oldschool58

17 May 2013

Good movie ... GREAT book

The book by Will Henry is absolutely terrific. A joy to read; thelaconic dialog is realistic, hilarious ... and poignant. The book isavailable for cheap on eBay and other sites and I recommend it. Of theseven Concho County boys, Buck is drawn most fully; the others aretantalizing sketches. I saw this movie on TV years ago and I'm amazedat its unavailability on video/DVD, esp. given the "future-star" statusof its cast. I most remember the stoic Buck soldiering on as each ofhis friends/comrades met his fate. The naive perception of war by theyoung finds itself face to to face with reality in this story. It isbelievable to think that many of the kids who fought in the Civil Warmarched off with these kinds of notions in their minds.

Jeff

17 May 2013

Okay 60s Western

This film is enough to keep one's attention provided there is nothing better to watch on television. The story takes place during the American Civil War; Seven male friends from Texas journey East to join the confederate army in Richmond Virginia. They make it to Tennessee where they are duped into joining the Tennessee infantry under the command of General Brag (a harsh disciplinarian). The traveling comrades are quickly disillusioned by the war, and question their reasons for wanting to join. During the battle of Shiloh three of the friends meet their doom. Another one dies from a respiratory illness. Soon, there is only one of the seven remaining who obtains a courtesy discharge and hightails it back to West Texas with one arm and another man's horse. But, first he plans to make a quick stop in Vicksburg, Mississippi to retrieve the pretty saloon girl he met on his way to the war. The movie ends with a song and the sight of the horse's arse riding west into the sunset.This was an okay flick starring Paul Petersen, James Caan, Jan Michael Vincent, Harrison Ford, and Brenda Scott. It is not a good film for a history buff, but someone who likes a good old fashioned Western Drama might enjoy this PG rated film. There is some mild violence.

JohnRouseMerriottChard

13 May 2013

We are the Concho County Comanches.

Journey to Shiloh is directed by William Hale and adapted to screenplayby Gene L. Coon from the novel written by Will Henry. It stars JamesCaan, Michael Sarrazin, Brenda Scott, Albert Popwell, Harrison Ford,Jan-Michael Vincent, Robert Pine and Noah Beery Junior. Music is byDavid Gates (supervision Joseph Gershenson) and Technicolorcinematography by Enzo Martinelli.Seven young Texans journey east to fight for the Confederacy in theCivil War. Full of ideas of noble glory for the war effort, the grouphave their eyes rudely opened by the prejudice and snobbery theyencounter along the way.Rock of Ages.Film is bookended by a cheesy song that first tells of the young mensetting off for the journey, then latterly of what became of them upontheir final destinations. Throw in some pretty wooden acting away fromthe lead player and mix in a score that sounds like it belongs in thePink Panther cartoon show, well you would naturally expect the film tobe something of a disaster? Yet there is much to recommend here for thediscerning fan of Civil War yarns.The Pensacola Light Blues.Picture gets its strength from the interest garnered by the sourcestory and the lead performance by a youthful, wig wearing, Caan. Storyis potent as an anti-war piece, the parallels with the then currentVietnam War, and the feelings running high at that time, are hard toignore. Here the lads have their ideals punctured by events that happenout on the trail. Firstly some in fighting upsets the equilibrium andthis sets the tone for the rest of the picture. An encounter with arunaway slave, and the aftermath of said encounter, really puts aserrated edge on the plotting. Young men off to be brave and fight thegood fight, do they know what for? They then are surprised by publicresistance to their bravado, you see not everyone wants a war, lads.Cos we're fixin to shove that there General Grant and them blue belliedsoldiers of his-plum into Lake Erie.A pointless romantic interlude threatens to derail the picture, but themakers overcome it by dropping in some good action. A bar room brawl atMunroe is most enjoyable, and then once the guys find themselvesenlisted into the Pensacola Light Blues, with Beery Junior arriving andputting his mark on the picture, we move onto the horrors of war. Herewe lurch onto The Battle of Shiloh (AKA: Battle of Pittsburgh Landing)which is resplendent with artillery galore and much flinging around ofstunt men. It's well constructed but sadly too short in length. Filmedout of Agoura in California, the scenery is an extra bonus and anenjoyable character accompaniment as story unfolds.All told it's a mixed bag of a viewing, but the good far outweighs thebad to make this a sleeper of an Oater worth seeking out. While futurestars of film and TV taking tentative steps in the acting world alsoholds a high interest factor here. 7/10

scottspindoctor

12 May 2013

A good home sick from work movie

Journey To Shiloh is a good TV movie for when you're home sick from work;or, can't sleep in the middle of the night. It's a good story and movesquickly (too quickly, really, for it loses a lot of possibilities incharacter development). Still, the dialogue isn't that cheesy - and youdon't feel worse for having watched it.

