Shenandoah

"Two mighty armies trampled its valley... A fighting family challenged them both!"

1965 1h 45m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 166

WesternWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Charlie Anderson, a farmer in Shenandoah, Virginia, finds himself and his family in the middle of the Civil War he wants nothing to do with. When his youngest boy is taken prisoner by the North, the Civil War is forced upon him.

“Two mighty armies trampled its valley... A fighting family challenged them both!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

James Stewart
Charlie Anderson
Doug McClure
Lt. Sam
Glenn Corbett
Jacob Anderson
Patrick Wayne
James Anderson
Rosemary Forsyth
Jennie Anderson
Phillip Alford
Boy Anderson
Katharine Ross
Mrs. Ann Anderson
Jim McMullan
John Anderson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writers: James Lee Barrett
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

61 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, shot by William H. Clothier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Frank Skinner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Otho Lovering shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

James Stewart and Doug McClure and Glenn Corbett carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Two mighty armies trampled its valley... A fighting family challenged them both!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0059711 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Andrew V. McLaglen directs. William H. Clothier behind the camera. Frank Skinner scores. Otho Lovering cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

161 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, shot by William H. Clothier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Frank Skinner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Otho Lovering shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5James Stewart and Doug McClure and Glenn Corbett carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Two mighty armies trampled its valley... A fighting family challenged them both!".
7IMDB entry: tt0059711 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: William H. Clothier
Original score: Frank Skinner
Editing: Otho Lovering
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $17,268,889
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Shenandoah (1965)

Also by

Andrew V. McLaglen

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-11-06
★ 9/10
What do you do with dead soldiers? Shenandoah is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and written by James Lee Barrett. It stars James Stewart, Patrick Wayne, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Rosemary Forsyth, Phillip Alford and Katharine Ross. Music is by Frank Skinner and Technicolor photography is by William H. Clothier. As the American Civil War rages, a Virginian patriarch keeps his large farming family in the act of isolationism. But will the war leave them alone? A superbly acted and written Civil War Oater, Shenandoah is moving and poignant without over doing the anti-war message. First half of the pic lets us into the lives of the Anderson family, their beliefs, their loves and losses, and decisions that will shape their futures. Circumstances will of course come knocking at the door, which shifts the film into darker territory, where it is here that McLaglen and his team brilliantly show the emotional and physical hardships of the war between the North and the South. Story and the characters are consistently compelling, all while the locations envelope the dramatics with a beauty that is realised by the legendary Clothier. And then there is Stewart, a class act and the axis, the fulcrum of everything that is great about the pic, his character brought vividly - and crucially believably - to life, one of the best father portrayals in classic film. Battles rage, of the war, the heart and of the mind in one of the 1960s best American Oaters. 9/10
CinemaSerf2026-02-01
★ 7/10
The “Anderson” family are farmers hoping to sit out the American Civil War in Confederate Virginia by basically minding their own business. Dad “Charlie” (James Stewart) regularly has conversations with his six sons and one daughter over dinner as to what axes to grind they might have to cause them to participate. They have no slaves, nor want them; neither do they see any purpose in risking their lives or their livelihood by joining a conflict that doesn’t appear to be going very well. Then serendipity takes an hand as the youngest son (Philip Alford) is apprehended by a passing troop of Yankee soldiers and imprisoned. What now ensues sees “Charlie” and his family set off to find the missing boy whilst that youngster finds himself uncomfortably close to the dregs of the war as he manages to escape captivity and tries to make his own way home. Stewart’s characterisation works on multiple fronts here as he plays a loving father, a determined farmer and also a decent individual who knows the brutality of war yet refuses to sacrifice his integrity to it - even when it impacts tragically on his own family. Alford also delivers quite well as the sixteen year old, as much as because he engagingly epitomises so many of the real soldiers who fought here who were that age and no more equipped for battle than they were to fly. In many ways it depicts a more fearsome lawlessness than was largely missing from this genre by 1965, but it does it in a thoughtful fashion leaving us with something to think on, too.