Best movie of this year hands down!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

"Friendly Persuasion" deserves every accolade IMDb reviewers have heaped upon it. Wyler and all associated with this film demonstrate what fine work Hollywood can do--absolutely no doubt about that. So, why isn't it more well known and iconic? A possible answer lies in the utter blandness of the title: it has all the intrigue of "Pillow Talk"--too easily passed over when looking for something gratifying to view. Wyler's film is excellent on so many levels; therefore, it should have an excellent title. Why not "Crisis Point" or "Torn Soul" or "Thine Trials"? This is not to say that those titles are excellent, but they're better than "Friendly Persuasion".What if "Ben-Hur" had been titled "Unfriendly Friends"?

A surprisingly challenging film about what happens when devoutness to a religion collides with the realities of the world.Dorothy Maguire is the Quaker mother who wants to do the thinking for her young adult children, misguidedly wanting to prevent temptations from entering their lives rather than equipping them to deal with them when they do. Gary Cooper is the more reasonable father who doesn't see why pleasure and religious faith have to be mutually exclusive. Then a little thing called the Civil War directly affects them, and they have to decide when to stick to their beliefs and when to modify them for something bigger than themselves.Overall the movie is still a little light for my tastes and doesn't flesh out these questions as complexly as I might have preferred. But still, I was expecting a cornball, wholesome family film and so was pleasantly surprised by what I got instead."Friendly Persuasion" garnered six Academy Award nominations but won none: Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Perkins), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song (warbled by Pat Boone), and Best Sound Recording.Grade: A-

This film is simply one of the great classics of cinema. Who would have thought that Allied Artists, spun off from tiny Monogram, could produce a film of such magnificence and beauty. Gary Cooper and especially Dorothy McGuire create beautiful characterizations as the Birdwells. Anthony Perkins, in one of his first roles, is swell as the young Quaker torn between his beliefs and his conscience. Marjorie Main and her three spinster daughters will have you howling with laughter. Even Samantha the goose is more than competent in her part. The photography, in color by DeLuxe, is simply gorgeous and the music by Dimitri Tiomkin is lovely. Here is a picture where sex obviously takes place, and yet it is not thrown in your face with explicit scenes. This is a beautiful, gentle film which bears repeat viewings. On the DVD there is an interesting extract from the NBC TV series "Wide, Wide World" which digs into the behind the scenes particulars of this filming. An enriching experience.

Quakers in 1862 southern Indiana are caught up in the great Civil War. This is a film of emotional, psychological and religious conflict upon the members of Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire, both of whom give splendid performances. This was certainly McGuire's best performance since 1947's "Gentleman's Agreement," and Cooper seems like he is right at home with his conflict of whether to fight or remain a pacifist. We saw the same conflict with him in his Oscar-winning performance 15 years earlier in "Sergeant York."Amazed that Anthony Perkins received a supporting nomination for his work as the conflicted son. Perkins would go on to much better performances in "Tall Story," and "Fear Strikes Out."The cinematography is grandiose or magnificent style. Surprising, Pat Boone's rendition of For Thee I Know did not work with Oscar voters who chose Que Sera Sera as the best song of 1956.Marjorie Main offers definite comic relief as one of Cooper's customers.The film of definite moral convictions showed from the beginning that there were cracks in the intense religious faith of this Quaker family.