Shenandoah [DVD] (1965)

Classic civil war drama set in 1863, starring James Stewart as Charlie Anderson, a wealthy farmer in Virginia who has hitherto steadfastly refused to take any part in the war that is raging around him. But the war inevitably ensnares him through a series of family tragedies that includes his youngest son (Philip Alford) being taken prisoner by the Unionists and charged with spying, his son James (Patrick Wayne) and daughter-in-law Ann (Katharine Ross) being murdered by a gang of looters, and the death of his eldest son Jacob (Glenn Corbett). Meanwhile his daughter, Jannie (Rosemary Forsyth) falls in love with a Confederate soldier, Sam (Doug McClure). Despite the tragedies that punctuate the film, it carries strong and hopeful anti-war and pro-family messages, particularly in the sentimental finale which shows the Anderson family prevailing against all the odds, and the screenplay has since been successfully adapted into a Broadway musical by the same name.