11 May 2013

Ripe for a remake?

Somewhere in this 1968 civil war western there's a well-written and poignant story trying to get clear. Perhaps in the right hands, with a bigger budget, and a bit more running time, this could have been a minor classic. As it is, we've got the ex-TV producers of `Wagon Train' and `Laredo' casting a virtually unknown James Caan (in a very dodgy wig) leading a bunch of youngish stars-in waiting (including Harrison Ford) through a rather unevenly paced and episodic tale largely played out on the Universal backlot. The characters don't seem quite as young and innocent as the script suggests, nor are they developed enough for us to fully empathise with them before they meet their often abrupt ends. Once the widescreen titles are over, the DVD infuriatingly goes into full-frame. This loses the impact of some lovely sweeping scenery at the beginning, though as the film progresses; it gives way to lots of very obvious studio `exteriors'. The civil war battle scenes come courtesy of `Shenandoah' and are ill matched to the studio scenes. `Journey to Shiloh' is worth a look and its certainly a bit more ambitious than the other westerns that Universal was turning out in the late sixties. I'd like to see a remake done with a bit more sensitivity...

markgpl

10 May 2013

I Liked This Movie

I remember seeing this as a 16 year old back in 1968 and really enjoyedit.As I'm typing this, I'm watching it again on the history network andit's interesting to see the people in it and think about their careersover the last 36 year. A young James Caan wearing a silly looking "wig" - a very fresh facedJan Michael Vincent before he descended into the bottle and is now justa shadow of himself - Don Stroud, a great bad guy in a couple of ClintEastwood and a fellow named Michael Burns who was a big star back thenbut just seemed to drop off the face of the earth shortly afterIt was a good story about 7 young guys heading off to fight in theCivil War. A great song and good story - maybe not a classic but verywatchable..!!

06 May 2013

Great war picture focused on friendship.

Seven young friends set out to win the Civil war for the south only to find out there's no glory in war. Harrison Ford and other future big screen stars show early talent as they ride north to reach the war before it's over. Great human interest story and one of the best movie theme songs I've ever encountered. The acting may not be the best, but the movie will hold your attention throughout.

David

05 May 2013

Shiloh

I haven't actually seen this movie yet, but I noticed that nobody has written a review about it. So here's one.

Patrick Wayland

03 May 2013

Vietnam War + Black Civil Rights messages in one movie

I saw the very young Harrison Ford and had to watch this late 1960saction film about 7 friends from west Texas who are drawn into theirimagined adventure of joining the American Civil War and fighting forthe Confederate States (south). Harrison Ford probably has the fewestlines of the seven friends. What happens on the journey? Everythinggoes wrong. In fact, they do not make it to their destination,Virginia. Their ideals begin to drop off, along with their numbers,along the way as they see a runaway slave being hung from a tree. Theyencounter prejudices against them as they try to join upper-class partyin east Texas, dishonesty at a saloon gambling game in Louisiana, andthe bloody severity of war at The Battle of Shiloh.The strong premise about the destructiveness of war and civil rights isobvious, but offered up with a "teenage adventure" smile on the easy tocriticize setting of the South during the Civil War. This may have beenone of the earliest anti Vietnam War movies out of Hollywood and isworth watching to see how an anti-war message was beginning to come outof Hollywood. You can see the conflicting messages as The Green Beretswas made the same year.There are some historically accurate portrayals that are worth seeing,such as 2 different treatments of African-Americans - one had acomfortable life and another was lynched. Some of the battlefieldscenes looked like they were taken from another movie. And what happensto the main character at the end is a surprise, but keeps with thepremise.

johnboy1

03 May 2013

Not Especially true to history.....but enjoyable

This is one of those films that works because of the cast. It's fun towatch actors not well-suited to western films give it their best shot,and do well, despite that fact.Old timers like Noah Beery, Jr and John Doucette were used to thegenre, and add to the film greatly.Newcomers (at the time), like James Caan, Michael Sarrazin, Jan-MichaelVincent, Harrison Ford, and Robert Pine would all go on to betterthings, but they do well here, too. Added to the mix is a TV leftover,Paul Peterson, who's part is small, but well-done.It was obvious that the film was cast and made like it was because ofthe growing youth market (Wild In The Streets, Psych-Out, Savage Seven,and Chubasco, among others).I love this film very much, and wait patiently for a widescreen DVD tobe released. I can only hope I live long enough to see it happen.

