SHORT TAKES : ‘Glory’ Renews Its Star’s Pride

Actor Denzel Washington says his starring role as a black Union soldier in the motion picture “Glory” helped him renew his pride in his country.

He said that before he read the script, he was unaware of black soldiers’ important role in the Civil War.

“In every class I ever took, the fact that some 200,000 black men fought was never mentioned,” he says in this week’s People magazine. “You can go as far as saying that if they hadn’t fought, the North may not have won. I think it’s especially good for black Americans to know this, kids who don’t necessarily feel that they’re a part of this country.”

“Making this film has made me more patriotic, as corny as that sounds,” he said.

“Glory,” the story of an all-black Civil War regiment, has won critical acclaim. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. recently nominated it for five Golden Globes.