Shenandoah James Stewart 2007 DVD Top-quality Free UK shipping

Classic civil war drama set in 1863, starring James Stewart as Charlie Anderson, a wealthy farmer in Virginia who has hitherto steadfastly refused to take any part in the war that is raging around him. But the war inevitably ensnares him through a series of family tragedies that includes his youngest son (Philip Alford) being taken prisoner by the Unionists and charged with spying, his son James (Patrick Wayne) and daughter-in-law Ann (Katharine Ross) being murdered by a gang of looters, and the death of his eldest son Jacob (Glenn Corbett). Meanwhile his daughter, Jannie (Rosemary Forsyth) falls in love with a Confederate soldier, Sam (Doug McClure). Despite the tragedies that punctuate the film, it carries strong and hopeful anti-war and pro-family messages, particularly in the sentimental finale which shows the Anderson family prevailing against all the odds, and the screenplay has since been successfully adapted into a Broadway musical by the same name.
Shenandoah, a film well-liked in its day, recalls Friendly Persuasion and foreshadows The Patriot as it tells of an American clan traumatised by war on native soil. Virginia farmer James Stewart has never owned slaves, owes allegiance to no one beyond his own kin, and adamantly disregards the North-South strife rumbling just over the hill: “This war is not mine and I take no note of it.” That changes when youngest son Philip Alford (To Kill a Mockingbird’s Jem) is carried off by Yankees, and the family must ride out to reclaim him. Shenandoah has several affecting moments–notably a homefront atrocity–but much of it is lit and played like a television show. Script and direction are formulaic, Stewart falls back on cozy shtick, and the supporting cast is a collection of bland studio contract players. As the closing credit says: “filmed entirely at Universal City.”