Posted on 07/04/2011 2:56:52 PM PDT by traderrob6
Just watched the 1972 movie production of "1776". Personally I thought the movie was VERY entertaining. I'm not much into musicals and I thought for the most part the songs were forgetable.
That being said, the acting was top shelf and the story, well, is, inspiring. I'm no historian, but I believe it was reasonably historically accurate.
There were points in the movie when I was really moved... and when they signed the document of declaration at the end as the bell tolled, I got a tear in my eye.
Please, your thoughts?
(Excerpt) Read more at exposingtheleft.blogspot.com ...
Cool, Cool Considerate Men IS in the movie. At least the one I saw today on TCM! It’s sung by John Dickenson.
- PJ
I saw the original B’way play. That song was sung by a very fine 1960s actor named Clifford David. Later, when I produced shows at a club in NYC, I invited Mr. David to sing from his other hit show “One a Clear Day You Can See Forever.” Given his age at that point, I didn’t want to press him to sing such a heavy duty number as “Molasses to Rum to Slaves.” Another lovely man!
Yes and it’s costume heavy and the voices must be VERY strong. And you have to be a very good actor to carry that script. It was revived about 10 years ago on B’way with Pat Hingle as Franklin. It was excellent but not as electrifying as the original show. It tells you something about the revival that I can’t remember who played John Adams.
It was not in the videotape movie of which we wore out two copies. But it was in the stage show we went to see in 1994. We now have a DVD of it which is different than the old videotape we had so it may be on that.
Another scene that wasn’t in the first one I saw was the fire engine fracas. That was new to me when I watched the DVD.
Funny you should mention Man of La Mancha. My grandson was on the tech crew of that show at his high school last winter and they did an outstanding job on it. I wasn’t the least bit familiar with the show or even the story before that.
Saw the movie when it first came out, back when I was in high school. Got the recording too. An amazing musical.
The most emotional of the songs is a really a tie, “Mama Look Sharp” and “Molasses, Rum, And Slaves”.
I hate to sound ignorant but what actually did they remove concerning slavery that prompted South Carolina to vote aye? I have never read or heard that. Good movie though, we dvr’d it.
Mama Look Sharp has such a pretty melody. I believe it’s the climax to the first act.
Someone called it a “little movie,” but it opened at Radio City Music Hall so it was hardly small, lol! I took myself off to see it to review it for my college newspaper.
It was just a couple of seemingly innocuous lines originally written by Jefferson but I can’t remember the exact verbiage. Something to the effect that no man should bow nor be subjected to serving a man or country in slavery.
Perhaps someone can help me out.
BTW less forceful (in my estimation) that “All men are created equal”.... in the Preamble.
Are you sure?
Before I retired from teaching, I showed the movie every year in my Public Speaking classes and gave the students a listening quiz over it. They grumbled, but most thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised at how accurate it really is. I’m glad to see so many others here have enjoyed it as well.
And you ... :-)
I agree, the PBS production (shocked! :) was a great presentation.
the Robert Graves' I, Claudius; was pretty good (dancing nudes /
mayhem :), too....wasn't the sheep-dip, they usually show.
I don’t know how accurate the play/movie is. But as a drama, it is deeply moving and entertaining.
There was an article on him in the University of Tennessee alumni magazine a while back; my husband went to grad school there. Mr. Cullum seems like a very pleasant and intelligent man. He made some interesting comments, in the interview, about how his work as an actor was affected by the way people used language when he was growing up in the South ... the King James Version, and the old people’s echoes of Shakespeare, before everyone had television.
Anoreth has been in love with the movie version of John Adams since she was about 7 ... which leads me to believe she’ll never fall for a dope in real life!
Yes. The actor’s name was Howard Caine (nee Howard Cohen).
Yes, I knew Mr. Cullum was a Tennessean (hope I got that right!) In real life, he speaks with a Southern acccent. He is a trained Shakespearean actor who was in Richard Burton’s famous version of “Hamlet.” Like a lot of hardworking Broadway actors (as opposed to Hollywood jerks), he’s too busy perfecting his art to go around speaking out on political subjects.
I recently saw him playing Pangloss in “Candide,” and he’s currently performing Shakespeare in the Park here in NYC. And he couldn’t be all that young anymore!!
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