Mozjoukine

01 May 2013

Neglected major work.

I had the impression that Universal pushed this out in Australia beforeanywhere else. They had no printing on it and I hadn't heard of thefilm when it hit the city grind house. The people I saw it with weregobsmacked.As JOURNEY TO SHILOH rolled on, we kept on seeing things that we hadn'tencountered in the thousands of westerns we'd seen run through thissystem - the gamblers with identical pistols under the table, pointedat the kid, the Southern blacks urging the Confederate troops on andthe way the plot gets stuck into fatuity of gung ho youngsters rushinginto the military. It took a long while to get from here to BORN ON THE4TH OF JULY.It also ran to some nice pieces of dialogue - the saloon hoons tellingthe kids they should have scraped the meat off their leather jackets.I thought William Hale was going to be a major player, saw his shortsGRAND CENTRAL MARKET and THE TOWERS and contacted him, learning thatthe dodgy stock footage was forced on the production by the producer,who Hale thought wanted to impose bogus scale on it.The bonus is that all those faceless juveniles turned into movie starsand one of them stayed one.This one surfaced the same time as Wadja's POPIOLI/ ASHES, which alsodeals with young men going to war. Hale's film was not outclassed.

joekmarine

01 May 2013

Good Movie

I haven't seen this movie for years. However, I remember it was a goodflick. I think the first time i ever saw it was in a Drive in (yeah,todays Multiplex theaters are nice, but drive ins were great. One nightI stayed up till 2 am to watch it when it was on TV. Entertaining,James Caan and Harrison Ford. Nice little plot and a wonderful storyabout brotherhood and friendship. I wish it were on DVD or video. It ismore of a western than a Civil War movie, but still good. It may havebeen one of Noah Berry's last movies. If you haven;t seen it, figureout when it will be on TV again and watch it. You will be surprised. Ithas some good, but quick gunfights and some nice action.

Robert J. Maxwell

30 April 2013

Dont Make No Nevermind.

A handful of Texas cowboys make the journey a thousand miles east tofight at the Battle of Shiloh. They're a varied lot. The most mature ofthe bunch is James Caan who has an easy smile, a cowboy hat with awhite feather sticking out of the band, and he always says "Yes, sir,"and "No, Ma'am." There is some talk of who is the fastest gun. There isthe occasional outbreak of some abrasive feelings in the group but onthe whole they're a good old bunch.I found it predictable, unimaginative, and boring. The men wear thelong, carefully groomed styles of long hair found among the hep cats of1968. The women folk have long hair too, and even longer eyelashes,some as long as the marquees that stretch out over the lawn at a fancyoutdoor wedding. A good thing there was no wind. I winced when thecharacter said over a man dying of a gunshot, "Get that preacher inhere. He purely could use some readin' over." The script defies anything resembling credibility. During a stop overin a small town, Caan meets the uber-yummy Brenda Scott, whopractically salivates over him and invites him to stay with herovernight because she ain't never met nobody as nice as him before.This happens to me all the time, but I have this cloud of pheromones Icarry around with me and it's clear James Caan doesn't. It's true. Abeautiful woman once fainted while walking past me in Julius's in theVillage before it went gay. Couldn't take my molten hotness, I guess.I have a good deal of respect for hastily assembled and inexpensiveWesterns but this one has no poetry. You know what this movie wouldhave been good for? You take your girl to the drive in movie theater in1968 Sweetwater, Texas, and then you turn down the volume, roll up thewindows, and roll around in the back seat until the windows are allfogged up. Once having gotten that out of the way, you clamber backinto the front seat, turn the volume back up, and doze off. But you canonly do that if you're under twenty-one.

jcohen1

29 April 2013

Journey to Stardom

James Caan is the star of this interesting but far from great movie.Off his role in El Dorado with the Duke & Mitchum I suppose he earnedthe role as chief Buck. It's a film about the loss of youth and growthinto manhood. It's unclear just how experienced Caan is, particularlywith the ladies, but clearly he is capable of Caaning his way into thebest bed in Shreveport. The love scenes are handled with moreromanticism and yes love, than you'd expect in a near B film.The film does seem to reflect the unhappiness and questioning of thethen ongoing Viet Nam war, yet our band of 7 from Texas for the main,soldier on until death accomplishing nothing but filling their duty andbeing honorable men. They come to question slavery and therefore thebasis of the war but aren't able to do anything about it. In that sensethe film is believable. I like Caan's performance although not hishaircut. He is the strong, silent type but with plenty of charm.It's his movie and he does alright. A great cast of actors not yet attheir peak.

