The Raid (1954)

Overrated and overhyped

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Crappy film

While the story was in part fictionalized, "The Raid" is a decent retelling of a seldom mentioned part of Civil War history. In October, 1864, a group of Confederates entered the town of St. Albans, Vermont in order to burn the town, spread terror and steal bank money to help finance the Confederate cause. It was the northern-most raid made during the war and was a bit of an embarrassment to Canada, as the raiders used the country as a base of operations.The film starts with a group of Confederate soldiers mounting an escape from a Union prisoner of war camp. One of the leaders of these men, Major Benton (Van Heflin), would organize these men into a small band similar to Quantrill's Raiders and attack the town from Canada. But first, some of them would enter the town and pretend to be businessmen in order to scout out the town and determine the best way to mount the attack. Much of the film concerns this as well as their problems with a total screwup who is so bent on murdering Yankees that he's bound to blow their secret. At the end of the film, you see a re-creation of the raid and its aftermath. though they never really talked about the aftermath...which would make nice reading on your part!This is a pretty exciting film. The acting is quite nice and, as usual, Van Helfin is quite good. Had he been taller and better looking, I am pretty sure he would have been a much bigger star. Additionally, the project doesn't stray too far from the facts and is a quality film throughout. Well worth seeing and far better than I had expected.

Based on a real event in 1864, it's an interesting historical tale. A dozen or so Confederate soldiers escape from a Union prison and make it to Canada where they join a band of other escaped Confederates. After casing the small town of St. Albans, Vermont, they don their uniforms, raid the town, make off with the horses and the banks' money, and burn the buildings.I don't know how closely the film hews to historical fact and I'm too lazy to look it up but, as it stands, it's not badly done. There's nothing resembling grace in Hugo Fregonene's direction or in the dialog but the performances are entirely professional. That's only to be expected from such a seasoned cast.It's a narrative that contrasts ideologues and pragmatists, a subject of interest in some circles today. Lee Marvin as a Confederate lieutenant and Richard Boone as a guilt-ridden Union officer are ready to kill and die for their principles, even though the Civil War was virtually over by the time of the raid. Both are filled with loathing for the other side. The principle they stand for seem not to be states' rights or slavery but self actualization. Some of the town's good citizens are equally filled with righteous wrath towards the South.Boone survives after a futile defense but Marvin does not. This is Lee Marvin in his villainous mode. We get a generous portion of that baleful stare and we are forced to acknowledge that pendulous lower lip. And when Lee Marvin dies on screen, he really DIES. When he's shot he never slumps quietly to the floor grasping his belly. No. He twirls around and throws his arms awkwardly about. He does pirouettes. He does majestic leaps during which he seems to hang in the air. He does handstands, somersaults, and back flips. He does a grand jete en tournant. The audience applauds wildly, recklessly, as Marvin does a toe dance and for his renowned finale performs a superlative cancan. A few bluenoses razz his frilly underpants but he carries on undaunted until he slides to the floor, a dying swan. And when he finally stops rolling over, his tongue lolling out, there's no doubt that he is well and truly dead.The rebel leader is Van Heflin and he's a pragmatist. Regardless of the progress of the war, he's a major in the Confederate Army and he acts like one. The raid for him, as for most of the others, is an act of war, not just an expression of hatred. The raid (he hopes) will draw Federal soldiers from the south, and the money they steal will buy Enfield rifles from the British. It may be too late but that doesn't absolve him of his responsibility.I don't know what the covert message of the film is, although I'm sure there must be one. Maybe it's summed up when Heflin points out to Anne Bancroft that Sherman has been marching through Georgia, burning and looting and killing. Bancroft understands that. But would she understand why Confederates might do the same thing to St. Albans? I don't think that even-steven ploy would have worked if this were a movie about World War II and the Germans pillaged a town in Vermont. But both sides are rather balanced here, which is a step or two above "Gone With the Wind," in which the despised Yankees were all rats.

(Avast, slight spoilers ahead) I got this tape from my local library, which keeps a copy for obvious reasons.I once went to the town of Matewan, West Virginia, and in a little museum there I saw the schedule for the town theatre citra May 1954. Movies would change at the theatre each day. As there would be no TV for another decade or so in those parts, this was much of the available entertainment in the town. "The Raid" seems to have been made for towns like Matewan in the 1950's. Although it wasn't listed for that month, I am sure showed there some Monday or Tuesday night for an audience which probably wasn't too demanding. The historical raid - daring and remarkably successful - didn't seem to have been very well researched, so the movie is full of Hollywood embellishments, including a loose cannon played by Lee Marvin. Marvin uses the opportunity to practice being Liberty Valance. And St. Albans seems to have had more Yankee soldiers coming and going through the town than Washington D.C. had.What really made me snicker was when the raiders change into their Confederate uniforms. Only in tacky Civil War paintings do Rebel uniforms look so pristine. When Anne Bancroft's son catches Van Heflin in his uniform just before the raid, I expected the boy to think it was Halloween.And then there's Anne Bancroft herself. While watching the movie I actually looked on the IMDb to see if there was a second Anne Bancroft. The then-studio contract actress looks nothing like in her later films, and has none of the presence she would later have in "The Miracle Worker," "Agnes of God," and of course "The Graduate."Worth seeing if only 1). you live in St. Albans and 2). you have a couple hours to kill on a Hollywood fictionalization of your home town's biggest news story.

Van Heflin is a confederate officer disguised as a businessman, who is planning to raid the town of St. Albans, near the Canadian border. He gets emotionally involved with his landlady Anne Bancroft and her son, and eventually with the town's people. This is going to make his mission become much harder. Heflin gives a great performance, you can feel the agony he is going through. This is not an easy film to see, because you feel with him and it becomes almost unbearable. But it shows very well the horror of a war between people which were alike, but had a different cause.