Hollywood Meets History 30 Years Later

By Leon Reed · Originally published December 2023 · pp. 1–5

Special Coorespondent to GETTYSBURG, Penn.— Director Ron Maxwell, actors Stephen Lang and Tom Berenger, and a dozen other cast members and crew joined thousands of starstruck history and movie buffs the weekend of October 13-15 in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film Gettysburg. The celebrations occurred across the county at Adams County Historical Society (ACHS), Seminary Ridge Museum, Majestic Theater, and other sites. Speaking to a crowd at ACHS, Maxwell said the film wasn’t a solitary effort: “It was a collection of filmmakers that willed it into being.” Lang, who played Maj. Gen. George Pickett, recalled reading Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prizewinning book The Killer Angels around 1976, shortly after its

1974 release. The film was adapted from the book. “From the minute I read it, I had it in mind I had to play Pickett,” said Lang. Years later, while playing Hamlet at a Connecticut theater, he heard from another cast member that the man who was going to direct Killer Angels was in the audience. After the play, the director introduced himself, saying “Hi, I’m Ron Maxwell.” Lang replied, saying “Hi, I’m George Pickett.” “Ron sort of looked at me and said, ‘I think we should have breakfast tomorrow,’ and by the end of breakfast, I had the part,” said Lang. “It’s very unusual that you wind up playing a part you’ve dreamed of for years. It was a real privilege.” Lang wasn’t the only person who had long dreamed of doing the movie. Maxwell also read the book shortly after it came out, immediately obtained the movie rights, and “talked about Killer Angels on the set of every movie I worked on for the next 10 years.” But Maxwell said getting the green light from a studio appeared more like Mission Impossible than Killer Angels. Berenger, who played Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet, shared memories of traveling around the country on family vacations, including a first trip to Gettysburg at age 7. Like every other sevenyear-old boy who ever visited Gettysburg, Berenger said his best memory was scrambling around Devil’s Den. “When the time came to film Pickett’s Charge, I was suddenly a sevenyear-old in Devil’s Den again,” he said. Maxwell, on the other hand, said he had never toured any Civil War battlefield until his first visit to meet with Shaara. “On the first day, he showed me the first-day scenes he wrote about, and we did the same the next two days,” he said. “It started a great friendship that lasted until he died in 1988. So he never got to see his book brought to the screen.” One prominent feature of the battle, the movie, and the present-day battlefield is the original Seminary building, with its iconic cupola used by both sides as an observation post. Peter Miehle, executive director of the Seminary Ridge Museum, hosted a barbecue at the museum the night before the festival for cast, crew, “and VIPs.” “I wanted to showcase one of the iconic battlefield locations and the movie,” he said. “Pretty much all the actors were there. We gave them an hour to explore the museum with no crowds around and then from 7-9, they were all hanging out, signing autographs, and chatting with the guests.” Each actor reflected on the timelessness and the lasting historical impact of the movie. Berenger said the best-known aspect of his role was the longrunning disagreement between his character and General Robert E. Lee, played by Martin Sheen, about Longstreet’s suggestion the army move around the Army of the Potomac’s flank. Upon reflection, Berenger said, he concluded that Longstreet may have been wrong. “You get the corps in marching order, they’re strung out along Emmitsburg Pike, and they’re presenting their flank to Meade’s army.” Maxwell said the film was “an open-ended partnership between the dead, the living, and the unborn. The film has entered a timeless place. It provides a window into the moral universe of the generation that lived the catastrophe of the Civil War.” Andrew Dalton, director of the Adams County Historical Society, reflected on the movie’s story. “This is the place where America teetered on collapse and where we reaffirmed democracy, and where millions come to reflect on courage and sacrifice.” Miehle agreed that the movie has taken on a life of its own. “When you see a movie begin to transcend generations, when you see young people who weren’t alive when the movie was made, that makes the movie start to become a classic.” He observed that the actors CivilWarNews.com also recognized the movie transcended Hollywood’s normal boundaries. “I can’t imagine there are many other movies where you can draw a crowd of hundreds to celebrate the 30th anniversary.” He pointed out that many of them went to considerable effort to get there. Brian Mallon, who played Union Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, for example, came all the way from Ireland. The film’s greatest impact, Miehle said, has been locally. “The movie put the first day’s battlefield on the map,” he said. “And it’s fostered widespread interest in Gettysburg and the entire Civil War era.” Other actors in attendance included Brian Mallon, Patrick Gorman (Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood), James Lancaster (Lieut. Col. Arthur Fremantle), Joseph Fuqua (Maj. Gen. JEB Stuart), John Rothman (Maj. Gen. John Reynolds), Bo Brinkman (Walter Taylor), and Maxwell Caulfield (Col. Strong Vincent). The anniversary weekend-long program included one-on-one meet-and-greet sessions with each actor, multiple screenings of the film, and discussions by the Union and Confederates actors about the broader themes of the movie.

Original Gettysburg movie poster.