Originally produced for US television, Mosby's Marauders in a fictional historical drama set during the American Civil War.
Young Confederate Willie Prentiss (Kurt Russell) is protected by Union Corporal Henry Jenkins (James MacArthur) after accidentally shooting his commanding officer Lieutenant Mosby (Jack Ging). They strike up an unlikely friendship despite fighting on opposing sides. Jenkins soon develops a romantic interest in Willie's cousin Oralee (Peggy Lipton), further complicating their already compromised friendship and arousing the suspicions of Jenkins superior Sgt Gregg.
Mosby's Marauders was originally screened in three parts on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color in January 1967, under its US title Willie and the Yank. Following the success of the similarly edited feature Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (Norman Foster, 1955), it was common practice for Disney to recycle its television product in this way, particularly for countries that did not receive the programme. Apart from exhibiting a somewhat episodic narrative, this transference from small screen to big screen was barely noticeable. I doubt many cinemagoers realised they were watching a movie originating on television, thanks to the series excellent production values. Usually these movies were screened as the second half of a double feature, such is the case with Mosby's Marauders which was released in the UK alongside the comedy Monkeys Go Home! (Andrew V. McLagan, 1967).
Edited from three hour long episodes to an 80 minute feature film, it would be fair to assume that the movie suffered from such sever cutting. However, the version I watched for the purpose of this review was a full 135 minutes. I imagine this version is a reconstruction, combining the full length TV episodes (allowing for 10 to 15 minutes of commercials when broadcast) and the theatrical opening and end titles from the UK release. Presumably this was assembled for home video in the 1980s or 1990s. I can find no evidence to back these claims, but as the same reconstruction technique was used for the video release of an extended cut of Dr Syn Alias the Scarecrow aka The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (James Neilson, 1963), it seems likely that this is also the case for Mosby's Marauders.
To be honest, I would imagine that watching this movie in either its edited form or as three individual TV shows would be a more rewarding viewing experience. It does suffer from an episodic narrative and is rather slow paced, neither of which would be issues when viewed over three separate weeks but is a little harder to take in a movie approaching a 2 and 1/2 hour run time. Which is not to suggest that I did not enjoy the film. With exteriors shot at Disney's Golden Oak Ranch moviemaking facility, it is a handsome outdoor adventure with none the budgetary restraints one might expect from a TV movie.
Its appealing cast is headed by 15 year old Kurt Russell, previously seen in Disney's Follow Me, Boys! (Norman Tokar, 1966). Although Disney would later cast him exclusively in light comedy, he acquits himself well here in a dramatic performance. James MacArthur was a Disney regular from a decade earlier. His co-starring role as 'the Yank' was his first for the studio since Swiss Family Robinson (Ken Annakin, 1960). Always underrated as an actor, MacArthur would find greater fame a year later in the role of Danny in TVs Hawaii Five-O (1968-80). Nick Adams, who found fame in Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) and Picnic (Joshua Logan, 1956), struggled later in his career. He is great here as the callous Sgt Gregg, a year before his untimely death from a drugs overdose aged just 36.
Mosby's Marauders is an unusual Civil War picture, in that it is told from the perspective of the South. Yet this is no Confederate flag waver and is told in a fairly matter of fact manner, sympathetic with the plight of those fighting for both North and South. It also has a surprisingly high body count for a Disney movie, inevitable considering its subject. Perhaps this, more than anything, has seen the movie fall into obscurity; a fate which it doesn't deserve.
The Disney TV output of the 1950s and 1960s was always a high quality product and it is a shame that so little of it is available today. It is fair to suggest that moderm audiences, especially children, may be put off by the movie's subject matter and the fairly dry manner in which it is presented. With it's Civil War theme and high body count this is possibly not a Disney movie to show the kids, at least without engaging in conversation about the atrocities of war and the repercussion it has for both sides. While its narrative issues and lengthy runtime do not work in its favour, it is certainly worth a watch.
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