"1776", the American Independence musical-drama adapted by Peter Stone from his book for the 1969 Broadway production, doesn't really need an audience. It features speeches, debates, rebuttals and refusals of those rebuttals from its roster of personalities, and it seems quite satisfied being its own audience (I'm not sure where our participation fits in). The Continental Congress in Philadelphia debates American independence, led by William Daniels as the incredulous John Adams of Massachusetts (who continually bellows "Good God!"). It's Adams' pushing of the issue that causes dissension in the ranks, with Donald Madden as John Dickinson of Pennsylvania leading an anti-Independence faction while hoping for reconciliation with England. The hot-air in-fighting pauses every now and then to squeeze in one of composer Sherman Edwards' songs--the strangest of which, "Till Then", includes the lyrics:
"Our children all have dysentery Little Tom keeps turning blue Little Abbey has the measles And I'm coming down with flu They say we may get smallpox Madam, what else is new?" And concludes: "We've gone from Framingham to Boston And we cannot find a pin "Don't you know there's a war on?" Say the tradesmen with a grin Well, we will not make saltpeter Until you send us pins! Till then, till then."
Of the cast, the only one who seems to be having a good time is Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. Most of the other actors all sound the same, except of course for William Daniels (who, like Da Silva, was a holdover from the Broadway cast). Snarling and sniping like an angry rabbit, Daniels seems to shoot up on his performance, playing to the back rows, but one longs to be rid of him. With a budget of $4M, the picture did do business (with a gross of just over $6M), but it shuts even curious viewers out. One Oscar nomination: for Harry Stradling Jr.'s cinematography. *1/2 from ****
"Our children all have dysentery Little Tom keeps turning blue Little Abbey has the measles And I'm coming down with flu They say we may get smallpox Madam, what else is new?" And concludes: "We've gone from Framingham to Boston And we cannot find a pin "Don't you know there's a war on?" Say the tradesmen with a grin Well, we will not make saltpeter Until you send us pins! Till then, till then."
Of the cast, the only one who seems to be having a good time is Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. Most of the other actors all sound the same, except of course for William Daniels (who, like Da Silva, was a holdover from the Broadway cast). Snarling and sniping like an angry rabbit, Daniels seems to shoot up on his performance, playing to the back rows, but one longs to be rid of him. With a budget of $4M, the picture did do business (with a gross of just over $6M), but it shuts even curious viewers out. One Oscar nomination: for Harry Stradling Jr.'s cinematography. *1/2 from ****