1776 is, pending any changes I make later in the year, the only musical on my list. It’s a big screen adaptation of the Broadway play of the same name, with dialogue and lyrics written by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards. Peter H. Hunt directed the cinematic transfer, which surprisingly was timed jus a few years short of America's 200th birthday. The adaptation is very faithful to the play, and even uses many of the same actors. In fact, you won’t find familiar movie or television actors here, though many of the leads are big names in Broadway history. I first saw this movie way back in 2002 as part of my home school classes. I remember finding parts entertaining, but eventually being frustrated and bored by the end of it (it’s a long movie). My rewatch over 20 years later was much better, though the pace does start to drag in the last half hour, as well as one bafflingly long sequence focused on Thomas Jefferson and his wife.
The plot is that the Continental Congress can’t agree on whether or not to break with Britain and start a new nation. For a musical with plenty of comedy, there is an incredible amount of research involved. Much of the dialogue and even the song lyrics are lifted straight from the letters, speeches, and quotes of the Founding Fathers. It also accurately shows the compromises needed to bring differing interests together in a common cause, particularly when it comes to the issue of slavery.
The
songs are for the most part fun. Most are on the humorous side, though there
are a couple dead serious ones. “Sit Down, John” has John Adams trying to drive
Congress to action while they instead complain about the summer heat. “The Lees
of Old Virginia” has Richard Henry Lee turn his last name into a goofy pun as
he bombastically brags about his family and colony (fa-mil-LEE, get it?), and
is notable for the inclusion and performance of Lee’s horse. “But Mr. Adams” is
a funny one which sees a commission of five try to decide which of them will
write the Declaration of Independence, each one finding an excuse to bow out
until it gets down to Jefferson. “Cool, Cool, Considerate Men” is the most
political song, with those opposing independence singing a song about how they
are not radical. Apparently it was seen as a swipe at conservatism by President
Richard Nixon, and was removed from the original theatrical cut at his request.
Even
with the reduction of the size of Congress to create a more manageable cast,
there are loads of characters. If there is a main protagonist, it’s John Adams
(William Daniels), who annoys pretty much everybody with his incessant demands
for a declaration of independence and an uncompromising nature. He was an
irritable man in real life. Adam does mellow out in several scenes where he
talks to his famous wife Abigail Adams (Virginia Vestoff). Instead of showing
them writing letters, they literally talk from two different places, and
sometimes fade into the same scene together. These scenes are notable for
featuring dialogue lifted from their numerous letters to each other, and also
help give John Adams more character depth.
John
Adams is part of a main trio. The second is Benjamin Franklin (Howard da
Silva), who like his true historical counterpart is full of wit, and also has a
bit of an extra interest in the opposite sex. He’s the voice of reason, finding
less obnoxious or devious ways to push for independence and even convincing
John Adams to compromise at a critical moment. The third member is Thomas
Jefferson (Ken Howard), who’s portrayed as a soft-spoken dreamer. As any
educated American knows, he’s the one who drafted and finalized the Declaration
of Independence. Of course nowadays Jefferson has many detractors, so they
might take issue with his positive, heroic portrayal here.
Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson discuss what the national bird should be in "The Egg"
The
action all takes place in Congress, so there are no British antagonists. 1776 does make some members more
antagonistic than they were in real life, with two standing out. One is John
Dickinson (Donald Madden) from Pennsylvania. He first comes across as an
aristocrat who’s interested in preserving his wealth and status by not going to
war with Britain. It does turn out that he’s genuinely concerned about what’ll
happen if the colonies challenge the might of the mother country. The other is
Edward Rutledge (John Cullum), who represents the Southern colonies’ interest,
particularly their opposition to an anti-slavery in a draft of the Declaration
of Independence. He gets the one dark haunting musical number, title “Molasses to
Rum”. Here he points out the hypocrisy of other delegates, pointing out that
most of the slave traders are sailors from northern ports, and that the ports
themselves are a major part of the triangular trade. It’s a great dark
departure from the film’s usually much lighter tone, but I should point out
that the New England sailors are slavers argument was used as a pro-Confederate
talking point. New England’s complicity was certainly true in America’s earlier
decades, but to this day people try to talk about how northern sailors
benefited off slaves when discussing 1860 politics. By then scant few sailors
were involved in the slave trade, as it was illegal.
There
are at least a dozen other notable characters, but I won’t go through all of
them. I will say that the writers’ research is shown, with deviations to
character being made for simplification or entertaining effects. Probably the
biggest inaccuracy is when the decision to declare independence is made. In
reality, the Declaration of Independence was written after independence was
agreed on. The real struggle was deciding how the declaration would be worded,
as it would embody the principles that the revolutionaries were fighting for. 1776 reverses this, having the
declaration be written to convince Congress to agree to independence.
A
final subject of note is how 1776 ends.
Throughout the film a courier keeps arriving to deliver bad news from George Washington’s
army. After the Declaration for Independence passes, he shows up for one final
bit of bad news, presaging Washington’s disastrous defeats in the New York
Campaign. There’s no music and any humor is gallows humor. When the Liberty
Bell rings it sounds like a death toll. Instead of being a moment of
triumphalism, the ending decides to play up the fact that all the men in
Congress have signed their death warrants as far as Britain is concerned.
(https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/facts-1776)
1776 is a fun movie
which does drag a bit (in my opinion at least) towards the end. Strangely
enough, this musical comedy is the most thorough cinematic exploration of
Congress’ decision to declare independence. HBO’s John Adams miniseries does have a good episode about it, though.
Watch this if you’ve got a whole evening open.
Rating:
7/10
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