Friendly Persuasion - Warner Archive Collection

My mother descended from a family of devout Quakers, so it was easy for me to identify at least a little bit with the characters in Friendly Persuasion, director William Wyler’s tender adaptation of the novel by Jessamyn West. I attended the occasional Quaker meeting when I was a kid and learned about the religion’s strong stance against violence and war of any kind. (I was also both annoyed and amused when my childhood friends confused Quakers with the Amish.) Today, Quakers account for only about 0.02% of the U.S. population, so Friendly Persuasion remains an important picture that provides a glimpse of what it means to be a Quaker and how the religion’s tenets influence the everyday existence of its followers.

It’s 1862 in southern Indiana (ironically, my mother hailed from Indiana as well) and though the Civil War rages in the East and South, the Birdwell family lives in relative tranquility. The pressures, strife, and pleasures of normal life consume Jess (Gary Cooper), his wife Eliza (Dorothy McGuire), and their three children, Josh (Anthony Perkins), Mattie (Phyllis Love), and Little Jess (Richard Eyer), all of whom grow and evolve throughout the story. Eliza learns to (ever so slightly) relax her rigid moral views, while the two older kids mature and are forced to make some difficult and defining choices when the war encroaches on their remote, rural village.

Friendly Persuasion begins at a leisurely pace and emphasizes human comedy over drama, but as a band of violent Confederate rebels nears the town where the Birdwells reside and threatens their very existence, the story takes a more serious turn. In the blink of an eye, war changes how the Birdwells think and feel and inspires them to fight for their way of life while staying as true as they can to their stringent beliefs. It’s no easy task and it takes a toll on everyone involved.

Wyler was a master of human drama and he deftly balances the humor and conflict that define Friendly Persuasion. The movie meanders a bit, but the languorous pacing allows us to really get to know the characters and become immersed in the Birdwell family dynamics and their Quaker customs. Small moments resonate and the cast remains a tight-knit unit throughout, heightening emotional involvement.

At first, it’s tough to accept the macho Cooper as a peace-loving Quaker, but his stoic nature and man-of-few-words persona make the role a surprisingly perfect fit, while McGuire’s quiet, loving, yet firm demeanor exemplifies the Quaker matriarch. Phyllis Love brings typical teenage verve to the fickle Mattie and Richard Eyer, who filed such an affecting performance in Wyler’s home invasion thriller The Desperate Hours the previous year, is adorable as the spunky, mischievous Little Jess.

Perkins, though, makes the biggest impression in his breakout part as the lanky, introverted Josh. Combining sensitivity with the conviction and rebelliousness of a teen on the cusp of manhood, the 24-year-old actor crafts a dimensional portrayal that justly earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Amazingly, it would turn out to be the only Oscar nod of his career.

In all, Friendly Persuasion would nab six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Recording, and Best Original Song. Sadly, writer Michael Wilson, who won an Oscar a few years before for his A Place in the Sun screenplay, was blacklisted by the time Friendly Persuasion was released, so he did not receive any screen credit, nor did he personally receive the Oscar nomination his adapted script earned. Thankfully, his credit has since been restored and his nomination has been officially entered into the Academy annals. He also posthumously received the Oscar he won for his screenplay for The Bridge on the River Kwai, which premiered the year after Friendly Persuasion.

Though it doesn’t rank among Wyler’s most memorable and affecting films, Friendly Persuasion works its way into our hearts with its gentle presentation, fine performances, and timeless themes that emphasize the importance of familial bonds, good moral values, and standing up for our beliefs. The Quakers may be few, but their stock is strong, and Friendly Persuasion salutes these peace-loving souls with warmth and reverence.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Friendly Persuasion arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original camera negative yields a very pleasing 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer that faithfully honors the cinematography of Ellsworth Fredericks, who would receive his sole Oscar nomination the following year for Sayonara. The spotless source material looks a bit faded at times (a common malaise of single-strip color) and some sporadic softness lends some shots a gauzy appearance, but the picture remains vibrant throughout, thanks to excellent contrast and clarity, deep blacks, and bright whites. Hues lack the vivid splendor of three-strip Technicolor, but the blue skies and green landscapes are lush enough to immerse us the movie’s rural, outdoorsy atmosphere. Some rear projection shots look very washed out (whether they appeared that way at the time of the film's release I can't say), but flesh tones are natural, shadow delineation is quite good, and the natural grain structure preserves the feel of celluloid. Sharp close-ups highlight Cooper’s wrinkles and weathered complexion, Perkins’ stubble and ruddy cheeks, and McGuire’s unspoiled loveliness. This isn’t the knock-your-socks-off transfer we’re accustomed to seeing from Warner Archive, but it serves the film well and far outclasses any previous home video release of Friendly Persuasion.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track supplies clear, well-modulated sound that’s free of any age-related hiss, pops, and crackle. A wide dynamic scale embraces all the highs and lows of the music score by four-time Oscar-winner and 22-time nominee Dimitri Tiomkin without any distortion and sonic accents like gunfire are crisp. Subtleties like chirping birds come through cleanly and all the dialogue is easy to comprehend.

A couple of vintage extras round out the disc.

• Vintage Featurette: “The Making of Friendly Persuasion” (SD, 10 minutes) - Hosted by journalist Dave Garroway, this vintage TV segment from the Wide Wide World series brings us to the set of Friendly Persuasion and allows us to witness Cooper, McGuire, Perkins, and other cast members rehearsing a scene on the front porch of the Birdwell home under the guidance of one of the assistant directors. (Wyler probably couldn’t be bothered with such silliness.) How much is real and how much is pre-planned and scripted is open for debate, but it's a rare piece of film that's worth checking out.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 minutes) 

Friendly Persuasion is a charming, heartwarming film that emphasizes traditional values and promotes the importance of family, faith, and personal convictions. Cooper, McGuire, and especially Perkins file memorable portrayals and strong video and audio transfers immerse us in the period atmosphere. You don’t have to be a Quaker to appreciate Friendly Persuasion, which is a wonderful film for me and thee. Recommended.