1776 *** (1972, William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard, Donald Madden, David Ford, Blythe Danner, Ron Holgate) – Classic Movie Review 6273

Director Peter H Hunt’s 1972 movie is an interesting but ordinary film of Sherman Edwards’s hit Broadway stage musical about America’s independence. The Broadway production won 1969 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Ron Holgate) and Best Direction (Peter H Hunt).

William Daniels re-creates his stage role as John Adams, who organises the 13 states to revolt in the American Revolution’s political struggle to declare independence. Among the others from the show that opened on 16 March 1969 and notched up 1,217 performances are David Ford (as John Hancock), Howard Da Silva (as Benjamin Franklin) and Ken Howard (as Thomas Jefferson).

The movie is entertaining enough, and informative as a painless history lesson, but more exuberance, charm and excitement would help. Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother, Blythe Danner, plays Martha Jefferson. Also in the cast are Donald Madden as John Dickinson, Ron Holgate, John Cullum, Roy Poole, Ray Middleton, William Hansen, Virginia Vestoff, Emory Bass, Ralston Hill, Howard Caine, Patrick Hines, William Duell, Daniel Keyes, Leo Leyden, Stephen Nathan, Jonathan Moore, James Noble, John Myhers, Rex Robbins, Charles Rule and Mark Montgomery.

It is written by Peter Stone, shot by Harry Stradling Jr, produced by Jack L Warner, scored by Ray Heindorf, and designed by George Jenkins, with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and choreography by Onna White.

Much of the spoken and sung dialogue is taken  from the participants’ letters and memoirs, actual quotes by these historic men.

The various versions run at 141 minutes in the theatrical version (with no opening credits), 165 minutes in the Director’s Cut, 180 minutes in the extended laserdisc edition (both with a main opening title sequence) and 168 minutes on the extended Blu-Ray cut. The laserdisc and DVD extended edition contains 35 minutes cut from the original videotape release, including the restored song Cool, Considerate Men. This was song cut by Warner apparently as a favour to his friend Richard Nixon, who thought audiences would take it as a criticism of his presidency.

Outdoor shots were filmed the Warner Bros Ranch. The water fountain, also seen at the beginning of TV’s Friends, still exists directly across the street from the house facades used in Bewitched (1964), and I Dream of Jeannie (1965). The colonial sets were destroyed by a fire in the mid-Seventies.

William Daniels as John Adams (MA), Howard Da Silva as Dr Benjamin Franklin (PA), Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson (VA), Roy Poole as Stephen Hopkins (RI), Virginia Vestoff as Abigail Adams, David Ford as Congressional President John Hancock (MA), Ron Holgate as Richard Henry Lee (VA), William Duell as Andrew McNair, Congressional Custodian, Ralston Hill as Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson, Jonathan Moore as Dr Lyman Hall (GA)) and Charles Rule as Joseph Hewes (NC) all re-create their Broadway roles in the movie.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6273

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