The Horse Soldiers

The Horse Soldiers (1959) directed by John Ford

Viewed on June 5, 1972

Commentary:

Simply superb, bitter(?) Civil War film. It begins in a very funny battle of the sexes beetween a Southern belle who hates Yankees and army captain John Wayne and doctor William Holden. A third of the way through, there are a series of brutal scenes -- a massacre at a (illeg) raid, an operating room scene, a scene where boys from an academy are sent against the army (This becomes comic in turn as the Union soldiers flee.)

What can one say? Perfection.