Ford's mastery over the little things makes up for this movie's failures at the big things. A few indelible images - the drummer boy getting yanked out of ranks by his mom, the conversation shot through reeds, and the Searchers-esque ending.

Vaguely dissatisfying as the final credits begin to roll, this still has some great moments. Unusual for a John Ford Western, in that it is really a civil war story and falls as much into the category of Wayne's war pictures as it does into that of his Westerns. The Romance is 100 percent artificial and unbelievable. Holden is terrific here, while Wayne contents himself to stick with the formula and not over-extend himself. Worth watching, but will make no one's list of favorite movies.

I don't get the appeal of Wayne. He is unrefined and he has no class. On top of that, this is exactly the kind of war movie that I find boring and unpleasant to watch. There are a few good humorous scenes (Wayne offered chicken "breast or a thigh" by a lady with her boobs practically hanging out from her dress), but there also are few scenes that bothered me a lot (whole cadet thing).

It's these small details; the gestulations, facial expressions and glances, the soldier who's having trouble getting rid of his chewing tobacco, waiting for a certain lady in a mansion... Ford display a diligent attentiveness, and there are these small moments, revealing the clemency concealed in the machoism and pride, that makes this a funny and fascinating film. Not immensely great, but pretty fucking wonderful.

A solid effort from Ford, indicative of his later, darker period. A film without heroes, Ford's sympathies seem to alternate between the Northern and Southern soldiers. The South seems brave, but foolish and undermanned, while the North has a more hardened edge, though not without compassion in the person of the doctor. The dialectic between doctor and colonel foregrounds that tension and provides the central drama of the film, even as Union soldiers flee their Southern pursuers.