Glory captures the heroism of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the first
black regiment in the Civil War, the Massachusetts "Fighting"
Fifty-fourth. An extremely talented cast and crew earned three Academy
Awards (cinematography, sound and supporting actor) and five nominations
for their work in Glory. The outstanding cinematography, sound, score
and acting recreate the events leading up to the Union attack on Fort
Wagner on July 18th 1863. Matthew Broderick portrays the young
Bostonian abolitionist Col. Robert G. Shaw who takes command of the
Fifty-fourth, following the Emancipation Proclamation. Shaw along with
Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) leads a band of ex slaves, servants and other
black volunteers including a rebellious runaway slave Trip (Denzel
Washington), Shaw's educated childhood friend Thomas Searles (Andre
Braugher), and a former grave digger Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). Together
these men face the adversity of a racist Union Army, struggling to prove
themselves worthy of their government issued blue uniforms.
After
months of training and exploitation for physical labor, the Fifty-fourth
gains the opportunity to fight in an attack on Fort Wagner on the beaches
of South Carolina. Poised to dispel the belief that blacks would not be
disciplined under fire, the Fifty-fourth leads the almost suicidal attack
on Ft. Wagner. There Col. Shaw valiantly falls and the Fifty-fourth,
suffering great losses, displayed the courage that persuaded the Union to
enlist many more black soldiers. Matthew Broderick delivers a
noteworthy performance in the role of Col. Shaw, which Leonard Maltin
calls his most ambitious part. In an interview for the New York Times,
Broderick spoke of his method acting, "The first step [in
preparing for the role of Robert Gould Shaw in Glory] was to try to learn
as much as I could about the real person. That was mostly from letters,
photographs, descriptions and a poem...