Editing Friendly Persuasion (1956 film)

{{short description|1956 film by William Wyler}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Friendly Persuasion
| image          = Poster - Friendly Persuasion 01.jpg
| caption        = Poster
| director       = [[William Wyler]]
| producer       = William Wyler
| screenplay     = [[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]]
| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[The Friendly Persuasion]]''<br>1945 novel|[[Jessamyn West (writer)|Jessamyn West]]}}
| starring       = [[Gary Cooper]]<br>[[Dorothy McGuire]]<br>[[Anthony Perkins]]<br>[[Richard Eyer]]<br>[[Robert Middleton]]<br>[[Phyllis Love]]<br>[[Mark Richman]]<br>[[Walter Catlett]]<br>[[Marjorie Main]]
| cinematography = [[Ellsworth Fredericks]]
| music          = [[Dimitri Tiomkin]]
| editing        = [[Robert Swink]]<br>[[Edward A. Biery]]<br>Robert Belcher
| studio         = William Wyler Productions<br>[[Allied Artists Pictures Corporation]]
| distributor    = Allied Artists (USA)<br>[[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (foreign)
| released       = {{Film date|1956|11|25}}
| runtime        = 137 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $3 million<ref name="variety"/><ref>Ballio, Tino (1987). ''United Artists: the company that changed the film industry'', page 164. [[The University of Wisconsin Press]], [[Madison, Wisconsin]]. {{ISBN|0-299-11440-6}}. Retrieved April 21, 2011.</ref>
| gross          = $8 million (as of 1960)<ref name="tcm"/><br>3,051,784 admissions (France)<ref>[https://www-boxofficestory-com.translate.goog/box-office-anthony-perkins-c25019338?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_sch=http Box office for Anthony Perkins in France] at Box Office Story</ref>
}}
'''''Friendly Persuasion'''''  is a 1956 [[American Civil War]] [[drama (film and television)|drama film]] produced and directed by [[William Wyler]]. It stars [[Gary Cooper]], [[Dorothy McGuire]], [[Anthony Perkins]], [[Richard Eyer]], [[Robert Middleton]], [[Phyllis Love]], [[Mark Richman]], [[Walter Catlett]] and [[Marjorie Main]]. The screenplay by [[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]] was adapted from the 1945 novel ''[[The Friendly Persuasion]]'' by [[Jessamyn West (writer)|Jessamyn West]]. The movie tells the story of a [[Quakers|Quaker]] family in southern [[Indiana]] during the [[American Civil War]] and the way the war tests their [[Pacifism|pacifist]] beliefs.

The film received positive reviews, praised for its performances, but faced some criticism for inaccuracies in portraying Quaker views. It earned $4 million at the box office, won the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and received six [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]. Michael Wilson, the screenwriter, was initially [[Credit (creative arts)|uncredited]] due to being on the [[Hollywood blacklist]] but was later restored in 1996.<ref name="variety" />

[[Ronald Reagan]] gifted the film to [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], symbolizing the pursuit of peaceful solutions to conflicts.

==Plot==
In [[Jennings County, Indiana]], in 1862, Jess Birdwell is a farmer and patriarch of the Birdwell family whose Quaker religion conflicts with his love for the worldly enjoyments of music and horse racing. Jess's wife Eliza, a Quaker minister, is deeply religious and steadfast in her refusal to engage in violence. Jess's daughter Mattie wants to remain a Quaker but has fallen in love with [[cavalry]] officer Gard Jordan, a love that is against her mother's wishes. Jess's elder son Josh is torn between his hatred of violence and a conviction that to protect his family he must join the home guard and fight the invaders. The family's youngest member is "Little" Jess, who is forever at war with his mother's pet [[goose]]. Enoch, a [[Fugitive slaves in the United States|runaway slave]], is a laborer on their farm; his children are still enslaved in the South.

The story begins as a tale of Quakers trying to maintain their faith as they go to meeting on First Day (Sunday); contrasted with the Birdwells' neighbor Sam Jordan and other members of the nearby Methodist Church. The mood shifts when the meeting is interrupted by a Union officer who asks how the Quaker men can stand by when their houses will be looted and their families terrorized by approaching [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troops. When confronted with the question of his being afraid to fight, Josh Birdwell responds that it might be the case. His honesty provokes the wrath of Purdy, a Quaker elder who condemns people who do not believe as he does.

