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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies - 0 to 9
    Movies - 0 to 9 Movies - 1970s 3 Mins Read

    1776 (1972)

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    The Second Continental Congress – which eventually declared America’s independence from Britain in 1776 – was a group of men sitting in a stuffy room in Philadelphia, arguing over details of policy. For six years!

    Not only did the makers of this film bravely attempt to turn this into popular entertainment, but they also made it three hours long. And a musical. Possibly, the whole thing was some sort of money-losing stunt, like in The Producers.

    This peculiar historical musical attempts to tell the story of the founding fathers of the United States through a series of catchy show tunes about conservatism, slavery and dysentery.

    “I say vote yes! Vote yes! Vote for independency!” trills John Adams (William Daniels), while the rest of the Congress choruses: “Sit down, John! Sit down, John! For God’s sake, John, sit down!”

    There’s a minuet about conservatism. There’s a waltz about slavery. Benjamin Franklin (Howard Da Silva) – portrayed as Father Christmas moonlighting as a mad professor – declines to write the declaration of independence, singing: “The things I write are only light extemporania/I won’t put politics on paper; it’s a mania/So I refuse to use the pen in Pennsylvania”.

    So the writing of the actual declaration of independence is left to Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard). But there’s a problem – he’s sexually frustrated. Martha Jefferson (Blythe Danner) is duly shipped in, and Franklin and Adams wait outside for Jefferson to get his rocks off.

    “Positively indecent!” spits Adams. “Standing down here waiting for them to . . . er . . . well, what will people think?” “Don’t worry, John,” says Franklin, “the history books will clean it up”.

    Abigail Adams, meanwhile, beseeches her own husband to return to Boston: “Just tell the Congress to declare independency/Then sign your name, get out of there and/Hurry home to me/Our children all have dysentery.” Amazing.

    Jefferson and Adams have a showdown with the southern delegates, who walk out of the Congress over the possible outlawing of slavery and – in the song Cool, Cool, Considerate Men – Pennsylvania delegate John Dickinson (Donald Madden) and his chorus of pompadoured Brit-loving conservatives sing about how the poor majority can be conned into supporting the privileges of the extremely wealthy.

    “Don’t forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor,” Dickinson snarls.

    When the film was released in 1972, President Richard Nixon himself asked his friend, producer Jack L Warner, to cut this song from the cinematic release as it was too close to the bone. Warner complied. The song has been reinstated in DVD versions.

    1776 is far too long and mostly terrible. But it is certainly hilarious.

    John Adams
    William Daniels
    Dr Benjamin Franklin
    Howard Da Silva
    Thomas Jefferson
    Ken Howard
    John Dickinson
    Donald Madden
    Edward Rutledge
    John Cullum
    Stephen Hopkins
    Roy Poole
    Congressional President John Hancock
    David Ford
    Richard Henry Lee
    Ron Holgate
    Col. Thomas McKean
    Ray Middleton
    Caesar Rodney
    William Hansen
    Martha Jefferson
    Blythe Danner
    Abigail Adams
    Virginia Vestoff
    Judge James Wilson
    Emory Bass
    Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson
    Ralston Hill
    Lewis Morris
    Howard Caine
    Samuel Chase
    Patrick Hines
    Andrew McNair
    William Duell
    Dr Josiah Bartlett
    Daniel Keyes
    George Read
    Leo Leyden
    Dr Lyman Hall
    Jonathan Moore
    Rev. John Witherspoon
    James Noble
    Robert Livingston
    John Myhers
    Roger Sherman
    Rex Robbins
    Joseph Hewes
    Charles Rule

    Director
    Peter H. Hunt

    Video

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