What Civil War Story, Person, Event Would Make A Great Movie?

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
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This may have been asked in another thread? Not that I've encountered one, just makes sense there would have been one. Try searching for that, however without coming up with far too many results to pick through!

In another thread Mary Tepee came up- I was just thinking that her Civil War time would have made a great movie- would make one although being Hollywood I'm guessing they'd make us suffer through the rest of her life, too. It made me think, what other personalities of the era would make great movies? OR entire events ? They'd have to be things or folks which would capture the attention of non-Civil War geeks, too. Well heck, ' Lincoln ' did and that was pretty much about the politics at the time. That kind of thing is generally a big snore. If that movie was a hit, all bets are off when it comes to predicting what General Joe Public will watch.

The McCook family saga might make one- as would the Red River dam although the budget would be WOOHOO, ships and setting?

Yes, sorry to post in Ladies Tea- claimed it on the grounds that Mary Tepee was mentioned first. Makes sense to me, I'm female.
 
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A Civil War story just seems to center around the Southern People and the sufferings of the Southerners, which would include slaves. I would like to see a movie about Point Lookout, probably too controversial for Hollywood.

The subject offers so many possibles for mold breaking.
 
This may have been asked in another thread? Not that I've encountered one, just makes sense there would have been one. Try searching for that, however without coming up with far too many results to pick through!

In another thread Mary Tepee came up- I was just thinking that her Civil War time would have made a great movie- would make one although being Hollywood I'm guessing they'd make us suffer through the rest of her life, too. It made me think, what other personalities of the era would make great movies? OR entire events ? They'd have to be things or folks which would capture the attention of non-Civil War geeks, too. Well heck, ' Lincoln ' did and that was pretty much about the politics at the time. That kind of thing is generally a big snore. If that movie was a hit, all bets are off when it comes to predicting what General Joe Public will watch.

The McCook family saga might make one- as would the Red River dam although the budget would be WOOHOO, ships and setting?

Yes, sorry to post in Ladies Tea- claimed it on the grounds that Mary Tepee was mentioned first. Makes sense to me, I'm female.
Peter Welsh of the Irish Brigade. A great sad love story, heroism and self-doubt. Ben Affleck could play him:

peter welsh.PNG
 
The Great Locomotive Chase would be awesome remade.
I agree. And this brings up an odd coincidence: Fifteen minutes ago I was leafing through the most current issue (June, 2014) of AMERICAN ART REVIEW. There's a very good, but too brief article about Wilbur G. Kurtz, who was a technical advisor on the Disney version of that story. Also on "Gone With The Wind" and a number of others. Kurtz was a very fine artist. He became familiar with the locomotive chase story early in the 20th century, visited the locales, and interviewed a number of surviving eyewitnesses, including the conductor of the train. He sketched the locales and later produced studio paintings of those and numerous other Southern scenes. This article is well worth seeing, if you can find an issue of the magazine.

I think Gen. JO Shelby is one of the fascinating characters of the war, but I am a little biased because I'm his fellow Missourian. He had numerous exploits that are movie-worthy.

He was very well portrayed (I thought) in an off-beat and probably little known movie called "The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James." He appears at Frank's trial in Gallatin, MO. Now, here's the funny part: He was portrayed by Willie Nelson. Much of his testimony was drawn from the actual trial transcript, which I have read. Willie did an amazingly good job. You just have to see it to understand what I mean.
 
Mosby certainly deserves a film to be made about him. He was a remarkable Soldier, was wounded 7 times and was mentioned in dispatches more often than any other Confederate Officer. In 1864, Sheridan dispatched 100 men,equipped with SPENCER Repeating rifles to hunt him down. Mosby and his men killed or wounded ALL but 2 of them and then sold their weapons to the Confederacy. A Film just about that would be just GREAT !
 
I would love to see a movie about Robert Smalls and his escape from slavery aboard The Planter. He may well have been the most famous southern African American among Union people in 1862, perhaps the entire war. His story no doubt inspired those who advocated for black enlistment in the Union army.

- Alan

He was originally grabbed to as a slave navigator but the white officers decided to spend the night ashore. Guess they didn't think the pilot would have the nerve to sail off without them! Who would you think could play him?
 
He was originally grabbed to as a slave navigator but the white officers decided to spend the night ashore. Guess they didn't think the pilot would have the nerve to sail off without them! Who would you think could play him?

My first notion is to use Anthony Mackie, the guy who was Lincoln's sidekick in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Mackie does have a superficial resemblance to Smalls. Reportedly Smalls met with Lincoln so this role might be a kind of déjà vu for Mackie.

- Alan
 
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