Meanwhile, the Quakers try to maintain their ways, despite the temptations of amusements at a county fair, and a new organ (which Jess buys over Eliza's opposition). On a business trip, Jess acquires a new horse from the widow Hudspeth, and defeats Sam in their weekly horse race.  One day, Jess is cultivating his fields and notices a cloud of smoke on the horizon produced by the burning of buildings. Josh arrives and tells them the neighboring community has been reduced to ash and corpses. Josh believes that he must fight, a conviction that threatens to destroy the family. Eliza tells him that by turning his back on their religion he is turning his back on her, but Jess sees things a different way. Josh finds himself on the front line of the battle to stop the advance of the raiders, and only fires his gun when the man next to him is wounded. Meanwhile, Jess is reluctant to fight, only picking up a rifle and riding off towards the fighting when the family horse gallops back to the farm riderless.

When Confederates arrive at the farm, with only Eliza and the younger children present, the family and the farm are saved when Eliza greets them on the porch and welcomes them to take all the food and animals they want and feeds them in their kitchen.  As Jess finds Sam Jordan dying he is bushwhacked by a "Reb". He plays possum and when the Confederate soldier approaches he struggles with him and takes away his gun, but ultimately lets him go free and unhurt. He then finds Josh injured and brings him home.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Gary Cooper]] as Jess Birdwell
* [[Dorothy McGuire]] as Eliza Birdwell
* [[Anthony Perkins]] as Joshua "Josh" Birdwell
* [[Marjorie Main]] as the widow Hudspeth
* [[Richard Eyer]] as Little Jess Birdwell
* [[Robert Middleton]] as Sam Jordan
* [[Phyllis Love]] as Martha True "Mattie" Birdwell
* [[Peter Mark Richman]] as Gardner "Gard" Jordan (credited as Mark Richman)
* [[Walter Catlett]] as Professor Quigley
* [[Richard Hale]] as Purdy
* [[Joel Fluellen]] as Enoch
* [[Theodore Newton (actor)|Theodore Newton]] as Major Harvey
* [[John Smith (actor)|John Smith]] as Caleb Cope
* [[Edna Skinner]] as Opal Hudspeth 
* Marjorie Durant as Pearl Hudspeth
* Frances Farwell as Ruby Hudspeth
* [[Tom London]] as Farmer on Front Line with Gard (uncredited)
* [[James Dobson (actor)|James Dobson]] as Rebel soldier (uncredited)
{{div col end}}

==Production==
The film was in development for eight years; producer-director [[William Wyler]] brought the project to [[Allied Artists Pictures Corporation]] (formerly known as Monogram Pictures Corporation) from [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]; Allied agreed to a $1.5 million budget for what was Wyler's first film in color for a commercial studio.  Wyler had previously shot two documentaries in color in 1944, ''[[The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress]]'' and the uncredited ''[[The Fighting Lady]]''.<ref>{{IMDb title|0036152|The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0036823|The Fighting Lady (1944)}}</ref> In 1947, he shot the documentary, ''[[Thunderbolt (1947 film)|Thunderbolt]]'', in color.<ref>{{IMDb title|0038171|Thunderbolt (1947)}}</ref>

The film's shooting location was moved from southern Indiana to a combination of a [[Republic Pictures|Republic studio]] and a San Fernando Valley estate,<ref name="tcm"/> The film ended up costing over $3 million.<ref name="variety">{{cite magazine| title= Friendly Persuasion | url= https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117791127/| year = 1956  | magazine= Variety | access-date= October 6, 2011}}</ref> The film went over budget to the point that Allied sold the foreign distribution rights to [[MGM]] to raise more funds.<ref>Mirisch, pp. 80–81</ref>

