The Raid (1954) is an excellent, underrated take on the Civil War. Drawing inspiration from a real-life incident - the 1864 Confederate raid on St. Albans, Vermont - it explores war's moral ambiguities in an interesting and admirably complex way.
October 1864. Seven Confederate soldiers break out of the Union prison camp at Plattsburg, New York, and slip into Canada. Their leader, Major Neal Benton (Van Heflin), plans to use them in a raid on St. Albans, hoping to rob the bank, draw Union troops away from the front lines and to provide some measure of revenge for Sherman's March to the Sea. Benton arrives in town disguised as a businessman and begins laying the groundwork for the raid. Things are complicated when he falls for young widow Katie (Anne Bancroft), and he struggles to restrain his hot-headed subordinates - especially Keating (Lee Marvin) - from kicking things off prematurely.
The Raid is structured like a typical heist film, but its wartime setting provides broader implications. The raid on St. Albans is essentially a terrorist action, trying to make Northerners suffer like Virginians and Georgians, but Benton is determined not to harm any civilians even as he burns their town. St. Albans is intended as a prelude to more raids, a bald-faced act of vengeance against the Union, and a viewer questions its necessity or justification. The only question Benton has, however, is if he can prevent his punitive raid from degenerating into an atrocity.
It helps that there aren't any facile Hollywood plot dilemmas. Benton doesn't hesitate for a moment to turn on his new friends, and Katie cheers Union Captain Foster's (Richard Boone) attempts to stop the raid single-handedly. One of the best scenes has Benton trying to restrain Katie's son Larry (Tommy Retig) after he discovers Benton in rebel uniform. Benton tries to reason with the kid, but Larry's instinctive hatred of Rebels undermines the attempt at understanding. In the midst of a nasty war, pleasantries matter little.
Hugo Fregonese handles this tricky material well, and the movie never sets a dramatic foot wrong. Lucien Ballard provides gorgeous Technicolor photography that makes the film a visual treat. The film is a bit slow-paced at first, but picks up at around the hour mark, and the raid itself makes for a thrilling scene, mixing action and palpable tension.
Van Heflin (Shane) makes a fine, stiff-necked protagonist, cold towards the Yankees yet chivalrous action. Anne Bancroft (7 Women) at least looks pretty playing a one-note love interest. Lee Marvin and Richard Boone (Hombre) provide memorable supporting turns. Peter Graves (The Long Gray Line) turns up as one of Heflin's subordinates.
The Raid is a much better film than its non-existent reputation suggests. Its mature characterizations and interesting story make this a war film worth watching - and thinking about.
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