This was a personal project for John Wayne, with the intention of boosting patriotism with the unrest over Vietnam. There will be spoilers ahead:
This show is part history lesson (some of that history being flawed) and part variety show. It's also all flag-waving patriotism. It's also interesting to note just how many of the stars in the show had shows airing on NBC, which broadcast this in 1970.
Some of the material here is hopelessly dated and/or of marginal quality. Some of it is still quite impressive, even after 45 years. The show starts with a jokey take on Peter Minuet and the island of Manhattan, with Michael Landon and Dan Blocker trading often pained yucks in a comedy routine John Wayne horns in on-something Wayne does frequently in here. The first of the in-jokes about Wayne comes here as well.
There's a musical number by the Doodletown Pipers, which is a portion of the Declaration of Independence set to music and sung. It's actually not too bad, Glen Campbell, Roy Clarke, Johnny Cash and Leslie Uggams have musical numbers which hold up well and there's a musical presentation of the building of the transcontinental railroad which doesn't hold up at all.
A lot of the other parts here are little more than set pieces for the performers, with Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Dean Martin, Rowan and Martin and Ann-Margret all essentially playing themselves in segments and with John Wayne suiting up and riding a horse in a segment on western ghost towns.
Then there are the performances, where stars actually have some acting to do, playing parts. Some of these are very good, like Bing Crosby playing Mark Twain and Roscoe Lee Browne playing Frederick Douglass in a conversation essentially taken from their own words and Lucille Ball as the Statue of Liberty. Some are okay, like brothers David and Rick Nelson as two soldiers fighting on opposite sides in the American Civil War and Greg Morris essentially given a cameo as Crispus Attucks, with one line and the other four dead in the Boston Massacre unknowns.
There are two performance segments which are head scratchers. The first has a quartet of actors playing Washington and three of his cabinet which seems to serve only as a lead in to Jack Benny's turn as Jack Benny. The second is a pioneer family (Dennis Weaver and Celeste Holm) which is an obvious and strained scene serving to show some things it presents with a heavy hand. It doesn't really work.
Overall, the show is a decent time capsule. It's on DVD for a reasonable price. Woth watching once if you like the performers.
This show is part history lesson (some of that history being flawed) and part variety show. It's also all flag-waving patriotism. It's also interesting to note just how many of the stars in the show had shows airing on NBC, which broadcast this in 1970.
Some of the material here is hopelessly dated and/or of marginal quality. Some of it is still quite impressive, even after 45 years. The show starts with a jokey take on Peter Minuet and the island of Manhattan, with Michael Landon and Dan Blocker trading often pained yucks in a comedy routine John Wayne horns in on-something Wayne does frequently in here. The first of the in-jokes about Wayne comes here as well.
There's a musical number by the Doodletown Pipers, which is a portion of the Declaration of Independence set to music and sung. It's actually not too bad, Glen Campbell, Roy Clarke, Johnny Cash and Leslie Uggams have musical numbers which hold up well and there's a musical presentation of the building of the transcontinental railroad which doesn't hold up at all.
A lot of the other parts here are little more than set pieces for the performers, with Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Dean Martin, Rowan and Martin and Ann-Margret all essentially playing themselves in segments and with John Wayne suiting up and riding a horse in a segment on western ghost towns.
Then there are the performances, where stars actually have some acting to do, playing parts. Some of these are very good, like Bing Crosby playing Mark Twain and Roscoe Lee Browne playing Frederick Douglass in a conversation essentially taken from their own words and Lucille Ball as the Statue of Liberty. Some are okay, like brothers David and Rick Nelson as two soldiers fighting on opposite sides in the American Civil War and Greg Morris essentially given a cameo as Crispus Attucks, with one line and the other four dead in the Boston Massacre unknowns.
There are two performance segments which are head scratchers. The first has a quartet of actors playing Washington and three of his cabinet which seems to serve only as a lead in to Jack Benny's turn as Jack Benny. The second is a pioneer family (Dennis Weaver and Celeste Holm) which is an obvious and strained scene serving to show some things it presents with a heavy hand. It doesn't really work.
Overall, the show is a decent time capsule. It's on DVD for a reasonable price. Woth watching once if you like the performers.