| The Battle of Bull Run | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Francis Ford |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Film Manufacturing Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 3 reels (approximately 40 minutes) [1] |
| Country | United States |
The Battle of Bull Run is a 1913 American historical drama silent black-and-white film directed by Francis Ford. [2] It portrays the First Battle of Bull Run during the American Civil War. [3]
The film is a historical drama that depicts the First Battle of Bull Run with the plot of the movie centering around a brother and sister, Grace and Harry Myers, who are spies for the United States. The film starts with the Southern and Northern Army fighting and the South gaining an upper hand against the North. This leads to the North's defeat and the army retreating from the battle. When Abraham Lincoln hears of this defeat, he calls for the best secret service agent, Grace Myers, to be sent at once to help her brother find information about the Confederate Army. When Grace gets to the border of United States and the Confederate States, she has to hide in a wagon that is crossing the border so that none of the Confederate soldiers know that she is there. Grace then meets up with Harry and rides with him to the town that they are planning on spying on, with their main goal to be infiltrating the house of the Colonel. The Colonel's job is to handle all dispatches from the Confederate Army. Grace then meets the Colonel's sweetheart, May, at a ball by helping fix May's dress, which Grace purposely ripped. This leads to Grace meeting the Colonel and she becomes an acquaintance of his. Later, Grace has her carriage purposely crash in front of the Colonel's house so that she can get inside the house. Colonel helps her fix her carriage and Grace gets inside his house. He tries to get rid of her before May comes home, but Grace distracts the Colonel long enough so that when May gets home the Colonel has to hide Grace in his office. While Grace is in his office, May tries to warn the Colonel about Grace saying that she was dangerous, but the Colonel doesn't believe her. Grace finds the letters from the South and switches them for fake letters, but she accidentally drops one of the real letters which causes the Colonel to notice. Harry, who was hiding outside the house, is noticed by a servant who tells the Colonel about him and the Colonel believes he is the one who took the letters, so the Colonel saddles up and chases after Harry. They meet each other on the battlefield for the second Battle of Bull Run where they fight. While they fight, Grace watches on and sees Harry and the Colonel fight until the Colonel kills Harry. However, the Colonel is killed by a stray bullet which causes Harry and the Colonel to die side by side. Grace escapes to the north and gives the letters to United States and she is celebrated as a hero for the mission. Grace, filled with guilt and sadness, returns home where one night she is awoken by the spirits of the Colonel and Harry who lead her to the battlefield where they died blaming Grace for their deaths. Grace then wakes up realizing it was a nightmare, and she decides to go downstairs. When she gets to the stairs she passes out and falls down the stairs and dies.
The Moving Picture World reviewed the movie on March 15, three days before the film release. They said the movie was overall really good and well made, but the ending was terrible because it punishes Grace for helping the north when the death of the Colonel and Harry was not her fault. The reviewer, H.C. Judson, wished the ending was happier and upbeat to fall align with the heroism of Grace. [4]
David Hunter was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order emancipating slaves in three Southern states, for his leadership of United States troops during the Valley Campaigns of 1864, and as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas by Confederate forces, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of what is now the city of Manassas and about thirty miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C. The Union Army was slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail. Each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops. The battle was a Confederate victory and was followed by a disorganized post-battle retreat of the Union forces.
John Fulton Reynolds was a career United States Army officer and a general in the American Civil War. One of the Union Army's most respected senior commanders, he played a key role in committing the Army of the Potomac to the Battle of Gettysburg and was killed at the start of the battle.
Grace Cunard was an American actress, screenwriter and film director. During the silent era, she starred in over 100 films, wrote or co-wrote at least 44 of those productions, and directed no fewer than eight of them. In addition, she edited many of her films, including some of the shorts, serials, and features she developed in collaboration with Francis Ford. Her younger sister, Mina Cunard, was also a film actress.
Fort Stevens, formerly named Fort Massachusetts, was part of the extensive fortifications built around Washington, D.C., during the American Civil War.
