Friendly Persuasion

In the 1956 film "Friendly Persuasion," Gary Cooper stars as Jess Birdwell, a Quaker farmer in 1862 Indiana, who struggles with his love of worldly pleasures and his deeply held pacifist beliefs. His wife, Eliza (Dorothy McGuire), is a Quaker minister who steadfastly maintains the Quaker peace testimony, while their son Josh (Anthony Perkins) is torn between his hatred of violence and the compulsion to protect his family by joining the home guard. As the American Civil War tests their pacifist beliefs, the Birdwell family faces a series of moral dilemmas, including the decision of whether to fight for their country or remain true to their faith.