this forum. I was also in North and South Part 2. Does anyone have a better copy (higher resolution) of the above photograph? I remember posing for a group picture but not sure if this is the one. I have a copy of the TV Times from England during the time they were showing N&S Pt.1. It actually shows several photos of Part 2. I would be happy to post them if anyone would like to see them.

Chuck Owens
Middlesboro, KY
 
Hi, I am new to this forum. I was also in North and South Part 2. Does anyone have a better copy (higher resolution) of the above photograph? I remember posing for a group picture but not sure if this is the one. I have a copy of the TV Times from England during the time they were showing N&S Pt.1. It actually shows several photos of Part 2. I would be happy to post them if anyone would like to see them.

Chuck Owens
Middlesboro, KY
Welcome to CivilWarTalk.
 
Hi, I am new to this forum. I was also in North and South Part 2. Does anyone have a better copy (higher resolution) of the above photograph? I remember posing for a group picture but not sure if this is the one. I have a copy of the TV Times from England during the time they were showing N&S Pt.1. It actually shows several photos of Part 2. I would be happy to post them if anyone would like to see them.

Chuck Owens
Middlesboro, KY

Hi, Chuck, and welcome to the forums! Please feel free to add them to this thread; or if you prefer, start one of your own.
 
Hi, I am new to this forum. I was also in North and South Part 2. Does anyone have a better copy (higher resolution) of the above photograph? I remember posing for a group picture but not sure if this is the one. I have a copy of the TV Times from England during the time they were showing N&S Pt.1. It actually shows several photos of Part 2. I would be happy to post them if anyone would like to see them.

Chuck Owens
Middlesboro, KY
Welcome to CivilWarTalk.
 
Dear One was very much into that series, but only because she thought Patrick Swayze was HOT.
Hotness = Ratings = Money.
As James N. said, most of the good battle scenes ended up on the editing room floor.

Even the character "Virgilia" was HOT.
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Snake head crazy perhaps . . . but none the less . . . still HOT.
 
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That is awesome. Thanks for posting those. I just got finished watching it for the first time. It was on when I was a kid but I never watched it. I was too little and too busy watching shows like Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazzard, and the A-Team back in the 1980s.
 
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