Journey to Shiloh

I remember seeing this as a 16 year old back in 1968 and really enjoyed it.

As I'm typing this, I'm watching it again on the history network and it's interesting to see the people in it and think about their careers over the last 36 year.

A young James Caan wearing a silly looking "wig" - a very fresh faced Jan Michael Vincent before he descended into the bottle and is now just a shadow of himself - Don Stroud, a great bad guy in a couple of Clint Eastwood and a fellow named Michael Burns who was a big star back then but just seemed to drop off the face of the earth shortly after

It was a good story about 7 young guys heading off to fight in the Civil War. A great song and good story - maybe not a classic but very watchable..!!

Journey To Shiloh is a good TV movie for when you're home sick from work; or, can't sleep in the middle of the night. It's a good story and moves quickly (too quickly, really, for it loses a lot of possibilities in character development). Still, the dialogue isn't that cheesy - and you don't feel worse for having watched it.

Journey To Shiloh has several young players in its cast who were either big names on TV already or would attain greatness on the big screen. Playing the seven who are young west Texans who are eager to join up and fight for the Confederacy are James Caan, Michael Sarrazin, Harrison Ford, Jan-Michael Vincent, Don Stroud, and Paul Petersen. A budget would be busted if you tried to get all of them in the same film a decade.

Caan leads the group of them who are bound for Virginia to join General Hood's Texas brigade. But they manage to get as far as Vicksburg where they find the war they're looking for. On the way these kids and they are really kids learn some life lessons. Most don't make it back from the Battle of Shiloh, some don't even get that far.

For one thing they're all from West Texas where the cowboys are and know nothing from slavery. Had they been raised in East Texas they would have been thoroughly familiar with the cotton culture of the Confederacy. They run into slaves trying to be free and slave catchers trying to catch them. Albert Popwell stands out here as a runaway slave.

Paul Petersen is a revelation. He plays a young fast gun with a hair trigger temper. Totally unlike all American Jeff Stone on the Donna Reed Show.

John Doucette plays General Braxton Bragg whose performance does not ring true in terms of what I know of Bragg. In fact the whole ending does not ring true because of the character of Bragg for the film.

Still this is a pretty good film and timely in terms of the Vietnam War and people being disillusioned with war and what it brings.

This is one of those films that works because of the cast. It's fun to watch actors not well-suited to western films give it their best shot, and do well, despite that fact.

Old timers like Noah Beery, Jr and John Doucette were used to the genre, and add to the film greatly.

Newcomers (at the time), like James Caan, Michael Sarrazin, Jan-Michael Vincent, Harrison Ford, and Robert Pine would all go on to better things, but they do well here, too. Added to the mix is a TV leftover, Paul Peterson, who's part is small, but well-done.

It was obvious that the film was cast and made like it was because of the growing youth market (Wild In The Streets, Psych-Out, Savage Seven, and Chubasco, among others).

I love this film very much, and wait patiently for a widescreen DVD to be released. I can only hope I live long enough to see it happen.

This movie leaves a lot to be desired by history buffs. As it does not exactly follow the true story of the Battle of Shiloh, Pittsburgh Landing to you real Yankees. But, inspite of that it is an interesting film. It is well worth watching if you enjoy any of the other westerns from this era. It is also worth it to see the actors that are in it before they became big stars. The first time I saw it, I missed the beginning and didn't know who anyone was until the end!