Hearts in Bondage is an old black and white film about the birth of the Ironclad warships Merrimac and Monitor and their duel at the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862. I believe it's in the public domain, as one can easily find it on Youtube, and at 71 minutes long it should not be a large time investment. The title might cause some head scratching. I believe it refers to the torn allegiances of the main characters. Lieutenant Kenneth Reynolds (played by Oscar winner James Dunn) and fellow officer and friend Raymond Jordan are both Virginians (northern accents notwithstanding), but the Reynolds family stays with the Union while the Jordans choose their home state. Kenneth is engaged to Raymond's sister Constance and she ultimately stays with her fiancée despite loving her family. Thus one can say the title is about people are torn apart because their hearts are bonded to separate causes; Kenneth to the Union, Raymond to the Confederacy, and Constance to her love.
This familiar tale of the Civil War dividing friends provides the dramatic and romantic aspects of Hearts in Bondage. However there is quite a bit of history and real life figures in the film. The movie makes Kenneth the nephew of John Ericsson, the inventor of the Monitor. Here he's portrayed as an eccentric who's scoffed at by the Navy. In reality he was the one who disdained the Navy and had to be pressured by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles into creating an ironclad. Welles himself, along with a reverently portrayed Abraham Lincoln, also appear in the movie. On the Confederate side we get Admiral Franklin Buchanan and an appearance by President Jefferson Davis. The historical figures are well depicted for a fictionalized movie. The only glaring inaccuracy on this front is Admiral David Farragut's appearance (he's a commodore here). He's shown using his joviality and clout to get the navy to approve the Monitor. In fact he was in the Gulf of Mexico at the time and had yet to score his smashing victory at New Orleans.
The chain of events is also pretty accurate, except of course for the inclusion of fictional officers Kenneth and Raymond aboard the Monitor and Merrimac respectively. When the Confederates seize the Norfolk navy yard, Kenneth sinks the not yet ironclad Merrimac instead of burning it as ordered. Because of this the enemy is able to raise the ship intact and convert it into a deadly weapon. This gets him booted from the navy and labeled a traitor. The Monitor is thus his source of redemption as a US officer. The battle scenes are fine. Most of the exterior shots are models in a pool and sometimes the ships are too close together. Still, the Merrimac's rampage on March 7 and the battle of March 8 are well depicted for the film's constraints and their brevity can be a blessing for those who just want a quick old movie to watch. The most ahistorical moment comes at the climax. I won't spoil it but it resolves the Kenneth-Raymond plot. One can make his or her own mind about the actual final scene and its message.
Overall, if one hungers for more Civil War films based on actual events, this can be a decent watch. It doesn't overstay its welcome, has likeable characters, and does not go too far astray in depicting historical events. It's not great, but not bad.
Rating: 6/10
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