For Independence Day, this rather silly vignette, loosely based, not on an actual event, but on something Benjamin Franklin once proposed in jest. From the film version of “1776,” featuring Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson, Howard Da Silva as Franklin, and the great William Daniels as John Adams.
A happy Fourth to you all!
You know, except for that silly violin number, I really think 1776 is a better movie than it is remembered as being. As a writer, I find especially moving the letters from a desperate George Washington sent and read out loud to the assembly.
I blow hot and cold about it. I think “Mama, Look Sharp” is the worst piece of badly written sentimental slush to ever find its way into a Broadway musical. I don’t mind the violin number because Blythe Danner (sigh!) is in it. “Cool, Cool, Considerate Men” (omitted from the original film release, available on the restored disk) is offensive to me, but amuses me greatly for some reason.