North and South

[mrsl]

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I debated whether I should put this in Westerns or TV and Media, but feel it works best here in my favorite thread.

For the past two weekends I have spend hours watching this mini series that I was unable to watch when it was first on. My daughter swears we watched it together but I think she's dreaming. I'm pretty sure it was on on my Bingo nights.

Anyway, it was loaded with bit parts for nearly every well known actor in Hollywood. Bob Mitchum as the Irish father of the wife of the girl married to one of the lead guys. Jimmy Stewart as a Southern lawyer. Hal Holbrook as President Lincoln. Jean Simmons as the mother of the other lead. There are a lot more that I can't quite recall at the moment. But also, all of the terrific character actors from all of the 50's and 60's T.V. shows are on hand. I've never seen Kirstie Alley in anything other than comedy movies and of course Cheers, but in this she is an extremist Northern sympathizer and has a few really good scenes to show her range. I'm surprised she never pursued more varied parts.

Part I deals with the friendship that develops between Orry (Patrick Swayze), and George (James Read), when they meet at West Point some 15 years before the start of the Civil War. Orry Main inherits his family plantation, Mont Royale in South Carolina, and George Hazzard inherits his family iron works in Pennsylvania, of which he shares responsibility with his brother. Much of the first chapters deal with the friends and enemies they each form during their years at West Point, and how each always covers the others' back. Later they visit each others families, marry, and have romances, all leading up to the beginning of the Civil War.

Part II is mainly the years of the war with various battles, imprisonment, and finally the end of the war leaving no plan for the freed slaves and how they should function. Except for the minor information on the Lincoln assassination, North and South is a pretty good anthology on the dates and battles fought across the eastern U.S.

I'm looking forward to Part III this weekend, which I assume will be more directed to the personal lives of the lead families, and their attempts to rebuild following the devastation of the South.

Is anyone else watching this series on the Encore channel?
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[RedRiver]

Part Three? I had no idea! The first batch, NORTH AND SOUTH, was enjoyable in every way. Steamy soap opera? Sure! History? You bet! Melodrama? Knock yourself out! Over the top and tugging at every emotion available, this mini-series succeeds on every level. First broadcast before I owned a VCR, I planned my nights around this show.

An evening work shift interfered with LOVE AND WAR (is that right?). I never got to see that. Probably won't see the new one, as I don't have Encore. I hope fans will enjoy it. Patrick Swayse, the brash young hearthrob in 1985, is sadly gone. Will the story focus on younger generations? Will Mr. Read return as George? There's only one way to find out!

[stuart.uk]

Part 3 was made several years ago, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone, except to say it's mainly about George Hazzard an it's not as good as the previous two mini-series

[mrsl]

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Stuart is correct, Part III is not as good as I & II but but at least it does culminate in a happy ending. Since Orry is killed off almost immediately, the remaining 5 hours or so are spent divided between George Hazzard and Charlie Main, until around hour 3, they come together to work with each other in a common search and revenge against Bent, who miraculously got out of the fire at his warehouse. I guess they needed him when Swayze decided to defect in order to contrive some sort of continuation of the story. But, since James Read is the one I personally preferred, I was completely happy to see him carry most of the final section of the trilogy. Cousin Ashton (Terri Garber), is totally vile in this, as is Elkanah Bent (Phillip Casnoff). Between the two of them the Mains and Hazzards are still fighting their private war years later. I can't say I've seen Terri Garber anywhere since this series, but Casnoff has been in a lot of TV movies and series.

Part I dealt with the meeting and building of friendship between the Southern Orry Main, and the Northern George Hazzard.
Part II dealt with the Civil War in fairly good detail, but included the continuing friendship of the two military rivals.
Part III dealt with a representation of what the carpetbagging was like, as well as George and Charlie finally finding some peace.

Even though Part III was kind of slow, I still liked it, if for no reason other than closure to everyone involved. And believe me, everyone was represented as to what happened to them. But even with minimal 2 or 3 minutes on screen, all the characters from the past 2 series were shown. The director obviously didn't know what to do with some of his on screen time. A lot was spent in seeing a wagon train, two or three guys riding, and some of the Indians all riding across the prairie in a sort of sundown lighting. Being a Western buff, as well as an American History buff, this series provided plenty of pleasant T.V. viewing time for me for the past three weekends.

I think it's all still on ON Demand if you care to check it out.

P.S. Thanks for your comments. So often my posts go unanswered, sometimes I think they're being lost in translation or something.
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[sandykaypax]

I remember when North & South was first on tv in the 80's. I don't really remember watching it--I think I only saw bits and pieces. It's one that I wouldn't mind watching on dvd now, so many good actors in it.

I recently read Kirstie Alley's book, The Art of Men (I Prefer Mine Al Dente) and in it, she talks about her experiences making the miniseries. She and Patrick Swayze had a torrid love affair during the filming. Wisely, they both decided to break it off and go back to their spouses. At the time, she was married to Parker Stevenson, and Swayze to his wife, Lisa Niemi. She speaks fondly of Jimmy Stewart, and how kind he was to her.

Sandy K

[RedRiver]

To be honest, I liked this series better than the similar THE BLUE AND THE GREY. I got the impression some preferred the latter, found it more serious. An old-fashioned melodrama is just fine with me!

[stuart.uk]

Anne

I could understand George and Madeline getting married at the end, but if I remember right they also had a brief affair while Orry and Constance were still alive. That seemed out of character for the two leads, as I didn't think they would betray Orry and Constance.

[mrsl]

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If you're talking about after Orry was killed and George went to SC to help Madeline, they didn't actually have an affair, they had a 'moment' but resisted it because George said he was definitely in love with his wife. To my recollection (not always the best tho), I don't think George and Madeline were ever alone together other than a few minutes because they were always with their respective partners.
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