"The Blue and The Gray" was a TV miniseries that premiered on CBS in late 1982.
Allegedly inspired by the works of famed Civil War historian, Bruce Catton, "The Blue and The Gray" follows the fates of two related families, the Geysers of Virginia and the Hales of Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. The story starts in the aftermath of John Brown's (Sterling Hayden) failed slave uprising and ends with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Gregory Peck.) In between, we see various members of the Geyser and Hale families experience army life, battles, death, privation, and prisoner-of-war camps.
The main focus is on the third of four Geyser brothers, John (John Hammond), a budding artist who finds a career as a combat illustrator for a northern paper. Despite his three brothers eagerly joining the Confederate Army, John views himself as a "neutral" observer and refuses to join the fight leading to considerable friction with his family. As a neutral observer, John acts as a sort of "Gump" for the rest of the series: romancing a senator's daughter, witnessing the battles of Bull Run, Vicksburg, and the Wilderness, and hobnobbing with the political elites such as President Lincoln due to his being the cousin-in-law of one of Lincoln's military aides (Stacy Keach.)
"The Blue and the Gray" was unfortunately directed by Andrew V. McLaglen who owed his career to nepotism rather than any talent. (He's the son of Oscar wining actor, Victor McLaglen, which led to him to becoming an "apprentice" of the great John Ford whose style he tried to mimic with little success.) McLaglen's "paint-by-the-numbers" style does little to help this miniseries.
McLaglen wasn't helped by the awful casting of John Hammond as "John Geyser." Mr. Hammond was not much of an actor and that is very evident by his performance here. It also didn't help that he was simply overwhelmed by the very talented supporting actors that surrounded him. He's bad by himself, but he's just plain awful when seen next to Hayden, Peck, Keach, Lloyd Bridges, Colleen Dewhurst, and Geraldine Page. Hammond is on better ground when he's sharing screen time with his character's romantic interest, "Kathy Reynolds" (Kathleen Beller), because she was just as untalented as he was. It's no surprise that both Hammond's and Beller's careers fizzled-out by the early 90's. They were both good looking, but neither had any business being given large roles in this miniseries.
People interested in Civil War combat should avoid "The Blue and The Gray." The uniforms and military equipment appeared to have been recycled from McLaglen's soapy 1965 Civil War melodrama "Shenandoah" which had its Rebs and Yanks decked-out in "uniforms" that look like a 1960's Halloween costuming company's idea of Civil War uniforms. Plus, the combat scenes look like something out of the 1960's WWII TV show "Combat:" lots of indirect artillery fire going-off and the "sarge" leading his "squad." The people behind this miniseries had little or no interest in trying to recreate any resemblance to actual Civil War combat.
Overall, "The Blue and the Gray" has some interesting story lines and nice acting by some of the supporting actors, but it is done in by pedestrian direction, atrocious acting by its two "leads," and a failure to adhere to any sort of historical reality when it comes to its battle scenes.
Allegedly inspired by the works of famed Civil War historian, Bruce Catton, "The Blue and The Gray" follows the fates of two related families, the Geysers of Virginia and the Hales of Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. The story starts in the aftermath of John Brown's (Sterling Hayden) failed slave uprising and ends with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Gregory Peck.) In between, we see various members of the Geyser and Hale families experience army life, battles, death, privation, and prisoner-of-war camps.
The main focus is on the third of four Geyser brothers, John (John Hammond), a budding artist who finds a career as a combat illustrator for a northern paper. Despite his three brothers eagerly joining the Confederate Army, John views himself as a "neutral" observer and refuses to join the fight leading to considerable friction with his family. As a neutral observer, John acts as a sort of "Gump" for the rest of the series: romancing a senator's daughter, witnessing the battles of Bull Run, Vicksburg, and the Wilderness, and hobnobbing with the political elites such as President Lincoln due to his being the cousin-in-law of one of Lincoln's military aides (Stacy Keach.)
"The Blue and the Gray" was unfortunately directed by Andrew V. McLaglen who owed his career to nepotism rather than any talent. (He's the son of Oscar wining actor, Victor McLaglen, which led to him to becoming an "apprentice" of the great John Ford whose style he tried to mimic with little success.) McLaglen's "paint-by-the-numbers" style does little to help this miniseries.
McLaglen wasn't helped by the awful casting of John Hammond as "John Geyser." Mr. Hammond was not much of an actor and that is very evident by his performance here. It also didn't help that he was simply overwhelmed by the very talented supporting actors that surrounded him. He's bad by himself, but he's just plain awful when seen next to Hayden, Peck, Keach, Lloyd Bridges, Colleen Dewhurst, and Geraldine Page. Hammond is on better ground when he's sharing screen time with his character's romantic interest, "Kathy Reynolds" (Kathleen Beller), because she was just as untalented as he was. It's no surprise that both Hammond's and Beller's careers fizzled-out by the early 90's. They were both good looking, but neither had any business being given large roles in this miniseries.
People interested in Civil War combat should avoid "The Blue and The Gray." The uniforms and military equipment appeared to have been recycled from McLaglen's soapy 1965 Civil War melodrama "Shenandoah" which had its Rebs and Yanks decked-out in "uniforms" that look like a 1960's Halloween costuming company's idea of Civil War uniforms. Plus, the combat scenes look like something out of the 1960's WWII TV show "Combat:" lots of indirect artillery fire going-off and the "sarge" leading his "squad." The people behind this miniseries had little or no interest in trying to recreate any resemblance to actual Civil War combat.
Overall, "The Blue and the Gray" has some interesting story lines and nice acting by some of the supporting actors, but it is done in by pedestrian direction, atrocious acting by its two "leads," and a failure to adhere to any sort of historical reality when it comes to its battle scenes.