"Leroy Anderson was a crossover composer before anyone came up with the term. The voice of Leroy Anderson became the voice of the Boston Pops in its dual commitment to approachability and to excellence."

"Katharine Ross as Ann Anderson"

"Charles Robinson as Nathan Anderson"

"Jim McMullan as John Anderson"

"Tim McIntire as Henry Anderson"

"When this movie was released in 1965, the U. S. war in Vietnam had just begun, and antiwar sentiments had not yet began to swell in America. Libertarians, of course, had opposed the war from the start, but at this time, the public sentiment in these united states was generally in favour of deployment. Thus, the average moviegoer did not draw any connection between this film and the war when it was released. A few years later, however, antiwar activists looked back on this libertarian western fondly. The antiwar and propertarian message in this film, however, should be looked upon in a broader context. The message, after all, is timeless. All wars really do resemble the description given by Mr. Anderson. Whether it be the War Between the States, the Vietnam War, or our present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, governments wage them for the perceived benefit of the political class, and they get us to fight for them. Let us, therefore, dream of a brighter future, a future where property rights are respected and where governments, insofar as they continue to exist, are so weak and powerless that they cannot compel even one man to fight on their behalf."

"A successful film not just because of the marriage of the right actor in the appropriate genre, but also the timely infusion of challenging questions about a nation at war."

"Stewart uses his vast experience and established screen image as the all-American hero to an advantage in a role, which was made to order as he reached the later phases of his glorious career. Beginning with his protag's name, Charlie is a classic American hero, played by Cooper, Stewart, and even Bogart, a man initially cherishing isolation and lack of involvement only to be forced into a divisive conflict through circumstances, both personal and political."

"Strother Martin as Train Engineer"

"Kevin Hagen as Mule (deserter)"

"Kelly Thordsen as Federal Purchasing Agent Carroll"

"Set in a Virginia farm during the Civil War, this popular family film offers all-American star Jimmy Stewart a classic role, a widower with six sons who initially refuses to takes sides or get involved in the conflict—only to learn otherwise."

"Berkeley Harris as Capt. Richards"

"George Kennedy as Col. Fairchild"

"Harry Carey, Jr. as Jenkins (rebel soldier)"

"Denver Pyle as Pastor Bjoerling"

"James Best as Carter, Rebel Soldier"

"Eugene Jackson Jnr. as Gabriel"

"Dabbs Greer as Abernathy"

"Tom Simcox as Lt. Johnson"

"Paul Fix as Dr. Tom Witherspoon"

"Patrick Wayne as James Anderson"

"Rosemary Forsyth as Jennie Anderson"

"Glenn Corbett as Jacob Anderson"

"There's nothing much I can tell you about this war. It's like all wars, I suppose. The undertakers are winning it. Oh, the politicians will talk a lot about the "glory" of it, and the old men'll talk about the "need" of it—the soldiers, they just want to go home."

"SHAKES THE SCREEN LIKE CANNON THUNDER!"

"Two Mighty Armies Trampled Its Valley…A Fighting Family Challenged Them Both!"

"I'm not going to kill you. I want you to live. I want you to live to be an old man, and I want you to have many, many, many children, and I want you to feel about your children then the way I feel about mine now. And someday, when a man comes along and kills one of em, I want you to remember! Okay? I want you to remember."

"What d'you do with dead soldiers?"

"[after Boy Anderson is abducted by Union soldiers] Now it concerns us."

"James Stewart as Charlie Anderson"

"You run a sad kind of train, mister. It takes people away when they don't want to go, and won't bring them back when they're ready."

"My corn I take serious because it's my corn, and my potatoes and my tomatoes and fences I take note of because they're mine. But this war is not mine and I take no note of it!"

"Doug McClure as Sam"

"Phillip Alford as Boy Anderson"

"Lord, We cleared this land; We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn't be here—we wouldn't be eating it—if we hadn't done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel But we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we're about to eat. Amen."

"Gloria Reuben - Elizabeth Keckley"

"Jackie Earle Haley - Confederate States Vice President Alexander H. Stephens"

"Gregory Itzin - John Archibald Campbell"

"Trust? Oh. I'm sorry, I was under the misapprehension your chosen profession was politics. I never trusted the President, never trusted anyone, but hasn't he surprised you?"

"S. Epatha Merkerson - Lydia Smith"

"Walton Goggins - Democratic Congressman Wells A. Hutchins"

"Boris McGiver - Democratic Congressman, later Republican, Alexander Coffroth"

"David Warshofsky - Democratic Congressmann William Hutton"

"Nothing surprises you, Asa, therefore nothing about you is surprising. Perhaps that is why your constituents did not re-elect you to the coming term?"

"[last lines, from Second Inaugural speech] Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

"Michael Stuhlbarg - Kentucky Democratic Congressman George Yeaman"

"Wayne Duvall - Radical Republican Senator Benjamin "Bluff Ben" Wade"

"John Hawkes - Republican operative Colonel Robert Latham"

"Tim Blake Nelson - lobbyist Richard Schell"