[[Jessamyn West (writer)|Jessamyn West]] spent a year with the production as both story writer and as technical adviser (credited). Her novel covered a forty-year span of the Birdwell family history and was essentially plotless, so to make the movie effective, she arranged the sequences selected for filming around the Civil War vignette from the novel (altering it significantly for dramatic action) and compressed the whole into a single year, 1862, using the war as the central plot conflict. She created new characters (primarily the Jordans) to fill in for others that had to be deleted, and entirely wrote out Laban, the second eldest son in the novel, substituting a new character, Josh's friend Caleb Cope ([[John Smith (actor)|John Smith]]), as a two-scene surrogate. The character Mattie was a composite of the two surviving Birdwell daughters in the novel. Wyler wanted his brother, associate producer [[Robert Wyler]], and author Jessamyn West to receive credit for rewriting the script (also including Wilson), but the [[Writers Guild of America|WGA]] ruled that Wilson deserved sole credit for his screenplay.

Cooper expressed initial reservations to West about his character, noting that since in his previous roles "'action seems to come natural to me,' the father should be shown joining the fight. 'There comes a time in a picture of mine when the people watching expect me to do something,' he said. West responded he would do something: 'Refrain. You will furnish your public with the refreshing picture of a strong man refraining.'"<ref name="tcm"/> Cooper followed West's advice.  He researched his role by attending West's Quaker meeting, East Whittier Friends Church.  Cooper had not wanted to play the father of grown-up children, although he was 55 in real life. He supposedly disliked the finished film and his own performance.

Dorothy McGuire was cast as Cooper's wife after Wyler's choice, [[Katharine Hepburn]], declined.<ref>Mirisch, p. 80</ref> It was Perkins' second film, after his debut in the 1953 film ''[[The Actress]]''; his Broadway success with ''[[Tea and Sympathy (play)|Tea and Sympathy]]'' in the meantime tempted him to remain on the stage, though ultimately he decided to do the film.<ref name="tcm"/>

During production, cameras for the television documentary series ''[[Wide Wide World]]'' visited the set. According to show host [[Dave Garroway]], it was the first live broadcast from a movie set.<ref>''Wide Wide World'', episode 4 (1955). Via ''Friendly Persuasion'' DVD, [[Warner Home Video]] (2001). Event occurs at 0:45.</ref>

==Reception==
According to [[Bosley Crowther]], "[[Thou#Religious uses|thee]] should be pleasured by this film", noting it is "loaded with sweetness and warmth and as much cracker-barrel [[Americana (culture)|Americana]] as has been spread on the screen in some time."  Crowther called Cooper and McGuire "wonderfully spirited and compassionate in their finely complementary roles" and said a "great deal of admiration must go to Anthony Perkins" for making "the older son of the Birdwells a handsome, intense, and chivalrous lad."<ref>{{cite news| title= Friendly Persuasion | url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1738E265BC4A53DFB767838D649EDE | date= November 2, 1956 | first= Bosley |last=Crowther | author-link=Bosley Crowther | newspaper= The New York Times | access-date= October 6, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine called it "the simple story of a Quaker family in Indiana back in the 1860s" with "just about everything in the way of comedy and drama, suspense and action"; they also said "figuring importantly in the way the picture plays is [[Dimitri Tiomkin]]'s conducting of his own [[film score|score]]."<ref name="variety"/>

The film earned $4 million at the North American box office in 1956.<ref>'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1956', ''Variety Weekly'', January 2, 1957</ref> However it struggled to make a profit because of its high cost.<ref>{{cite magazine|title='Friendly' virile b.o.|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety205-1957-02/page/n74/mode/1up?|access-date=August 9, 2024|date=February 13, 1957|page=13}}</ref>

MGM distributed outside the US and Canada. According to their records the film made $732,000, earning the studio a profit of $582,000.<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>

The film also received mild criticism for certain inaccurate portrayals of Quaker views, such as a misunderstanding that although Quakers disliked programmed music they did value individual original expressions of it; and in meetings, Bible passages are not read verbatim but speakers recite scripture from memory and express its meaning in their own words.<ref>{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Richard B.|title=Quakers/Friendly Persuasion|url=http://en.allexperts.com/q/Quakers-1550/Friendly-Persuasion.htm|work=AllExperts|access-date=February 9, 2013|date=August 22, 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427163457/http://en.allexperts.com/q/Quakers-1550/Friendly-Persuasion.htm|archive-date=April 27, 2010}}</ref>

==Connection with House Un-American Activities Committee testimony==
The original screenplay by [[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]] was changed significantly in the wake of [[McCarthyism]]. The movie script was discussed in 1951 by [[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]] in his testimony as an "unfriendly witness" at the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC), and by director [[Frank Capra]], who was seeking to dissociate himself from Wilson, who was ultimately placed on the [[Hollywood blacklist]].

