Johnny Shiloh

Johnny Shiloh (1963)

Johnny Shiloh (1963)

If you wanted to introduce your kids to the civil war, Johnny Shiloh wouldn’t be a bad place to start. A young person could watch this film and not be traumatized by the horror’s of war, but still come away knowing something about the Civil War or at least get them interested in history. It is not so much a war movie as a period piece that takes place during the war.  JS is based on the book by Rhodes James A. and Dean Jauchius  which is based on the true story of John Lincoln Clem, the youngest noncommissioned officer in Army history. It also has a kick-butt theme song, that you will sing long after the movie is over.

JH stars Disney Legendary actors Kevin ‘Moochie’ Corcoran as Sargent Johnny Shiloh and Brian Keith as Sgt. (Later lieutenant) Gabe Trotte. Yes he actually was made a Sargent. John Clem gets the nick name JH because he didn’t run away in the battle of Shiloh but stuck around to beat his drum.  As General George Henry Thomas played by Edward ‘the Chief from Get Smart’ Platt said in battle “If JS isn’t  going to run and neither am I.”  JS is a young kid who was a mascot drummer for the Blue Raiders and when they got sent to war he defied his father’s wishes and snuck aboard the train and went with them. As Capt. McPherson (Skip Homeier) said “ I’ve heard of people who escaped the army to go home but never anyone who escaped home to join the army.” The film also has a rare scene in any Disney film where Keith wants to go off to a chapel and pray to the Judeo-Christian God. Can you imagine that.

Moochie and Keith work really well together. The father/son relationship between the two gives the film an emotional weight that latches the viewers onto the characters. Gabe watched the boy grow up and delights and hurts him to see him with his life in danger on a regular basis during the days of the war. At one point ‘SPOILER’ JS gets captured and befriends a Reb named Billy. They form a bond and if it wasn’t for the war they might hang out. They would e-mail each other if it was modern times. When JS escapes and goes back to his own camp Gabe asks him “What were they like?”  “Just like us” JS replies. This is the take away in the film for me.  Men from both sides of the war are just like us, regular men who lead lives like everybody else.

JS is a made for TV movie aired on the Wonderful World of Disney. The quality is equal to that of any of their feature length theatrical films. I signed up for ClassicFlix, a DVD web rental service that specializes in old movies. The cheapest DVD I can find of JS online is around 30/40 bucks and I can’t be spending that type of money for movies, no matter how good it is. I also couldn’t find it at the library.  But it is worth watching or if you have money to spend, worth putting in your personal movie library.