
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 1, 1993                   TAG: 9311010010
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 6   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Medium

`GETTYSBURG' PLEASES TOUGH HISTORIAN CRITICS

Some of the characters may not seem real, but the movie "Gettysburg" is an accurate portrayal of the battle that was the turning point of the Civil War, historians across the country say.

The new film is based on Michael Shaara's novel "The Killer Angels," which won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The book is a fictional account of the July 1863 battle, which ended in a crucial Union victory.

"I thought [the movie] was powerful," said A. Wilson Greene, executive director of the Association for Preservation of Civil War Sites, based in Virginia. "It was faithful to the novel, and it was a reasonable adaptation of the Battle of Gettysburg."

"I have an inborn dislike of putting words in the mouths of historical figures," said Shelby Foote of Memphis, Tenn., perhaps the nation's most noted Civil War historian. "But they did a good and careful job with it."

Not all praise was unequivocal. In the movie, Martin Sheen plays Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Not only is he smaller than Lee, but he portrays the general as a quieter man than he was, historians say.

"Sheen's portrayal of Lee is not believable," said Ed Bearss, chief historian for the National Park Service. "Lee was a larger man, with a heavy chest and a heavy neck. Lee comes off as indecisive and not losing his temper. Lee did have a temper."

The film's maker, Turner Pictures, hired Brian Pohanka, a senior researcher for the Time-Life book series on the Civil War, to be the movie's historical consultant. Pohanka said great pains were taken to make sure the wardrobe, behavior and habits of the actors were faithful to the era. The issues of boredom in camp, facing death and reminiscing about old friends were true to the day, historians said.

Much of the dialogue comes from soldiers' diaries and accounts, including that of Confederate Gen. George Pickett, who led the disastrous Pickett's Charge on July 3, and Lee's apology to the men after the slaughter.

by CNB