Capra, who had originally contracted Wilson to write the screenplay just after the war but then dropped the project, said that although he thought Wilson did "a swell job" adapting West's book, the movie was not produced because he felt "it would be a bad time to produce a picture that might be construed as being antiwar. But we let Wilson work on it until he had finished with it."<ref name="McBride">{{cite news|last=McBride|first=Joseph|title="A Very Good American" The undaunted artistry of blacklisted screenwriter Michael Wilson|url=http://marlowesghost.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Microsoft_Word_-A_Very_Good_American.5371929.pdf|access-date=February 9, 2013|newspaper=Written By Joseph McBride|date=February 2002}}{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Wilson told HUAC in 1951, "I feel that this committee might take the credit, or part of it at least, for the fact that ''The Friendly Persuasion'' was not produced, in view of the fact that it dealt warmly, in my opinion, with a peace-loving people."<ref name="McBride"/>

"What happened to Wilson's pacifist script after Capra dropped it," notes film historian Joseph McBride, "reflected the political climate of the Cold War. When William Wyler directed the film for Allied Artists in 1956 as ''Friendly Persuasion'', he had the story changed to make the Quaker youth (played by Anthony Perkins) become a killer. The Quakers in Wyler's version, as [[Pauline Kael]] observed, 'are there only to violate their convictions.' But some of the strength of Wilson's conception remains, as in a scene of a crippled Union Army officer respectfully challenging the steadfast Quakers about pacifism in their meeting house."<ref>{{cite news|last=McBride|first=Joseph|title="A Very Good American" The undaunted artistry of blacklisted screenwriter Michael Wilson|url=http://marlowesghost.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Microsoft_Word_-_A_Very_Good_American.5371929.pdf|access-date=February 9, 2013|newspaper=Written By Joseph McBride|date=February 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627000031/http://marlowesghost.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Microsoft_Word_-_A_Very_Good_American.5371929.pdf|archive-date=June 27, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Ronald Reagan==
''Friendly Persuasion'' also became a footnote to world history in the 1980s when [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] made a gift of the film to [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet]] [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|general secretary]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] at one of their five [[List of Soviet Union–United States summits#Cold War (1985–1991)|summit meetings]], suggesting that he view the film as symbolic of the need to find an alternative to war as a means of resolving differences between peoples.  One Quaker commentator stated: "''Friendly Persuasion'' seems to me to come about as close to truth and fairness as I expect to see Hollywood get in a treatment of Quakerism; I recommend it to every Quaker parent, as projecting images their children ought to see and imitate...I believe (critics have) woefully misjudged the film, on several counts: its place in American cinema, the characters and their roles, its historicity, and, not least, its value as an expression of the Peace Testimony. Here, for perhaps the only time, I think Ronald Reagan was closer to the truth when he commended the film to Gorbachev because it 'shows not the tragedy of war, but the problems of pacifism, the nobility of patriotism as well as the love of peace.'"<ref>{{cite web|last=Fager|first=Chuck|title=Filming the Reputation of Truth: Quakers in the Movies|url=http://www.afriendlyletter.com/afl122.html|work=A Friendly Letter|access-date=February 10, 2013|year=1991|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520133914/http://www.afriendlyletter.com/afl122.html|archive-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
A week before the year's Oscar nominations were announced, the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|AMPAS]] Board of Governors introduced a rule denying an Oscar to anyone who refused to talk to a [[United States congressional committee]]. The [[Writers Guild of America]] protested the new rule and awarded [[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]] the [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama|Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama]].<ref name="tcm"/>

