Anthony Perkins Gains Stardom via William Wyler's Engaging Friendly Persuasion

Among the most enjoyable and moving family-friendly films of its era, director William Wyler’s richly entertaining 1956 comedy-drama Friendly Persuasion offers memorable roles for a talented cast, led by Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire and newcomer Anthony Perkins in a breakout performance. With its sometimes gentle, sometimes stark depiction of the events impacting the Birdwells, a peaceful Quaker family at the outset of the Civil War, the movie provides a warm, funny, compelling viewing experience. Wyler applies his typical skill and verve in bringing Michael Wilson’s excellent screenplay (based on Jessamyn West’s 1945 novel) to the screen with care and distinction, pulling top-quality performances from the entire cast and skillfully handling the story’s various shifts in tone, which range from high comedy to imposing drama, resulting in a robust, thought-provoking work that leaves viewers fully vested in the movie throughout the 137-minute running time.

                Starting in films in 1925, by Persuasion William Wyler had firmly established himself as one of Hollywood’s preeminent directors, with Oscars for two of the 1940’s top hits and Best Picture winners, Mrs. Miniver and The Best Years of Our Lives, as well as equally fine work (at least), in such landmark classics as his great 1936 triple header, Come and Get It, Dodsworth and These Three, as well as Wuthering Heights, The Letter, The Heiress and Roman Holiday. Persuasion shows Wyler’s gift for subtlety suggesting complex themes and behaviors in a mature, riveting fashion, trusting the audience to draw their own conclusions concerning character motives and actions. His power to capture prime, often multi-faceted acting is also evident in Persuasion, with Cooper playing in his relaxed, simplistic mode without any trace of coyness, McGuire exuding both warmth and grit as Mrs. Birdwell, and Perkins proving himself to be at the forefront of gifted, powerful young actors. Post Persuasion, Wyler would gain Oscar #3 via 1959’s Ben Hur, the blockbuster of its era, and gain further success in the 1960’s with The Collector and Funny Girl, then gain a richly warranted AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 1976, before passing in 1981.

                Gary Cooper, well into his third decade as a top star after first making an impact in 1927’s Wings, works splendidly under Wyler’s direction, resulting in one of the best-modulated depictions to be found among his gallery of genial, easy-going heroes, including Longfellow Deeds, Alvin York and Will Kane. After his terrific teaming with Burt Lancaster in 1954’s Vera Cruz, Cooper would remain a top draw until his passing in 1961, with his earnest work as the morally sound yet often playful Jess Birdwell standing out as possibly his best work post Cruz. Cooper’s simplistic, direct playing allows him to believably form a complete portrait of Jess and put his unique stamp on the role, whether he’s impishly racing a neighbor to church, trying to reach a resolution after a dispute with his chagrined wife, or coping with the onslaught of the Civil War, and how it stands to affect the Birdwells. Cooper’s fully-rounded, good-natured interpretation of Jess helps viewers become involved with the Birdwells’ lifestyle, while also allowing them the chance to see the star thriving in a superior movie late in his career, as Cooper’s film output would prove uneven after Persuasion, until his untimely death at 60 in 1961.  

                Dorothy McGuire had been among the loveliest and most skillful leading ladies in Hollywood since her star-making role as the title character in Claudia, which she originated on Broadway before, under contract to David O. Selznick, she recreated the role on film in 1943. Following this success, McGuire moved from one exceptional movie to the next, including A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, outstanding work in The Spiral Staircase, an Oscar nomination for 1947’s Best Picture Academy Award winner, Gentlemen’s Agreement and in 1954’s big hit Cinemascope travelogue-style escapism about three women looking for love and/or fortune in Rome, Three Coins in the Fountain. The role of the soft-spoken, caring Eliza Bridwell in Persuasion ideally suits McGuire’s talents, allowing her to create one of her most indelible portrayals. Along with her sincere, seemingly effortless acting approach, McGuire brings class and dignity to the role, helping to suggest Eliza has inner strength and spirit not immediately apparent given her calm, quite façade. After this peak McGuire would continue fruitfully in films, working in “mom” mode for Disney in Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson, and adding gentleness and grace to a couple of classic, juicy potboilers, A Summer Place and Susan Slade, while making a rewarding segway into television, including Emmy nominations for 1976’s huge mini-series, Rich Man, Poor Man and her touching work in 1985’s Amos.

