The Battle of Gettysburg

An MGM Short Subject.

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG in 1863 was a turning point in America's history.

This short film, narrated by Leslie Nielsen, relates the story of the great pivotal battle during the War Between The States. Dispassionate & evenhanded, it deals with its subject in a noncontroversial manner. Touching upon each of the major aspects of the days of engagement, the film ends with Abraham Lincoln's beautiful Gettysburg Address.

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Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.

Battle of Gettysburg, The (1955)

*** (out of 4)

Oscar-nominated short was filmed at the Gettysburg National Military Park with Leslie Nielsen narrating the story of the famous battle. This is a rather interesting short because it runs a full 30-minutes, which wasn't too normal for the day. Another interesting aspect is that MGM decided to film this in a 2.35:1 ratio, which makes for some beautiful scenes. The final interesting thing is that they decided to make the movie without the use of a single actor. Instead we just get various shots of the actual battlefield mixed in with paintings of the battle and other photos. This was a strange way to present the documentary but for the most part it works just fine even though it does start to feel a bit long towards the end. What I enjoyed the best were the helicopter shots, which give us a grand view of the entire field where the battle was fought.

PERHAPS AS A FORSHADOWING of the technique which would prove to be most successful for PBS Documentarians, such as Ken Burns: this MGM Short Subject made fine use of inanimate images in its storying. Whereas, there are no still photos in use, they do accomplish the same sort of objective. They do so with clever manipulation of the movie camera in varying angles to Civil WEar statues, Paintings and to the Gettysburg Battlefield, itself.

WE MUST CONFESS that this was one movie short of which we had absolutely no knowledge. It was truly a pleasant surprise to have viewed it on the tube the other evening. The venue was Turner Classic Movies, of course; where there so many cinematic treasures stored, even in their in between programming. This includes their informative TCM Original Productions; as well as their seemingly endless supply of these vintage one, two and three reelers.

PANARAMIC VIEWS OF the huge Gettysburg Battlefield are inter-cut with closeup shots of the multitude of sculptures, which are numerous and strewn about all through the National Memorial. This cinematic work is complemented by the work of the narrator. It is the fine voice of Mr. Leslie Nielson, which provides all of the audio portion of the story. This was during a period when he was a sort of light Leading Man; being long before his success in AIRPLANE, "POLICE SQUAD" and the NAKED GUN Movies.

OUR EXPERIENCE IN viewing it was a very emotionally charged and captivating half-hour; which was very well spent. This short's script, editing and beautiful Technicolor filming would seem to be the next best thing to actually paying a visit to Gettysburg in person.

WE BELIEVE THAT this should be part of a required curriculum for all of our school kids throughout our nation. Until such time, make sure that you view it, yourself.

BETTER YET, PLAN your vacation trip right now; including to this hallowed ground in Pennsylvania.

This bizarre little educational short attempts to tell the story of the battle of Gettysburg without a single live actor appearing on screen. Leslie Nielsen narrates as we are treated to footage of empty fields, cannons, and statues of Civil War Heroes. Some sequences are quite informative, though a long way from being entertaining. This is probably a film better suited to Civil War enthusiasts than the average viewer.

I noticed something very strange about this film when I looked on IMDb--it was nominated in two different categories for an Oscar (Best Short, Two Reels and Best Documentary Short). It is very odd that it was nominated twice--that's for sure.

Leslie Nielsen narrates this odd retelling of history. I say odd because no live actors are used in the film...none! It was filmed at Gettysburg and the sound effects of war and the narration were all supplemented with pictures of the battlefield as well as statues and art (such as from the Gettysburg Cyclorama) from this national battlefield memorial and the nearby country. While this may sound pretty dumb, it worked pretty well--mostly because the sound effects and storytelling were very compelling. A highly unusual film that will likely appeal mostly to Civil War buffs and history teachers. See it for yourself and let me know what you think.