"The Blue and the Gray" (1982) invites comparisons with "North and South" (1985/6) but we won't tackle those right away.
Though Stacy Keach gets top billing, the actual hero is John Hammond, playing John Geyser, who has brothers Matthew, Mark and Luke (get the theme?) John isn't like other Geysers. They work the farm of their father (Lloyd Bridges) and want nothing more out of life. John, on the other hand, is a nascent artist who wants to draw illustrations for newspapers. Geyser goes earnestly through every campaign of the war with compassion. You can tell he's earnest and compassionate because he rarely smiles or laughs and always wears a somewhat constipated expression that always looks like he'll cry at the drop of a hat.
So John goes to a little town up north called Gettysburg, which no one has ever heard of, to work for a cousin who conveniently lives up there and runs a local newspaper.
SPOILER ALERT: One would think this sets John up to witness and illustrate the battle of Gettysburg (1863) but in fact while that battle "rages" (more later on the raging), John is a thousand miles away in Vicksburg, Mississippi--where, in another massive coincidence, his sister was living.
Which leads us to the battle scenes. Most Civil War battles that are named come off as skirmishes between little pockets of people in blue and gray. Gettysburg, the greatest land battle in the western hemisphere, is depicted only at a fracas at a crossroads, and then Keach riding somberly through the dead. If you want to know more about that battle (complete with outdated strategy) see "Gettysburg" (1993).
"The Blue and the Gray" hardly provides the scope of the War. It makes it look like it mostly took place as a feud between branches of one family.
Stacy Keach is not the star, but he appears frequently (good Keach fans). Gregory Peck is masterful and has a surprisingly large role as Abraham Lincoln, though it's not really mentioned that in his day the Republican Lincoln was hated as much and more than President Trump is in more recent times. It was Lincoln's election, after all, that sparked secession, whereas here it seems to come out of the blue.
Keach seems to be everywhere in the eastern theaters of war (even guarding Lincoln for a while) and he has a difference that raises his part above the more standard Civil War fare: he's psychic. His visions are irritatingly vague and they don't seem to help anyone avoid their fates, but it's a promising idea. Too bad it goes nowhere.
Besides Keach being psychic, another subplot that might have been interesting is a murder mystery stuck in the middle of the war. Unfortunately, not a lot of time is spent on it and of the characters available only one seems to be nuts enough to be committing these senseless crimes. This might have been a fascinating thread running through the weave of this massive program if they spent more time developing it rather than showing so many literal brothers on both sides who are hard to tell apart.
SPOILER ALERT: To throw in everything they could think of, Malachy (Brian Kerwin), John's cousin on the Yankee side, has a spell of THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE that turns into "Sergeant York."
Fighting against "The Blue and the Gray" is hindsight. Two regulars from the later "Newhart" show (Julia Duffy and John Voldstad--Darryl #2) have important roles. It's hard to see Voldstad without laughing and Duffy will occasionally give a look or a line that is pure "Stephanie." When Keach tells her how beautiful she is, one expects her to say, "I know."
But though the battle scenes (what there are of them) are threadbare and not very convincing as to locale, "The Blue and the Gray" does make a few points not often understood these days. Since one of the authors credited is Bruce Catton, who wrote several books on the War, one feels he ought to have inserted a few important insights not found elsewhere.
For instance: When Malachy is having his RED BADGE OF COURAGE moment he runs into a Confederate from Mississippi (a Reb almost risibly named "Johnny" played by Steve Nevil), to his surprise he learns "Johnny" has never owned slaves (and in fact has probably seen few, if any). Slaves, like it or not, were the prerogative of the rich; the non-rich worked their own fields with their families and, IF they could afford to pay a small salary, a hand or two. Slaves were expensive to buy, feed and house. And since they were an investment they were also kept doctored, though doctoring was pretty primitive in those days. It's too bad the broad root causes of the War are not understood these days. The fact that most Confederates were not slave-owners will come as a big shock to the ill-educated viewers in the twenty-first century. Even Robert E. Lee (who doesn't make an appearance until near the end of the last episode and is played rather fussily by Robert Symonds) was no slave owner and believed in gradual abolition. In fact, Lee was offered command of the Union army before the war and declined only because he feared (rightly) his home state of Virginia might soon be invaded. Even John Geyser's family, staunchly Confederate, work their own land rather than using slaves (Paul Winfield, working on their property in the first episode to establish a pottery business, is free).
