Before GWTW there was The Blue and the Gry
There have been hundreds of movies, documentaries, TV shows, and television miniseries related to the US Civil War over the years and the most popular continue's to be 1939's Gone With The Wind. Before this blockbuster hit theaters there was a film short titled The Blue and the Gray in 1935 which was filmed in many locations including Virginia. There is a 1982 television miniseries of the same name.
As the narrator tells the story of the American Civil War, the audience visits various cities, battlefields, buildings, and monuments associated with the war's personalities and battles. The film ends with newsreel footage of a parade of Civil War veterans.
There is no way to watch this film today
The Blue and the Gray was number seven in a series of shorts under the title See American First. Filming took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Charleston and Fort Sumpter South Carolina, Chatanooga and Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, Vicksburg Mississippi, and Montgomery Alabama. The movie was also filmed in 5 Virginia locations: Appomattox, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Richmond. These locations saw actually Civil War battles.
John B Kennedy a Canadian radio correspondent, film narrator, and journalist narrated The Blue and the Gray and actor Victor Killian was uncredited as Abraham Lincoln in the short. Sadly there is no record of anywhere online where this film short can be viewed today. Noteven Turner CLassic Movies which champions older black and white movies has it in their vault.
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