What is Glory (film)?

Glory
Original promotional poster
Directed by	Edward Zwick
Produced by	Freddie Fields
Written by	Kevin Jarre
Starring	Matthew Broderick Denzel Washington Cary Elwes Morgan Freeman Andre Braugher
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Freddie Francis
Editing by	Steven Rosenblum
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Running time	122 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$18,000,000 (est.)
IMDb profile

Glory is a 1989 Academy Award-winning drama based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the American Civil War. The 54th was one of the first formal units of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African American men (apart from the officers). The first was the 1st South Carolina Volunteers.

Outline

The film depicts the unit's organization by Col. Robert Gould Shaw and other white abolitionists, and its struggle against racial prejudice in many forms. The film also depicts the struggle Colonel Shaw faced to get supplies for his troops, and also to get his regiment into battle to prove themselves as "true men, worthy of fighting among Whites". The climax depicts the Union's attack on Fort Wagner, which was spearheaded by the 54th, who took heavy losses but were hailed for their bravery. The film was rated R, but the edited version was rated PG.

Cast

Actor	Role
Matthew Broderick	Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
Denzel Washington	Private Trip
Cary Elwes	Major Cabot Forbes
Morgan Freeman	Sergeant Major John Rawlins
Jihmi Kennedy	Private Jupiter Sharts(he pronounces it like shots)
Andre Braugher	Corporal Thomas Searles
John Finn	Sergeant Major Mulcahy
Donovan Leitch	Captain Charles Fessenden Morse
JD Cullum	Henry Sturgis Russell

Character biographies

Colonel Robert Gould Shaw

Robert Shaw is a determined leader who is hard on his troops. Even through his hard training, Robert will go to great lengths for his men. Colonel Shaw storms the office of a provisions sergeant, demanding 600 pairs of shoes and 1,200 pairs of socks. He sacrifices himself to inspire his men to stand up to storm the ramparts and charge the enemy at the Battle of Fort Wagner.

Though shot, he bravely continues to charge until he is shot 2 more times. His death causes his men to stand and charge, Major Cabot Forbes and others yelling "Robert!" as they do so.

Major Cabot Forbes

Joined with Thomas and Shaw into the 54th regiment shortly after its creation. Shaw had asked Cabot to be the commanding officer under him for the regiment after the Governor and Fredrick Douglas proposed the position to Shaw. He is connected to his men and feels Shaw is too hard on them. He led the attack on Fort Wagner after Shaw was shot down.

It never revealed if Cabot is killed or not, so it is left up to the Viewer to decide, but since it never shows him after, it can be possible that he was captured.

Private Trip

An ex-slave, Trip is whipped during the film because he stole away during the night. While he is being whipped, he just stares at Colonel Shaw without flinching. Trip likes to pick on Thomas, calling him "Snowflake", and bullying Thomas around. Around the middle of the film, Rawlins knocks some sense into him. Shaw offers him the regimental colors, but he refuses. In the end, Thomas is about to fall because of a wound in an earlier battle and Trip catches him. This tells Thomas that Trip is now a friend. He has a lot of heart. He is killed during the Battle of Fort Wagner, almost immediately after Shaw dies. After Shaw fell, Trip ran up and raised the regimental colors, but was shot down. This act prompts the rest to charge up the slope into the fort. The film concludes with Trip being buried alongside Col. Shaw in a mass grave.

Sergeant Major John Rawlins

An older man who is very wise. He tells Private Trip to get his act together, because Trip appears to have a short temper. Then Shaw asks Rawlins for advice on the soldiers, and Rawlins gives Shaw priceless information about the men. He is the closest thing to a black leader the army has.

Corporal Thomas Searles

A determined African American man, Thomas is a strong symbol of educated colored people in the 1800s and their quest for equality. Thomas was a very good childhood friend of Robert and joined the 54th in loyalty to this friendship. Thomas was stabbed at Fort Wagner however like Rawlins and Forbes it is unknown whether he actually dies or not, he may have been captured or actually saved but this is probably left to the viewer to decide.

Comparisons with historical fact

• The film suggests that most of the black soldiers were escaped slaves from southern secessionist states who wished to battle for the abolitionist north, but in fact the majority were born free in the North, although some did escape from slavery.
• Of the major characters in the movie's version of the regiment, only Robert Gould Shaw was a real person. The rest are composite characters. The name of Shaw's executive officer (Cabot Forbes) is a combination of the first name from one of the real Shaw's friends and the last name of another.

