Glory (1989) * * *

 

Directed by:  Edward Zwick

Starring:  Matthew Broderick, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Andre Brugher, Cliff De Young, Jihmi Kennedy, John Finn 

Glory tells the true story of the 54th Massachusetts regiment which became the first all-black Civil War unit circa 1862 as the war began to turn in favor of the Union.   The 54th is a ragtag group of former slaves and freedmen under the command of Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Broderick), who comes from a wealthy family and is assigned what is cynically expected to be a cushy job which will keep him off the battlefield.  Shaw has seen the horrors of battlefield deaths firsthand, and is surprised to learn his recruits, which includes childhood friend Thomas (Braugher), who naively expects preferential treatment because of his friendship with Shaw.  Shaw hires his best friend Major Cabot Forbes (Elwes) as his second-in-command and leads the training of the fiery group of soldiers.  

The main players in the unit are Rawlins (Freeman), who Shaw met as a gravedigger on the Southern battlegrounds and Tripp (Washington), an angry former slave itching to fight anyone, including other soldiers if need be.  Tripp enjoys picking on the educated and proper Thomas, who learns quickly life in the army isn't what he bargained for after dealing with Tripp's abuse and that of his drill sergeant Mulcahy (Finn).  When questioned by Shaw about his methods, Mulcahy responds, "You grew up with him?  Let him grow up some more,"  

Shaw and his unit doubt they will see any real battle time.  The government sees fit to pay the 54th less than white soldiers and the local quartermaster drags his feet when he receives a requisition for boots and socks.  But the members of the 54th bond and persevere to the point they are assigned battle duty, and after a successful skirmish, they are later ordered to seize a Charleston fort which is geographically well-positioned atop a hill.   This is tantamount to a suicide mission, since the strategy appears to be march into enemy fire and plenty of one-on-one fights with muskets, bayonets, and swords.  It is not surprising to learn the fort was never taken.

Glory thinks its most powerful moment is when the 54th is marching to the beach to take the fort the other Union units have failed to take.   The music swells and the white union soldiers wish them good luck.   Actually, there is no real payoff to the drama which came before, because the mission proves to be deadly and killing over half of the 54th, including, not coincidentally, all of the major characters.  Glory's best scenes occur during basic training, when we learn how the soldiers gel with each other and understand their place in the war machine.  We see Shaw gaining his footing and learning to be a commanding officer, finding the balance between aloofness and leadership.   Washington won a Best Supporting Oscar for his performance and he electrifies in every scene he's in.  Freeman portrays a quiet leader who is promoted to non-commissioned sergeant-major, but he doesn't narrate.  The narration belongs to Broderick, who writes in his letters home about his fears and doubts as he leads the 54th into Civil War lore.  Freeman would have plenty more opportunities to narrate.