European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Glory it the tale of a Black civil War regiment and its nearly suicidal assault on fort Wagner. Glory stays True to historical facts i Hal Kennedy Lef Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman portray proud volunteers of the 54th regiment of Massachusetts. By Richard Bernstein new York times he history books show a certain col. James Montgomery who commanded a Black civil War regiment in the Vicinity of Charleston s.c., talking about his soldiers in a particularly instructive Way i was the Tirol person in the country to employ Nigger soldiers in the United states army said the colonel who once owned slaves in Kentucky his Choice of words makes it seem As though Hov a addressing a convention of Confederate redneck in fact this officer of the Republic was giving his considered opinion to members of a regiment of Black troops the same Black troops who Are depicted in the new movie glory the Black regiment the 54th of Massachusetts had just Sull ered horrific losses in a Brave futile frontal assault on fort Wagner an episode that forms the Climax of the film. But the movie does not include what Montgomery Washington Center and other soldiers of the 54th revolt against receiving less pay than White troops. Page 16 the stars and stripes monday february 12, 1990 later had to say about their performance you have not proved yourself As soldiers he said apparently ignoring the fact that the men had stood their ground under withering enemy lire. I be had a lot of niggers and a lot of mules he said and you know a Nigger and a mule go very Well  there is no indication of the reaction of the Black soldiers to this remarkably offensive speech which is recounted in the Book one Gallant Rush by Peter Birchard. One of the major sources of historical information for the film. But whatever their reaction Montgomery who is depicted in g Orcas undertaking a different but equally heinous action putting a harmless Southern town to the Torch is a useful reminder of the spiritual background of the film and therefore of much of the historic meaning of the events it shows. Glory directed by Edward Zwick the creator of the popular television series whirl something. And starring Matthew Broderick Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman tells the Story of one of the Black regiments that fought against the confederacy in the civil War. Based on information in books by Burchard and Lincoln Kirstein As Well As on Harvard University s collection of the letters of Robert Gould Shaw the regiment s commanding officer it is a refreshing rare example wherein a Hollywood film tells a Good Story while remaining True to the actual events of history. The regiment was organized by abolitionists in Massachusetts and commanded by the 26-year-old Shaw Broderick s role who was the son of one of them. Some of the impetus for its formation came from Frederick Douglass the Black Leader whose two sons volunteered to serve in it. Douglass believed that Blacks should be involved in a fight that was at least in part Lor their own Freedom. Abolitionists like John Albi Nandrew governor of Massachusetts believed that the regiment would be a step toward a wider acceptance of Blacks by whiles a proof of their claim on full citizenship in the America of just a few months alter the emancipation proclamation. In depicting these Little known events. Glory serves As a reminder of what America was like in those Days and of where so Many of the problems we still live with today originated. The movie focuses on the experience of the regiment itself concluding with its Brave nearly suicidal assault on fort Wagner h also sketches in the background of doubt and even consternation in the dominant while society which quite simply heaved that Blacks were not equal to whiles and would probably Cut and run at the first Flash of Musket lire from the enemy Tho theme of glory then is the struggle of a group of Black men fully aware of the contemptible attitudes that surrounded them to prove themselves As Good As Whites both in the film and in history when the men of the 54th Massachusetts stood their ground there should no longer have been any doubt about their bravery or their patriotism or indeed about their contribution to the Union Victory Given that 10 percent of the Union army some 180.000 men. Were Black. Glory the movie promises to Rescue for the Large Public that goes to the movies an almost lost lesson in american history. In Many respects. Glory Marks a return to an earlier concept of movie making about War. It is a Large scale Panorama with a cast of literally thousands depicting Bailie As the supreme test of manhood this alone is a change. For several years now As the movies have focused on the Vietnam War. Combat has come to be portrayed As destructive not Only of life and limb which obviously it always is but also of personal values morals and the wry spin of comradeship the Battlefield in the Vietnam War movies is pictured As a place whore the conflicts among soldiers on the same Side go from bad to worse and the spirit of brotherhood solves in the general horror in glory  is Clear Hill Tho Battle scones of this Crnovic Stern graphically True to a historical reality  in n Vople statistic some 700 000 soldiers died in Iho civil War. More than halt the Tola number of deaths 1 2 million suffered in Allol the wars of Iho United states combined half a dozen or so major Battles during the civil War produced casualty rates in the Vicinity of 20 percent a massacre by today s standards. Nonetheless the Battlefield in glory is presented As an Arena wherein individual men come to have respect or one another