The Confederate Ironclad

Starring: Guy Coombs, Anna Q. Nilsson, Hal Clements, Miriam Cooper
Directed by: N/A
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Drama, War
Length: 16 minutes
1912

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Confederate soldier befriends a woman, unknown to him to be a spy for the North. When she reveals the location of the Confederate Ironclad to the Union soldiers, he and his Southern girl must try to save the day.

Review:

Tim: The Confederate Ironclad is an interesting short film from 1912. It tells a story set during the Civil War in remarkably modern ways. I really enjoyed the short, 16 minute film. It was very well made, and is still interesting to watch today.

My first surprise was the two most interesting and brave characters are both women. The film tells the story of a Confederate soldier torn between two women- one, his beautiful Southern, the other, a woman who just moved south (who happens to be a Northern spy). These two women make up the most interesting aspects of the film, and ultimately, propel all the action forward. The Northern spy cleverly locates the Confederate Ironclad and alerts the Union army of its whereabouts. She also tries to derail a moving train by burning the bridge, and helping Union soldiers escape the battle. She's pretty amazing. The Southern woman also plays a large role. She starts the train moving in the first place, and ensures its safe arrival when the Confederate soldier gets shot in the arm (she takes care of him, too). She also shows great compassion in the film as well. I was not expecting a movie this old to feature two strong, complex, intersting female characters.

This movie also does a good job by appealing to both sides. I was wondering throughout the short who I was supposed to be rooting for- the North or the South? In the end, I don't believe this film makes you choose. Its story is appealing enough to both sides. I thought that was very interesting approach.

The movie is surprisingly epic for its time. The Ironclad is impressive to look at, and we get several effective action scenes. The train sequence has to be one of the highlights. I was surprised how much was in this short film. We have a train sequence, a battle scene with cannons, and a ship battle on the water. There was some good action sequences in this film.

The Confederate Ironclad is a very entertaining film, and a good reminder of how far American cinema had come in a very short time. This movie pushed the boundaries of film, and was a good indicator of what kind of films would come after it. I really enjoyed this movie.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: N/A