At the [[29th Academy Awards]], ''Friendly Persuasion'' was nominated for 6 awards. Michael Wilson's name could not appear on the ballot because he was [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ohio.com/the330entertainment/heldenfels/mailbag-screenwriting-saga-dexter-s-return-mccarthys-mixed-1.310644 |title=Mailbag: Screenwriting saga, Dexter's return, McCarthys mixed |last=Heldenfels |first=Rich |work=[[Akron Beacon-Journal]] |date=May 31, 2012 |access-date=June 1, 2012 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="6"| [[29th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Motion Picture]]
| rowspan="2"| [[William Wyler]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="6"| <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957 |title=The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=August 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706094056/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/29th-winners.html |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[Anthony Perkins]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Adapted]]
| [[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]]<ref name="variety"/>
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Song]]
| "[[Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)]]" <br> Music by [[Dimitri Tiomkin]]; <br> Lyrics by [[Paul Francis Webster]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound Recording]]
| [[Gordon R. Glennan]] and [[Gordon E. Sawyer]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[1957 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]]
| [[Palme d'Or]]
| rowspan="2"| William Wyler
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3536/year/1957.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Friendly Persuasion |access-date=February 8, 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>
|-
| [[9th Directors Guild of America Awards|Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1950s/1956.aspx?value=1956 |title=9th Annual DGA Awards |publisher=[[Directors Guild of America Awards]] |access-date=November 27, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="4"| [[14th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| [[Gary Cooper]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="4"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldenglobes.com/film/friendly-persuasion/ |title=Friendly Persuasion |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=November 27, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
| [[Marjorie Main]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor|Most Promising Newcomer – Male]]
| Anthony Perkins
| {{won}}
|-
| colspan="2"| Best Film Promoting International Understanding
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[National Board of Review Awards 1956|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|5th Place}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1956/ |title=1956 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=November 27, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| [[Dorothy McGuire]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[9th Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama|Best Written American Drama]]
| Michael Wilson
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |title=Awards Winners |publisher=[[Writers Guild of America Awards]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |archive-date=December 5, 2012 |access-date=June 6, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

The film is recognized by [[American Film Institute]] in these lists:
* 2004: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs]]:
** "[[Friendly Persuasion (song)|Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)]]" – Nominated<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/songs400.pdf |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees |access-date=August 6, 2016 |archive-date=April 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417023552/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/songs400.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 2005: [[AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores]] – Nominated<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/scores250.pdf |title=AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores Nominees |access-date=August 6, 2016 |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706070523/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/scores250.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Other adaptations==
[[Friendly Persuasion (1975 film)|Another adaptation]] of the novel was made for [[television]] in 1975, starring [[Richard Kiley]], [[Shirley Knight]], [[Clifton James]] and [[Michael O'Keefe]].  It was adapted by [[William P. Wood]] and directed by [[Joseph Sargent]].  This version also included material from [[Jessamyn West (writer)|Jessamyn West]]'s sequel novel, ''Except For Thee and Me''.

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1956]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="tcm">{{cite web| title= Friendly Persuasion (1956) | url= https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/88150 | work= 150th Anniversary of the Civil War | first= Rob |last=Nixon| publisher= Turner Classic Movies | access-date= October 6, 2011}}</ref> '
}}

==Further reading==
{{wikiquote}}
* Mirisch, Walter (2008). ''I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History''. [[University of Wisconsin Press]], [[Madison, Wisconsin]]. {{ISBN|0-299-22640-9}}.

==External links==
{{commons category|Friendly Persuasion}}
* {{IMDb title|0049233}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/friendly-persuasion-am17988 ''Friendly Persuasion'' at AllMovie]
* {{TCMDb title|16760}}
* {{AFI film|51836}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|friendly_persuasion}}

{{William Wyler}}
{{Palme d'Or 1939-1959}}

[[Category:1956 films]]
[[Category:1956 drama films]]
[[Category:Allied Artists films]]
[[Category:American Civil War films]]
[[Category:Anti-war films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin]]
[[Category:Films about Christianity]]
[[Category:Films about Quakers]]
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by William Wyler]]
[[Category:Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Michael Wilson (writer)]]
[[Category:Films set in Indiana]]
[[Category:Films set in 1862]]
[[Category:1950s political drama films]]
[[Category:1950s war drama films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:English-language war drama films]]