Jason E. Brown

28 April 2013

Not all that bad.

This movie leaves a lot to be desired by history buffs. As it does notexactly follow the true story of the Battle of Shiloh, Pittsburgh Landingtoyou real Yankees. But, inspite of that it is an interesting film. It iswell worth watching if you enjoy any of the other westerns from this era.It is also worth it to see the actors that are in it before they becamebigstars. The first time I saw it, I missed the beginning and didn't knowwhoanyone was until the end!

elskootero

28 April 2013

A Fantastic Sleeper! Youll LOVE it!

This film may be as flawed historically as it can be, but it is wellacted and very believable and the story-line is great! The one BIG flawin it is that all of the rifles are 1879 Trapdoor Springfields, whichof course weren't made until 15 years AFTER the end of the war, butother than that, it is a very good film, and as I said, the story line,especially the ending, is very nice. A film well worth seeing, if itcomes on cable or network TV.A GOOF- Watch for the scene where Paul Petersen's character wants toleave the group, and he confronts James Caan. He pulls out an 1873 ColtRevolver-you can tell by the side-unloading gate- Only problem was thatthis pistol wasn't invented until 1873, and the movie takes place in1861-He should be using a cap & Ball revolver.

biomnc

26 April 2013

I love this movie! Trying to find.

It is a shame more people will not see this movie. From what I can findout, it has never been released for home viewing. Regardless that theweapons they used were not made until after the Civil War, I would nothave known this if I had not read others comments. Its kinda likelearning the secrets of magic, it just doesn't matter, you still enjoywatching. Nothing in this movie could be less real than any movie aboutCuster being a hero! Anyone interested in movies about how bad we didthe Indians needs to see "I Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee". What ashame.If anyone has any luck finding "Journey to Shiloh" on video or DVD, Iwould appreciate them contacting me.da23mj@hotmail.com Thank-you

Van Roberts

25 April 2013

The Un-Magnificent Seven!

