One of the wisest pieces of advice that I have ever encountered was when I was told that the only person stronger than the one who fights is the one who manages to resist since it takes more strength to remain stoic than it does to react in anger. Obviously, this is a nebulous concept and one that doesn’t apply to every scenario, but it’s generally a good rule of thumb for dealing with some daily challenges, especially when pursuing a more peaceful and placid existence. It is also the foundation for the entire pacifist movement, which has taken different forms, ranging from political to religious. Jessamyn West was an expert on the art of resistance, as examined in her extraordinary tome The Friendly Persuasion, a decades-spanning odyssey that explores the trials and tribulations of a Quaker family residing in rural Indiana during the 19th century, following their experiences in a rapidly-changing country (in terms of both politics and cultural shifts), which included the challenges brought about by the American Civil War, which presented many obstacles for a family born into a religion based around peace and humanity, and while baulked at any form of conflict. It seemed like only a matter of time before the novel was brought to the screen, and it fell into the hands of William Wyler, arguably Hollywood’s greatest journeyman director, and someone known for reliable, well-crafted films that were not always daring, but were rather solid and genuinely moving where required. Friendly Persuasion is not always seen as one of the director’s best works, but rather one that combines many of his most distinctly personal and compelling qualities. Working closely with West, who consulted on every aspect of this adaptation to ensure it retained the spirit of her work, Wyler crafts a colourful, engaging historical drama that carries many complex ideas, delivering them in a manner that is decidedly a lot more endearing in practice than we may have originally expected, as well as containing many remarkable moments that immediately establish it as a far more intriguing film that we may have anticipated at the outset.

When it came time to make Friendly Persuasion, Wyler and writer Michael Wilson faced many challenges – the original text is an expansive, detailed odyssey that covers roughly forty years of American socio-cultural events and contains a multitude of historical details, and while other notably sprawling works such as Gone with the Wind and War and Peace had been subjected to bold adaptations, this was one instance where a different approach to the narrative needed to be taken to ensure that the story was simplified but the message remained intact. The approach taken was to centre the events of the novel around a single year, which may have elided large portions of the original text but still kept many of the most vital, compelling elements, simply rearranging the timeline to be more conscious of the limitations of the medium when it came to bringing it to the screen. Ultimately, the purpose of this film was to explore the lives of Quakers, a religious community that has been fervent in their belief in a simple existence, one void of violence and conflict as far as possible, and where pacifism and friendship are prioritized over anything else. The focus here is not on the war, contrary to how the film has been perceived, but rather on episodic moments in the life of this family over roughly a year. This lends itself to a more freeform style of storytelling, one in which it doesn’t need to constantly be moving towards a particular narrative destination, but is rather free to meander through the world in which these characters inhabit, exploring their day-to-day routines, while still hinting at something much deeper on the horizon. It seems strange that the novel and this film adaptation have been mostly absent from conversations around the search for the elusive Great American Novel, since by very virtue of both its concept, temporal setting and structure, Friendly Persuasion (as either a film or a novel) meets all the criteria for being considered an incredible document of American culture. Needless to say, this film lives up to the expectations and honours the original book from the very start.