Other little tidbits are dropped as well. For instance, while I knew the Confederates moved on Gettysburg because it had a shoe factory (a point not really made but implied to the keen-eyed) I didn't know the Army of the Potomac under Meade (Rory Calhoun) suffered from supply problems. Overall, though, "The Blue and the Gray" is short as short on such detail.
There's also a sense that you're more likely to be shot in the war if you're funny-looking or do something massively stupid.
Don't watch "The Blue and the Gray" for the guest stars. Keach has a large part and Peck is perfect as Lincoln. Sterling Hayden, playing a spin-off from his role in "Doctor Strangelove" is an effective John Brown. Lloyd Bridges is good as the proud Virginia farmer whose beloved farmland becomes a battlefield. Most of the others (John Vernon, Rip Torn, David Doyle, Paul Benedict--remember when Paul Benedict was considered a guest star?) barely appear. That's too bad, since Benedict, especially, does a great turn with his cameo.
"The Blue and the Gray" does have advantages over the later "North and South." In the first place, the actual conditions in the south are shown more accurately, if not perfectly. In "North and South" (set deeper in the south but hardly that many miles deep) the weather is always warm, the magnolia trees are always blossoming, and everyone lives in great mansions with columns out front, like Tara--well, everyone who matters. in "North and South" anyone who doesn't live in mansions or own slaves is white trash--utter nonsense.
Unfortunately, "The Blue and the Gray" suffers from, and I don't mean to be paradoxical, too much and too little. It has too many characters to keep track of (brothers here, brothers there, all vying for attention, but some of them hard to tell apart) and promising subplots that are thwarted, as if it wants to be something other than it is.
One feels there's a good an unique story trying to break out, of a psychic on the trail of a murder in the middle of a war. I wish they'd done that. But "The Blue and the Gray" can't help itself from trying to keep up the pretense of sprawling history.
On the other hand, the battle scenes, what there are of them, are tawdry and poorly populated; and, despite respected historian Bruce Catton being on listed on the payroll as a writer, the strategy and tactics of all armies are the real mystery--to the viewer.
Too, if your sensibilities are so thin a snatch of a ditty or a piece of cloth on a flagpole sends you into the screaming heebie-jeebies, stay away. Despite a psychotic or two, neither the Yankees nor the Confederates are presented as an enemy, except to each other.
Though Stacy Keach gets top billing, the actual hero is John Hammond, playing John Geyser, who has brothers Matthew, Mark and Luke (get the theme?) John isn't like other Geysers. They work the farm of their father (Lloyd Bridges) and want nothing more out of life. John, on the other hand, is a nascent artist who wants to draw illustrations for newspapers. Geyser goes earnestly through every campaign of the war with compassion. You can tell he's earnest and compassionate because he rarely smiles or laughs and always wears a somewhat constipated expression that always looks like he'll cry at the drop of a hat.
So John goes to a little town up north called Gettysburg, which no one has ever heard of, to work for a cousin who conveniently lives up there and runs a local newspaper.
SPOILER ALERT: One would think this sets John up to witness and illustrate the battle of Gettysburg (1863) but in fact while that battle "rages" (more later on the raging), John is a thousand miles away in Vicksburg, Mississippi--where, in another massive coincidence, his sister was living.
Which leads us to the battle scenes. Most Civil War battles that are named come off as skirmishes between little pockets of people in blue and gray. Gettysburg, the greatest land battle in the western hemisphere, is depicted only at a fracas at a crossroads, and then Keach riding somberly through the dead. If you want to know more about that battle (complete with outdated strategy) see "Gettysburg" (1993).
"The Blue and the Gray" hardly provides the scope of the War. It makes it look like it mostly took place as a feud between branches of one family.
Stacy Keach is not the star, but he appears frequently (good Keach fans). Gregory Peck is masterful and has a surprisingly large role as Abraham Lincoln, though it's not really mentioned that in his day the Republican Lincoln was hated as much and more than President Trump is in more recent times. It was Lincoln's election, after all, that sparked secession, whereas here it seems to come out of the blue.
Keach seems to be everywhere in the eastern theaters of war (even guarding Lincoln for a while) and he has a difference that raises his part above the more standard Civil War fare: he's psychic. His visions are irritatingly vague and they don't seem to help anyone avoid their fates, but it's a promising idea. Too bad it goes nowhere.
