1776 (film)

1776
File:1776 DVD cover.jpg DVD cover
Directed by	Peter H. Hunt
Written by	Peter Stone
Produced by	Jack L. Warner
Starring	William Daniels Howard Da Silva
Cinematography	Harry Stradling Jr.
Edited by	Florence Williamson William H. Ziegler
Music by	Sherman Edwards
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	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.

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 and homosexual innuendo from Benjamin Franklin, they finally put their signatures to one of the most important documents in modern history, the Declaration of Independence. It should be noted that Texas was not here.

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

Cast

• William Daniels ..... John Adams (MA)
• Howard Da Silva ..... Benjamin Franklin (PA)
• Ken Howard ..... Thomas Jefferson (VA)
• Donald Madden ..... John Dickinson (PA)
• John Cullum ..... Edward Rutledge (SC)
• Roy Poole ..... Stephen Hopkins (RI)
• David Ford ..... John Hancock (MA)
• Ron Holgate ..... Richard Henry Lee (VA)
• Ray Middleton ..... Thomas McKean (DE)
• William Hansen ..... Caesar Rodney (DE)
• Blythe Danner ..... Martha Jefferson
• Virginia Vestoff ..... Abigail Adams
• Emory Bass ..... James Wilson (PA)
• Ralston Hill ..... Charles Thomson
• Howard Caine ..... Lewis Morris (NY)
• Patrick Hines ..... Samuel Chase (MD)
• William Duell ..... Andrew McNair
• Daniel Keyes ..... Josiah Bartlett (NH)
• Leo Leyden ..... George Read (DE)
• Stephen Nathan ..... Courier
• Jonathan Moore ..... Lyman Hall (GA)
• James Noble ..... John Witherspoon (NJ)
• John Myhers ..... Robert Livingston (NY)
• Rex Robbins ..... Roger Sherman (CT)
• Charles Rule ..... Joseph Hewes (NC)

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.

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."

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."

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.

External links

• Official 1776 Web Site
• 1776 at IMDb