Glory Cast and Crew
Back in 1989,
Black reenactors were about as elusive as genuine "Black Confederates" had been! Though we were joined in Savannah for varying periods by the very few who existed at the time, they probably could've been counted on the fingers of a single hand, so our answer was to create some. The same day I reported to Ray and met Matt Murdzak, we and several others went for our very first duty to nearby Fort Jackson Park, a charming War of 1812-vintage brick fort seen in the thumbnails below, that stood beside the Savannah River. It unfortunately doesn't actually appear in the film, but was rented by the production company as an out-of-the-way place for training our background company, who we also met for the first time. We were all clad in modern street clothes, except for a few pieces of headgear like kepis and forage caps.
The order of the day was to instruct our company in the
School of the Soldier: how to stand, facing movements, and basic marching; before donning belts with bayonets, cap pouches, and cartridge boxes ( only ) and finally taking rifles for manual-of-arms instruction. For some of the retired veterans among them it was quite an adjustment! As part of our work we moved among the double ranks adjusting posture and accoutrements as needed. Though our "recruits" were mostly in their twenties there was a leavening of older men like one tall and serious man wearing a strange-looking large, floppy black hat who seemed intent on getting things
right; I later learned this was Morgan Freeman, who was the only one of the actors who deigned join with the extras for instruction in the "tools of his trade"!
It was around this time before our filming started that we began to meet other members of the cast and crew. The only "notable" actors involved on
Glory, at least on a day-to-day basis, were Matthew Broderick ( for
Ferris Bueler which probably still remains his best-known role, as witnessed by his recent Super Bowl commercial invoking the character ) and Cary Elwes ( whose
The Princess Bride had been a recent smash hit ). Although Morgan had been nominated for an Academy Award playing a vicious pimp, it was in a little-known movie none of us had seen - I only of knew him as a long-time veteran of
some kiddie show on tv (
The Electric Company ). Denzel Washington was also a veteran of a soap-opera-like "hospital" tv series, but I'd never watched it; all the others were virtual unknowns.
Readers probably are aware that movies are usually filmed out-of-sequence, the daily
shooting schedule dictated by location and availability of certain actors who appear, film their part, and as suddenly are gone, often for good. To my knowledge, the very first scenes in
Glory, filmed while we were at Ft. Jackson, were those of the party where
Robert Shaw learns of the formation of the new regiment of black troops and that he is to be their colonel. That was shot in a neighborhood of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses in Savannah's large Historic District; the house was later featured in Keven Spacey's
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and is the actual one where events in that modern Gothic horror story took place.
Here during one of their breaks we first met both Matt Broderick and Cary Elwes plus a few others I no longer remember. There was grousing at first by other reenactors about Broderick, seen above later on Jekyll Island, who was thought to be both too young and too silly ( remembering
Ferris Bueler ) to play Col. Robert Shaw; but I remembered he was actually the same age as Shaw - not to mention how much he resembled his character - and watching how seriously he seemed to take his role I soon decided he was well-cast. Elwes, seen below, remained something of a mystery though: he was unfailingly polite and friendly while he was on set, but due to the shooting schedule he was absent for long periods of time, during which there were rumors of wild parties; he seemed to have definitely done
something to irritate the higher-ups causing other rumors that some of his scenes had been cut.
As for the other principals, Morgan remained down-to-earth, friendly and approachable and my favorite of the actors. Denzel Washington, who received a deserved Academy Award for his part, always seemed the consummate professional. Never around when he wasn't called for, always remaining in his trailer and fraternizing with no one, he was always ready and prepared when he was actually on set. ( This is in no way intended as a criticism: Daniel Day-Lewis shared these traits on
Last of the Mohicans. ) Jimihi Kennedy was always cheerful and happy-go-lucky, but there were also rumors about his partying with Savannah locals that included drinking and drugs; I know nothing of the truth of any of this, apart from the fact that his career never really "took off" afterwards like others did. Andre Braugher has since gone on to make a name for himself on television, but at the time I thought he fit well within the "uppity" stereotype ( much like his character! ) and was the member of the cast I liked least.
Movie-making is a very specialized and compartmentalized business; by that I mean often there's relatively little fraternization or communication outside one's own immediate area of concern. This will not be the place for very many "juicy" off-screen tidbits or "skinny" about the stars, for the simple reason that though we reenactors were around them on set, we did NOT "hang with" or associate with them otherwise. My view from here on will be a nuts-and-bolts one of my daily experiences as, I hope, an "intelligent observer" and low-level participant in the events described. I will first however make some general comments to introduce other important and often overlooked members of the production.
In my photo above, snapped furtively on the
Darien set, the figure in the white shirt at right is probably the single most important person involved in
Glory, Producer Freddie Fields, without whom it is safe to say
nothing would've happened! He was constantly on set solving a myriad of problems, helped in true Hollywood style by his very attractive and much-younger female "assistant". To the left, also in white, is the creative genius behind the camera, Director Ed Zwick, who only a few years ago recieved an Academy Award for directing. Another Academy Award receipient is seen at right in the red-and-white checked shirt, Englishman Freddie Francis, who received one in the category of
Best Cinematography for
Glory, one of the three it garnered. ( Morgan Freeman can also be seen in the background, center. ) Below is another Academy Award winner for
Glory, Russell Williams, seated at center behind his controls who received it for
Best Achievement in Sound. The man standing at left was cinematographer Freddie Francis' right-hand-man behind the camera; unfortunately I've forgotten his name.
Next, our filming begins in earnest!