Wyler has explored similar concepts in the past, or at least in terms of reconciling the political with the domestic, and whether in more obvious formats (such as in his masterpiece, The Best Years of Our Lives) or more subtle ways, these ideas have informed his vision from the beginning. He was a director whose films were designed to usually focus on different aspects of American life at various points in the past, and his quietly resilient exploration of the pastoral life of an ordinary family plunged into a series of existential crises as they started to realize that their religious beliefs may soon conflict with the changing nature of their country, is a fantastic embodiment of these ideas. Friendly Persuasion has quite a curious approach as far as the storytelling and execution go – it is caught somewhere between a tender comedy and a heartfelt drama, with the humour existing to soften the blow of the occasionally quite prosaic social commentary that abounds throughout the film. As a result, we find that Wyler had to shepherd several complex ideas, presenting them as the foundation for quite a challenging and unorthodox film. The film makes its message very clear without needing to be heavy-handed or needlessly dense since even as a lengthy epic about a very important moment in American history, it doesn’t lay claim to being either definitive or complete. The playful tone contrasts sharply with the sense of melancholy that persists throughout the film. Wyler may not be a director who stirs much enthusiasm from modern viewers, but he was a master of tone, and how he navigates dozens of ideas and condenses them into a single moving portrait of a family trying to remain steadfast in their beliefs is extremely beautiful. In the hands of a more daring director, Friendly Persuasion would have been far too overwrought, since it is much more likely that the spirit of the novel, which is a poetic ode to pacifism and family values, would have been misunderstood or at least lost some of its lustre, which is not the case with Wyler at the helm. The film manages to be pleasant and heartfelt, while still maintaining a sense of complexity, becoming a beautiful and meaningful ode to not only the characters in the text but the many people whose lives they represent.

Friendly Persuasion is an ensemble effort as far as performances are concerned, and while it is marketed on the presence of Gary Cooper in the role of the patriarch of this family, the film tends to be more focused on exploring the broader set of characters that populate the novel, or at least the portions that the story covers. Cooper was not always the most consistent actor when it came to dramatic material, and he spoke about the bewilderment of playing a role in which his heroism takes the form of resistance, rather than engaging in conflict (as was more common in many of his popular works), so it’s wonderful to see that he captures the spirit of this character perfectly, playing Jess Birdwell as a man with deep principles and a sincere love for his family, a far cry from the fire-and-brimstone patriarch we often find this these pastoral stories of religion coming into contact with progress. Dorothy McGuire proves to be a formidable co-lead, playing the part of the dedicated wife and mother, and arguably the person who holds the entire family together, particularly in these times of enormous strife. Friendly Persuasion was also a breakthrough performance for a young Anthony Perkins, who was known primarily as a stage actor but proved to be an exceptional talent on film, this particular role giving him the chance to run the gamut of emotions. The third act revolves around his character deciding to fight in the Civil War (and many consider these scenes to be the centrepiece of West’s novel), and his performance is strong enough to carry both the narrative and emotional weight of these moments. There are several great character actors that appear throughout the film, such as Robert Middleton, Joel Fluellen and the always delightful Marjorie Main in a scene-stealing supporting performance that lingers with us long afterwards and makes us wish there was more focus on these characters. Whether a main character or someone appearing in only a single scene, absolutely every actor is well-developed and genuinely complex, which makes a considerable difference throughout this film.

Friendly Persuasion may not be the most original or exciting film in theory, but Wyler has been known to be someone who can take the most simple of stories and weave them into incredibly engaging, compelling works imaginable, and this is the case with this film, in which he trades originality for consistency and a genuine sense of wonder that only someone known for years of hard work across multiple genres could have possibly mastered. The idea that they quite simply do not make films like this anymore may seem like misplaced nostalgia that is dismissive of contemporary efforts, but it’s a practical and real assessment of the way cinema has changed over the years, and how this kind of meat-and-potatoes Americana epic cannot be made without layers of deeper meaning and sometimes prosaic preaching that is very rarely all that convincing. This is a simple story about ordinary folk attempting to live their lives in peace, but who find themselves being led astray as a result of the changing dynamic of their country. Slowly but gradually, they make the stark realization that life cannot remain stagnant, and as peaceful and pleasant as their lives may be, it cannot be static – instead, it is a matter of adapting to these challenges and allowing their strength and resolve to remain consistent as time progresses. Made with an iron will and a lot of charming humour, Friendly Persuasion is a straightforward film, but one with a solid, soulful core that feels both genuinely moving and profoundly captivating, proving that Wyler undeniably is one of the true masters of his craft and a filmmaker whose knowledge and lived-in experience about the human condition was present in every frame of his work.