1776 (film)


1776

DVD cover
Directed by Peter H. Hunt
Produced by Jack L. Warner
Written by Peter Stone
Starring William Daniels
Howard Da Silva
Music by Sherman Edwards
Cinematography Harry Stradling Jr.
Editing by Florence Williamson
William H. Ziegler
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) November 9, 1972
Running time 142 minutes (Theatrical release)
168 minutes (Director's cut)
180 minutes (Laserdisc)
Country United States
Language English

1776 is a 1972 American musical film directed by Peter H. Hunt. The screenplay by Peter Stone was adapted from his libretto for the 1969 stage musical of the same name. Portions of the dialogue and some of the song lyrics were taken directly from the letters and memoirs of the actual participants of the Second Continental Congress. The song score was composed by Sherman Edwards.

Contents

Plot

The film focuses on the representatives of the thirteen original colonies who participated in the Second Continental Congress. After a year of loud and often acrimonious debate about the course of human events, they finally put their signatures to one of the most important documents in modern history, the Declaration of Independence.

Production

Many members of the original Broadway cast, including William Daniels, Ken Howard, and Howard Da Silva, reprised their roles for the film. Ralston Hill, Donald Madden, and Charles Rule also repeated their roles from the Broadway production; the film marked the only time they ever appeared in a feature film.

Some scenes were shot on location in Philadelphia and Williamsburg, Virginia.

In its theatrical and original home video releases, the film was rated G but, following the restoration of various bits cut by producer Jack Warner, the DVD was rated PG. The laserdisc version, now out-of-print, contains additional footage and background music not contained on the DVD release. The current 168-minute version, however, is considered director Peter Hunt's preferred version, hence its "director's cut" moniker.

The film was the Christmas attraction at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Cast

Songs

  • Overture
  • "Sit Down, John"
  • "Piddle, Twiddle and Resolve"/"Till Then"
  • "The Lees of Old Virginia"
  • "But, Mr. Adams"
  • "Yours, Yours, Yours"
  • "He Plays the Violin"
  • "Cool, Cool, Considerate Men"
  • "Momma Look Sharp"
  • "The Egg"
  • "Molasses to Rum"
  • "Compliments"
  • "Is Anybody There?"
  • Finale

"Cool, Cool, Considerate Men" was cut from the film prior to its release and not included on the soundtrack recording. The number was restored for the video, laserdisc, and DVD releases.

Political changes

The song "Cool, Cool, Considerate Men" depicts Revolutionary War era conservatives as power-hungry wheedlers focused on maintaining wealth. This is generally seen as historically accurate. According to Jack L. Warner, the film's producer and a friend of U.S. President Richard Nixon, Nixon pressured him to cut the song from the 1972 film version of the show--which Warner did. Nixon apparently saw the song as a insult to the Conservatives of his time. Warner also wanted the original negative of the song shredded, but the film's editor secretly kept it intact. It was only decades later that the song was restored to the film.[1]

Critical reception

Vincent Canby of the New York Times observed, "The music is resolutely unmemorable. The lyrics sound as if they'd been written by someone high on root beer, and the book is familiar history — compressed here, stretched there — that has been gagged up and paced to Broadway's not inspiring standards. Yet Peter H. Hunt's screen version of 1776 ... insists on being so entertaining and, at times, even moving, that you might as well stop resisting it. This reaction, I suspect, represents a clear triumph of emotional associations over material ... [It] is far from being a landmark of musical cinema, but it is the first film in my memory that comes close to treating seriously a magnificent chapter in the American history." [2]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times declared, "This is an insult to the real men who were Adams, Jefferson, Franklin and the rest ... The performances trapped inside these roles, as you might expect, are fairly dreadful. There are good actors in the movie (especially William Daniels as Adams and Donald Madden as John Dickinson), but they're forced to strut and posture so much that you wonder if they ever scratched or spit or anything ... I can hardly bear to remember the songs, much less discuss them. Perhaps I shouldn't. It is just too damn bad this movie didn't take advantage of its right to the pursuit of happiness." [3]

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy but lost to Cabaret. Harry Stradling Jr. was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography but lost to Geoffrey Unsworth for Cabaret.

References

  1. ^ Heated Debate About 'Cool' Cut, Los Angeles Times Archives, September 07, 2001, Accessed 2009-05-30
  2. ^ New York Times review
  3. ^ Chicago Sun-Times review

External links

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