• In the film, Shaw is offered and accepts the job to be the commanding officer of the 54th on the same day. In reality, he rejected the offer once and accepted only after many days. Shaw is also shown as promoted directly to colonel, whereas his record indicates he was a major for several months as the regiment grew in strength and was at last promoted to colonel just prior to the regiment being deployed.
• Flogging was banned in the Union Army in 1861. Pvt. Trip would not have been whipped, at least not by someone as by-the-book as Col. Shaw.
• The incident just before the charge into Fort Wagner in which Colonel Shaw points to the flag bearer and asks "If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry on?" is based on a real event. However, the person who asked the question was General George Crockett Strong; Shaw was the person who responded. When the flag bearer fell, another black soldier, Sergeant William Harvey Carney, grabbed the flag and carried it all the way to the bulwarks of Fort Wagner. He remained there under enemy fire until the 54th was forced to retreat. Sergeant Carney struggled back to Union lines with the flag, receiving four wounds from which he recovered. Carney became the first black .
• Colonel Shaw was married, but his wife is not depicted in the film.
• The manner in which Colonel Shaw dies in the movie is based on fact. His final words were "Forward Fifty-fourth" before he was shot several times in the chest.
• The final scene of the film shows Shaw's body being thrown into the burial pit alongside his fallen men. This is historically accurate. When Shaw's parents inquired about his body, the Confederate commander responded, "We buried him with his niggers." It seems to have been meant as an insult, but Shaw's father later said that he was proud that his son was buried next to his men.
• In the movie, it is claimed that "over half" of the regiment was lost during the assault on Fort Wagner. However, official records state that the 54th sustained 272 casualties, which is closer to 40%. Of these casualties, only 116 were fatalities, just under one fifth of the men to storm the fort. If the 156 soldiers that were captured are included, it would bring the total to "over half". In formal military terms, though, "casualties" include captured soldiers.
• The movie's epilogue also claims that "the fort was never taken." While it is true that the fort was never taken by force, it was abandoned by the Confederate Army two months later.
• In the movie, the ocean is on the left side of the regiment when they charge the fort; this was allegedly done in order to get the best quality of light at the time of filming. In reality, however, the regiment charged with the ocean on their right, coming from the south.
• The real second in command was Lt. Colonel Edwin Hallowell. The fictional Major Cabot Forbes, played by Cary Elwes, is based on him. Although he was seriously wounded, Hallowell did survive the attack on the fort and led the regiment until it disbanded in 1865. He retired with the rank of Brigadier General.
• In the movie, Shaw is surprised when the men refuse pay that was reduced because they are a "colored" regiment (though he eventually joins them in their refusal). In reality, the refusal was his idea, and he encouraged them to do it (in other words, "tear it up").
• In the attack on Fort Wagner, the regiment volunteers to be the vanguard of the charge, when in fact they did not volunteer, but were commanded to lead the charge.
• Years after the film was made, it came to light that the word Glory was used by one of the men of the Regiment. First Sergeant Robert John Simmons, of B Company, was a twenty-six year old Bermudian clerk, probably from St. George's, believed to have joined the 54th on 12th March, 1863 (many Black and White Bermudians fought for the Union, mostly in the US Navy. Many more profiteered from the war by smuggling arms to the South). Simmons was introduced to Frances George Shaw, father of Col. Shaw, by William Wells Brown, who described him as "a young man of more than ordinary abilities who had learned the science of war in the British Army". In his book, The Negro in the American Rebellion, Brown said that "Frances George Shaw remarked at the time that Simmons would make a 'valuable soldier'. Col. Shaw also had a high opinion of him". Sgt. Simmons was mentioned in an 1863 article of the Weekly Columbus Enquirer, which described him as "a brave man and of good education. He was wounded and captured. Taken to Charleston, his bearing impressed even his captors. After suffering amputation of the arm, he died there." The newspaper also described him as saying that he fought "for glory". Simmons, who has been specially mentioned among the enlisted men of the 54th, and who had been awarded a private medal, died in August, 1863, following the attack on Fort Wagner. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/markcollect.htm

Anomalies

• In the engagement prior to the assault on Ft. Wagner, Shaw orders the regiment to charge. The regiment goes forward with bayonets fixed, even though earlier he had not ordered them to "fix bayonets."
• During the battle of Fort Wagner, Matthew Broderick's safety wire can be seen attached to his left leg as he is shot down and falls backwards on the slope of the hill.

Soundtrack

James Horner composed the soundtrack to the film. One of the most popular tracks is Charging Fort Wagner. This music plays when the regiment charges the fort. The track was famously used in the original version of the Japanese cooking show Iron Chef. The Boys Choir of Harlem were featured on the entirety of the soundtrack.

Awards

The film was nominated for five categories and won three Oscars:^[1]

• Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Denzel Washington.
• Oscar for Best Cinematography - Freddie Francis.
• Oscar for Best Sound Mixing - Donald O. Mitchell, Gregg C. Rudloff, Elliot Tyson, Russell Williams II.
• Nomination for Art Direction - Norman Garwood (art direction) & Garrett Lewis (set decoration).
• Nomination for Film Editing - Steven Rosenblum.

References

• Luis F. Emilio, A Brave Black Regiment: A History of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry: 1863-1865 (Boston: The Boston Book Company, 1891).

Cited references

External links

• Glory at Rotten Tomatoes
• Analysis of the character Trip in Glory
• Text, Audio, Video of 4 Speeches from the Film