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Curated playlist

American Civil War films

  • The Outlaw Josey WalesClint Eastwood fired his director on The Outlaw Josey Wales and took over. A Directors Guild rule followed.
  • The Good, the Bad and the UglyA misheard signal blew up the bridge early in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, destroying three cameras.
  • Gone with the Wind (film)Hattie McDaniel was barred from the premiere of Gone with the Wind by Jim Crow laws, then won an Oscar.
  • The Beguiled (1971 film)The Beguiled posters showed Clint Eastwood with a gun, but the film has almost no action.
  • Cold Mountain (film)The film Cold Mountain nearly died when MGM pulled out mid-shoot. A $10 million tax break saved it.
  • Free State of Jones (film)In the film Free State of Jones, a Confederate deserter leads an armed revolt in Mississippi.
  • Gods and Generals (film)Gods and Generals, a 2003 American Civil War film written and directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, grossed $12.8 million at the box office. That sum fell far short of what the project had swallowed. Most of the money came from one man, the media…
  • The Birth of a NationThe Birth of a Nation was screened at the White House in 1915. The next night, the Supreme Court cheered it too.
  • Shenandoah (film)In the 1965 film Shenandoah, a farmer's son is captured over a cap. An old rebel hat pulls a neutral family into war.
  • The General (1926 film)Critics called Buster Keaton's The General a flop in 1926, and it cost him his creative independence.
  • Glory (1989 film)The film Glory shows a soldier being flogged, but no such flogging of Black troops ever happened.
  • Lincoln (film)In the film Lincoln, agents offer federal jobs to win votes to end slavery. The amendment passed by two votes.
  • The Horse SoldiersThe Horse Soldiers paid John Wayne and William Holden a record $750,000 each.
  • The Red Badge of Courage (1951 film)MGM cut John Huston's war film The Red Badge of Courage from two hours to 70 minutes.

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