The year is 1861, on the eve of the American Civil War. In Georgia, Atlanta, cotton plantation owner Braxton Summers invites two of his former West Point classmates, Clay Clayburn & Will Denning, to dinner with him & his new wife Kathy (who was formerly in love with Clay). But before they can eat, war is declared. Fast forward to 1864 & Will & Clay are fighting on opposite sides of the war. Clay, now a major with the Confederates, is picked to infiltrate the same area & find a way to sabotage a Union railway & cut off supplies to the Yankees. Placing three cannons on a mountaintop, Clay & his team of volunteers manage to blow up the tracks & a couple of Union trains passing through. They are so good at keeping the area locked down that Will, now an officer in the Union army, is sent in to prevent any further damage. Kathy, who is still living in the old mansion (Braxton has been captured by the Yankees), tries her best to help her former lover fight the enemy. But Will & Clay, who are still best friends, each don't realise that the other is in the area.
William Cameron Menzies is legendary in the field of production design for Hollywood's early era. Having won awards for his work on such films as 1924's The Thief of Bagdad & of course his magnum opus, Gone with the Wind, Menzies was so good at his job that when the chance came to finally direct a film himself, he jumped at the chance.
With Menzies at the helm, what was essentially a B-grade film made on a limited budget instead looks like a big budget production. It doesn't have the same resources as something like Gone with the Wind but Menzies makes it feel about as large with his resourcefulness.
The story is a passably moving tale of a woman caught between two best friends fighting on opposite sides in a war that will end with one side losing badly. James Craig & Barbara Payton both make a good couple & Payton's willingness to spy on her captors in order to help her old flame sabotage the enemy's supply train is both brave & ultimately reckless. The film has one flaw & that is the lack of funds to make the battles look anything but cramped, but Menzies does his best with the limited budget. He even manages to throw in a couple of reasonably exciting moments, with Payton trying to signal Craig while a Union soldier searches for her & Craig's first attack on the enemy train. The cast make the most out of their roles & the film's unusually high production values elevate what is essentially a low budget Civil War drama into a modest war classic.
William Cameron Menzies is legendary in the field of production design for Hollywood's early era. Having won awards for his work on such films as 1924's The Thief of Bagdad & of course his magnum opus, Gone with the Wind, Menzies was so good at his job that when the chance came to finally direct a film himself, he jumped at the chance.
With Menzies at the helm, what was essentially a B-grade film made on a limited budget instead looks like a big budget production. It doesn't have the same resources as something like Gone with the Wind but Menzies makes it feel about as large with his resourcefulness.
The story is a passably moving tale of a woman caught between two best friends fighting on opposite sides in a war that will end with one side losing badly. James Craig & Barbara Payton both make a good couple & Payton's willingness to spy on her captors in order to help her old flame sabotage the enemy's supply train is both brave & ultimately reckless. The film has one flaw & that is the lack of funds to make the battles look anything but cramped, but Menzies does his best with the limited budget. He even manages to throw in a couple of reasonably exciting moments, with Payton trying to signal Craig while a Union soldier searches for her & Craig's first attack on the enemy train. The cast make the most out of their roles & the film's unusually high production values elevate what is essentially a low budget Civil War drama into a modest war classic.