"Gunfight in Abilene" director William Hale's "Journey to Shiloh"qualifies as a fair to middling anti-war western set during the dawn ofthe American Civil War. "Star Trek" writer Gene L. Coon runs theprotagonists through a gauntlet of predicaments that reveal theirnaivety. Furthermore, he relies on a healthy dosage of literary ironyto score points for this downbeat oater. "Laredo" producer HowardChristie, however, missed the mark with "Journey to Shiloh." The heroesare cannon fodder and Hale doesn't depict them in any remotelymemorable way.Buck Burnett (James Caan of "The Killer Elite") leads six wild andwoolly lads from West Texas eager to get into the fighting. MillerNails (Michael Sarrazin of "The Film-Flam Man"),Todo McLean (Don Stroudof "Joe Kidd"), J.C. Sutton (Paul Peterson), Eubie Bell (Michael Burnsof "The Raiders"), Little Bit (Jan-Michael Vincent of "Airwolf"), andWillie Bill Bearden (Harrison Ford of "Raiders of the Lost Ark) ridetogether with Buck as their self-appointed captain. These well-meaningfellows are clueless about the Civil War and its causes. They've neverlaid eyes on an African-American slave, and they've never seen a Yankeesoldier. Nevertheless, they are determined to get to Richmond,Virginia, to join Confederate General John Bell Hood and his celebratedTexas Brigade. Like the tragic, message-laden adventure it is, ourheroes are destined to have their dreams shattered. By the time thateverything is over, only one survives, and he loses a limb. Our heroesdo get to participate in the historic battle of Shiloh that appears toconsist largely of stock footage borrowed from Andrew V. McLagen's"Shenandoah." The cast is strong with a couple of future stars in theranks, chiefly Harrison Ford and Jan-Michael Vincent. Veteran heavyJohn Doucette is hopelessly miscast as the martinet Confederate GeneralBraxton Bragg, while the ever dependable Noah Beery Jr., plays a savvyCSA sergeant.Essentially, this Civil War western is a tale initiation. It doesn'ttake long for everything to go literally South for our protagonists.After they wear their horses out, they sell them to get tickets to ridethe stagecoach. They encounter a runaway slave (Albert Popwell of"Dirty Harry") and they are appalled at the treatment he receivesbecause they were obeying the local laws. Indeed, "Journey to Shiloh"exploits this opportunity to impunge Southern racial intolerance andshow how naive our heroes are about slavery. Popwell attained fame asthe black bank robber that Inspector Callahan pulled his Magnum 44 onin "Dirty Harry" and gave his lecture about his gun. Between the timethat these footloose hellions—experts with horses—pull up stakes fromWest Texas and head out for Mississippi, they tangle with crookedgamblers in Shreveport, take on the entire southern army in a saloonbrawl with a loud-mouthed corporal (Bing Russell of "The MagnificentSeven") and eventually get to Corinth wearing Confederate grayuniforms.Scenarist Gene L. Coon and Hale carefully avoid presenting theConfederacy in a derogatory light. Instead, they give the antebellumslave-owning Southerners a black eye. The wealthy, upper-class,plantation-owning Southerners refuse to let our heroes participate at acotillion because Burnett and company look, smell, and act likeruffians. In reality, Burnett and his followers are just a bunch ofignorant, unwashed fools that should have stayed in West Texas. Nothinggood comes from their act of volunteering to join the Confederacy. Thecomparison between "Journey to Shiloh" and West Germany anti-Nazi movie"The Bridge" is appropriate. Actually, "The Bridge" was better.However, the convention of all Nazi World War II movies is that theenemy kill their own, and "Journey to Shiloh" replicates this with theConfederacy. The Caan hero is shot by his own Army. This smattering ofirony enhances the plot but not enough to overlook its numerous flaws.Universal Studios filmed this western on their back lot so none of thescenery appears authentic. James Caan looks miscast with long hair.Harrison Ford gives a good account of himself while Jan Michael Vincentoozes youthful vibrancy."Journey to Shiloh" ranks as nothing memorable, just a polishedpotboiler with a little sizzle to it. The story is relentlesslydepressing without any sense of poignancy. The dream of joining theConfederacy becomes a nightmare. Worse, some of our heroes perish offcamera, such as Willie Bill, so we don't see their valiant deaths. Theballad is atrociously corny, too. As far as American Civil War moviesgo, "Journey to Shiloh" doesn't belong in the same league with "TheGood, the Bad, and the Ugly" or "Gods & Generals."

sat46

25 April 2013

Unusual War Flick

I believe this movie was made to be bad on purpose. The Vietnam War anunmentionable except for the John Wayne, feel good about war flick, the"Green Berets". This terrible western had seven dumb and dumber youngTexansgo of to play soldiers in the God awful killing fields of the Civil War.They find that war to be just that, and anything but an heroic adventure.Itsays war is not a kids game, not back then and more importantly, not now.The film shows what an old fashion heroes film might have said if it wereashonest. This is perhaps the most misunderstood film ever made. Most peoplethought it was just a piece of silly junk. I think the author wanted itthat way, so his anti-war theme was told, while no one was any the wiser toit, but a young targeted audience. It had a message folks, it really did.Noheroes, only death and pain paid in full for nothing, sheep to theslaughtertheme. "Brilliant" Amen

charliemc-slash

24 April 2013

A movie that spoke to the youth of a nation at war -- about the waste of war

I literally hadn't seen this film since my teenage years (when itoriginally aired) until now (2006), when it replayed on cable TV. Themain cast included some of the most popular young actors of that time(the late 60's) -- and though the acting, direction and script aren'tthe finest work you'll ever see, it spoke to the youth of that day.The United States was fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam -- and thisfilm focused on the confusion and waste that surrounded the Civil War.The result was to create a direct parallel between that historical warand the (then) current situation. And believe me, we got it! The deathsof six of the seven young men who went to war was found tragic by theaudience -- who immediately compared it to deaths of friends andfamily.My sister and I just reflected on how popular the theme of desertionwas in the 60's and 70's -- while men ran to Canada to avoid the draft.It seems odd now to watch a Civil War film where the protagonistdeserts, but it was perfect in 1968! An interesting movie that'scertainly worth seeing -- it features a young (pre-Godfather) JamesCaan. And another then unknown young actor by the name of HarrisonFord!