Besides Keach being psychic, another subplot that might have been interesting is a murder mystery stuck in the middle of the war. Unfortunately, not a lot of time is spent on it and of the characters available only one seems to be nuts enough to be committing these senseless crimes. This might have been a fascinating thread running through the weave of this massive program if they spent more time developing it rather than showing so many literal brothers on both sides who are hard to tell apart.
SPOILER ALERT: To throw in everything they could think of, Malachy (Brian Kerwin), John's cousin on the Yankee side, has a spell of THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE that turns into "Sergeant York."
Fighting against "The Blue and the Gray" is hindsight. Two regulars from the later "Newhart" show (Julia Duffy and John Voldstad--Darryl #2) have important roles. It's hard to see Voldstad without laughing and Duffy will occasionally give a look or a line that is pure "Stephanie." When Keach tells her how beautiful she is, one expects her to say, "I know."
But though the battle scenes (what there are of them) are threadbare and not very convincing as to locale, "The Blue and the Gray" does make a few points not often understood these days. Since one of the authors credited is Bruce Catton, who wrote several books on the War, one feels he ought to have inserted a few important insights not found elsewhere.
For instance: When Malachy is having his RED BADGE OF COURAGE moment he runs into a Confederate from Mississippi (a Reb almost risibly named "Johnny" played by Steve Nevil), to his surprise he learns "Johnny" has never owned slaves (and in fact has probably seen few, if any). Slaves, like it or not, were the prerogative of the rich; the non-rich worked their own fields with their families and, IF they could afford to pay a small salary, a hand or two. Slaves were expensive to buy, feed and house. And since they were an investment they were also kept doctored, though doctoring was pretty primitive in those days. It's too bad the broad root causes of the War are not understood these days. The fact that most Confederates were not slave-owners will come as a big shock to the ill-educated viewers in the twenty-first century. Even Robert E. Lee (who doesn't make an appearance until near the end of the last episode and is played rather fussily by Robert Symonds) was no slave owner and believed in gradual abolition. In fact, Lee was offered command of the Union army before the war and declined only because he feared (rightly) his home state of Virginia might soon be invaded. Even John Geyser's family, staunchly Confederate, work their own land rather than using slaves (Paul Winfield, working on their property in the first episode to establish a pottery business, is free).
Other little tidbits are dropped as well. For instance, while I knew the Confederates moved on Gettysburg because it had a shoe factory (a point not really made but implied to the keen-eyed) I didn't know the Army of the Potomac under Meade (Rory Calhoun) suffered from supply problems. Overall, though, "The Blue and the Gray" is short as short on such detail.
There's also a sense that you're more likely to be shot in the war if you're funny-looking or do something massively stupid.
Don't watch "The Blue and the Gray" for the guest stars. Keach has a large part and Peck is perfect as Lincoln. Sterling Hayden, playing a spin-off from his role in "Doctor Strangelove" is an effective John Brown. Lloyd Bridges is good as the proud Virginia farmer whose beloved farmland becomes a battlefield. Most of the others (John Vernon, Rip Torn, David Doyle, Paul Benedict--remember when Paul Benedict was considered a guest star?) barely appear. That's too bad, since Benedict, especially, does a great turn with his cameo.
"The Blue and the Gray" does have advantages over the later "North and South." In the first place, the actual conditions in the south are shown more accurately, if not perfectly. In "North and South" (set deeper in the south but hardly that many miles deep) the weather is always warm, the magnolia trees are always blossoming, and everyone lives in great mansions with columns out front, like Tara--well, everyone who matters. in "North and South" anyone who doesn't live in mansions or own slaves is white trash--utter nonsense.
Unfortunately, "The Blue and the Gray" suffers from, and I don't mean to be paradoxical, too much and too little. It has too many characters to keep track of (brothers here, brothers there, all vying for attention, but some of them hard to tell apart) and promising subplots that are thwarted, as if it wants to be something other than it is.
One feels there's a good an unique story trying to break out, of a psychic on the trail of a murder in the middle of a war. I wish they'd done that. But "The Blue and the Gray" can't help itself from trying to keep up the pretense of sprawling history.
On the other hand, the battle scenes, what there are of them, are tawdry and poorly populated; and, despite respected historian Bruce Catton being on listed on the payroll as a writer, the strategy and tactics of all armies are the real mystery--to the viewer.
Too, if your sensibilities are so thin a snatch of a ditty or a piece of cloth on a flagpole sends you into the screaming heebie-jeebies, stay away. Despite a psychotic or two, neither the Yankees nor the Confederates are presented as an enemy, except to each other.