The son of Osgood Perkins (of Scarface fame), Anthony Perkins first hitchhiked to Hollywood and scored his film debut in George Cukor’s 1953 The Actress, before making a bigger name for himself on Broadway as the troubled young Tom Lee in Tea and Sympathy, which led directly to his Persuasion casting. As the contemplative, sensitive Joshua Birdwell, Perkins brings the role to vivid life, adding intelligence and intensity to the introspective young man. In one of the central storylines, Joshua finds himself torn between fighting in the war or maintaining his Quaker beliefs, and Perkins dynamically illustrates how this conflict wreaks havoc on Joshua’s psyche. His honest, emotionally devasting work in these sequences, after first showing a more amiable side to the gentle Josh, results in one of the most convincing and transfixing performances by a young actor of the period. Gaining a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his work, Perkins would go on in 1957 to win a Most Promising Male Newcomer Golden Globe and top placement in Quigley’s Star of Tomorrow poll, then for the rest of the 1950’s essentially take over from the late James Dean in regards to consideration as the most dramatically-gifted young actor of his generation, combining vulnerability and neurosis with great skill in films such as Fear Strikes Out, and on Broadway in his biggest stage success, Look Homeward, Angel. 1960 of course would change the course of Perkins’ career, for better or worse, with his legendary work in Alfred Hitchcock’s shocking smash hit Psycho, as thereafter Perkins would forever be associated with the nightmarishly charming Norman Bates, leading to Perkins playing variations on the role via Psycho sequels and elsewhere, perhaps most effectively in 1968’s supreme sleeper Pretty Poison, wherein Perkins works in flawless tandem with the equally-talented Tuesday Weld. Perkins would continue in leads (winning a Cannes Best Actor award for 1961’s Goodbye Again) and character parts (Murder on the Orient Express, Crimes of Passions) with varying degrees of success, until his untimely AIDS-related death at 60 in 1992.

Marjorie Main, in her penultimate film and in full Ma Kettle mode, has one of her choicest roles as the widow Hudspeth, a rural matron Jess and Joshua visit. The widow has several horny daughters with unabashed eyes for Josh, resulting in possibly the broadest comedy in the film, and the earthy, non-nonsense Main garners her share of laughs displaying her typical homespun zeal. Among the others, Phyllis Love is endearing as Josh’s dreamy, shy sister, Mattie, while Richard Eyer is properly feisty as the youngest Birdwell, who factors into some high comedy of his own battling the Birdwell’s mischievous goose Samantha, who’s a born scene-stealer. Peter Mark Richman makes a strong impression as the handsome calvary officer involved with Mattie, and Robert Middleton, John Smith and Joel Fluellen are also seen to good advantage as Sam, the neighbor and racing rival to Jess; Cabel, the strapping but kind Quaker who, in a memorable sequence, faces ridicule and bullying due to his peaceful beliefs; and Enoch, a laborer who works on the Birdwell’s farm.  

A box-office success upon its release in November of 1956, Persuasion saw $4,000,000 in U.S./Canada film rentals (according to Variety) placing it among the top twenty hits of the year. The movie also fared very well during the award season, with McGuire winning the National Board of Review’s Best Actress prize and the film placing fifth among the Board’s Top Ten films, while also landing on the New York Times Top Ten list. Cooper and Main received Golden Globe nods and Dimitri Tiomkin won a Globe for his lush, evocative score, while Michael Wilson won the “Best Written Drama” prize from the Writers Guild of America. Persuasion would also be voted Best Film at Cannes, while regarding the Academy Awards, besides Perkins’ Best Supporting Actor bid, the film scored a Best Picture nod in a very competitive year, with Wyler gaining a Best Director nod. The lovely title song was also short listed although, unforgivably, Wilson was deemed ineligible for his Adapted Screenplay nomination due to the prevailing blacklist of the time- yuck. The film has maintained a reputation as one of Wyler’s best, with releases on VHS, DVD and recently a Warner Archive Blu-Ray, which allows viewers the best print ever of the classic, helping the film reach new audiences across several generations. The overall tone of the film, with its deft blend of comedy and drama, including moving, striking passages while illustrating the kindness, loyalty and trust existing among the Birdwells and their relations marks Friendly Persuasion as a richly satisfying watch guaranteed to lift one’s spirits, during the holidays or at any other time of year.