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Glory: A Review

Glory: A Review


Stephanie Beck
April 9, 1997
Prof. Deutch

Glory captures the heroism of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the first black
regiment in the Civil War, the Massachusetts "Fighting" Fifty-fourth. An
extremely talented cast and crew earned three Academy Awards (cinematography,
sound and supporting actor) and five nominations for their work in Glory. The
outstanding cinematography, sound, score and acting recreate the events leading
up to the Union attack on Fort Wagner on July 18th 1863.
Matthew Broderick portrays the young Bostonian abolitionist Col. Robert G.
Shaw who takes command of the Fifty-fourth, following the Emancipation
Proclamation. Shaw along with Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) leads a band of ex
slaves, servants and other black volunteers including a rebellious runaway slave
Trip (Denzel Washington), Shaw's educated childhood friend Thomas Searles (Andre
Braugher), and a former grave digger Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). Together these
men face the adversity of a racist Union Army, struggling to prove themselves
worthy of their government issued blue uniforms.
After months of training and exploitation for physical labor, the Fifty-
fourth gains the opportunity to fight in an attack on Fort Wagner on the beaches
of South Carolina. Poised to dispel the belief that blacks would not be
disciplined under fire, the Fifty-fourth leads the almost suicidal attack on Ft.
Wagner. There Col. Shaw valiantly falls and the Fifty-fourth, suffering great
losses, displayed the courage that persuaded the Union to enlist many more black
soldiers.
Matthew Broderick delivers a noteworthy performance in the role of Col.
Shaw, which Leonard Maltin calls his most ambitious part. In an interview for
the New York Times, Broderick spoke of his method acting,

"The first step [in preparing for the role of Robert Gould Shaw in Glory]
was to try to learn as much as I could about the real person. That was mostly
from letters, photographs,...