When Lincoln Paid is a 1913 American short silent historical drama film written by William Clifford and directed by Francis Ford, who also appears in the film as Abraham Lincoln. Ford portrayed Lincoln in nine silent films; all are now lost except for this one.
Jubilee (1966) is a historical novel written by Margaret Walker, which focuses on the story of a biracial slave during the American Civil War. It is set in Georgia and later in various parts of Alabama in the mid-19th century before, during, and after the Civil War.
Gods and Generals is a 2003 American epic war drama film written and directed by Ronald F. Maxwell. It is an adaptation of the 1996 novel of the same name by Jeffrey Shaara and prequel to Maxwell's 1993 film Gettysburg. Most of the film was personally financed by media mogul Ted Turner. The film follows the story of Stonewall Jackson from the beginning of the American Civil War to his death at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
The Blue and the Gray is a television miniseries that first aired on CBS in three installments on November 14, November 16, and November 17, 1982. Set during the American Civil War, the series starred John Hammond, Stacy Keach, Lloyd Bridges, and Gregory Peck as President Abraham Lincoln. It was executive produced by Larry White and Lou Reda, in association with Columbia Pictures Television. A novel of the same name by John Leekley was published as a companion to the series in 1982, based on a story by John Leekley and Bruce Catton and the teleplay by Ian McLellan Hunter. The title refers to the colors of the uniforms worn by United States Army and Confederate States Army soldiers respectively.
Edward Paul Doherty was a Canadian-American American Civil War officer who formed and led the detachment of soldiers that captured and killed John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of US President Abraham Lincoln, in a Virginia barn on April 26, 1865, twelve days after Booth had fatally shot Lincoln.
The Masked Rider is a 1919 American silent Western film serial directed by Aubrey M. Kennedy. Scenes were filmed in Mission San Jose in San Antonio, Castroville and Bandera, Texas, and in Coahuíla, Mexico. The serial was long thought to be lost in entirety.
The 9th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was a military unit from Boston, Massachusetts, USA, part of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. It is also known as "The Fighting Ninth". It existed from 1861 to 1864 and participated in several key battles during the war. The unit is an Irish heritage unit, with many volunteers having been born in Ireland.
Tales of ghosts from the American Civil War have been popularly shared since its end. Among the locales that have become known for Civil War ghost stories are the Sharpsburg battlefield near Sharpsburg, Maryland; the Chickamauga battlefield in Georgia; Harper's Ferry, West Virginia; Buras, Louisiana; and Warren, Arkansas.
The Battle of the Sexes is a 1928 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film starred Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, Belle Bennett, Don Alvarado, and Sally O'Neil. It was released by United Artists. The film was a remake by Griffith of an earlier film he directed in 1914, which starred Lillian Gish. Both films are based on the novel The Single Standard by Daniel Carson Goodman; the story was adapted for this production by Gerrit J. Lloyd.
Events from the year 1864 in the United States.
Operator 13 is a 1934 American pre-Code romance film directed by Richard Boleslawski and starring Marion Davies, Gary Cooper, and Jean Parker.
Listen Lester is a 1924 black-and-white silent film drama/comedy film directed by William A. Seiter, with a screen adaptation by Lewis Milestone and William A. Seiter, based upon the 1918 stage play of the same name. Released by Universal Pictures on May 20, 1924, the film stars Louise Fazenda and Harry Myers.
Army of Frankensteins is a 2014 American science fiction horror film written and directed by Ryan Bellgardt. It stars Jordan Farris as a time-traveling youth who, along with multiple versions of Frankenstein's monster, are pulled into the American Civil War.
Fighting Through is a 1919 silent American drama film, directed by Christy Cabanne. It stars E. K. Lincoln, Spottiswoode Aitken, and Millicent Fisher. It was released on January 27, 1919.
For the Cause of the South is a lost 1912 American silent film that portrayed a tragic, fictional romance set during the American Civil War. Directed by Bannister Merwin, the film was produced by Edison Studios, which was located in New York City, in The Bronx. The production starred Laura Sawyer, Benjamin Wilson, and Charles Ogle, with supporting characters played by Bessie Learn and James Gordon in the role of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.