REVOLUTIONARY WAR DOCUMENTARIES

The Revolution:
Documentaries: First in War, First in Peace, Last at the Box offices

jd collins

* * * * * * * * * * * * Highest, according to Digital History, on the certain subjects that rarely succeed at the box office, until the success of the Mel Gibson movie, The Patriot, in 2000, was the American Revolution. Digital History asserts that fewer than a dozen movies have been filmed. They haven't examined the subject closely enough to find all the available films or even the root cause of failure.

Robert Goldstein and "the Spirit of '76"

The treatment of Robert Goldstein foiled the revolution at the box office.

The trail of failure leads back to Robert Goldstein.

Film pioneer Robert Goldstein in the feature Spirit of 1776 made a tribute to the Revolution from Lexington to Yorktown and landed in jail. With the exception of Mel Gibson, those who followed in Goldstein's footsteps simply lost money or were ignored or both. Documentary footage on the Revolution is sparce.

Digital History gives the reasons for the failure as (a) inability to identify with characters from the late 18th century, powdered wigs, knee breeches, and formal speech patterns, (b) the inability to reach from a cynical age to times when the possibilities seemed endless, and (c) an excessively romantic patriotism in the films.

Much the same objections could be raised as to Civil War movies and documentaries. Yet films about the internal schism remain universally popular.

George Washington's War: The Saga of the American Revolution
The Revolution thrives in print, the preferred medium of its enigmatic sage the printer Ben Franklin.
The success of various civil war documentaries inspired several titles in the Revolution genre, but public interest remains fleeting. The American Revolution pales when it competes for titles with the Civil War.

Despite relegation to a lesser place, the glorious cause of the American Revolution raises issues of enduring interest:

Was the American Revolution more the product of good government by Britain than bad?
What steps could Britain have taken to avert revolution?
What magic united the quarrelsome American colonists in turning their hatred and contempt for each other into a common cause against the British?

I'm not sure any of the documentaries come close to posing the questions much less answering them, but the documentaries do have interesting features.

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789
The issues faced by the Revolutionaries remain surprisingly contemporary.
Significant among the documentaries is Liberty The American Revolution. a six-hour documentary made for PBS on the American Revolution, from the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) through Yorktown and beyond to the new constitution. No major names appeared in the cast.

The defect in Liberty The American Revolution. and the few other documentaries is that the documentaries like the traditional story line starts in Massachusetts, as if that were the only colony in which the English were overthrown.

The Revolt had to be staged at least 11 more times; only Conneticut's Governor Trumble voluntarily embraced the cause. Much drama occurred in Massachusetts but not a little occurred elsewhere. Only the Penns with insufferable Pennsylvanian Quaker non-violence left when asked. Most of the rising lay somewhere between the violent breach on April 19 1775 in Massachusetts and the hissy fit in Pennsylvania with the Mexican stand-off on April 20th 1775 between The Burgess in Virginia and their Royal Governor Lord Dunmore lying somewhat in between.

American Revolution: A History

How interesting that the Revolution would break out in two places 500 miles apart almost on the same day! Is there more to the story? New York patriots must have misread the code. Lord Tyron was set to flight on March 19th.

The Patriot
Mel Gibson is THE PATRIOT
Available on DVD
At Barnes & Noble.com.

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Yet Liberty The American Revolution. is nontheless a superior work. An excellent primer on the Revolutionary War, Liberty The American Revolution. takes a penetrating look at the causes and motivations as well as the saga of the course of the war. It is interesting that the major source for information on the war is the writings of Sgt Martin. There's an excellent period score Da**[rn] the Defiant that's part of the opening and closing credits. Regretfully the audience for glorious cause is a pale shaddow when compared to that of the lost cause. But Liberty The American Revolution. has few rivals. This compares favorably to THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR (narrated Charles Kuralt) and HOW THE WEST WAS LOST (American Indian perspective).

The TV miniseries "The Revolutionary War," (1995) narrated by Charles Keralt an excellent chronicle of the Revolutionary. Its limited audience clearly demonstrates how American humbled the Mistress of the Seas and won the war as well as the peace but lost at the box office. Though the tales from the Revolution are surprisingly contemporary in terms of stealth, espionage and intrigue the revolution has suffered from the cozy relationship with Britain in terms of films, documentaries and tv shows when compared to the civil war.

This documentary is well done and comprehensive and is highly recommented. Interestingly enough despite the importance of the event, the documentary shows that we have one main American source on the war: the writings of Sgt Joseph Plum Martin.

Dark Eagle: A Story of Benedict Arnold and the American Revolution
In Question of Honor, Kelsey Grammar played the father of his country with dignity and grace.
The TV docudrama American Revolution. (1994) (TV), is a thorough documentary of the rise of the American Colonies to separation from England and independent statehood. Representing the sparkling personalities involved in the creation of a new nation were some excellent voices: Charles Durning as Benjamin Franklin, Kelsey Grammer later to star as father of his country in Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor as Benedict Arnold, Cliff Robertson as George Washington, Rick Schroder as Sergeant Joseph Plumb Martin, David Warner as King George III and William Daniels back in his signature role as John Adams. Preeminent historiam Thomas Fleming served as one of the Commentators. The American Revolution. is exceedingly well done.

How the West Was Lost: Part 1 (1998) deals in part with the Iroquois nation in the American Revolution. It's available at Amazon Dot Com. ($37). The documentary provides some interesting facts not available in the most comprehensive accounts of the Revolution including George III's proclamation to the Indian nations allied with Britain in 1782 that he could no longer hold out for better terms for American Indians. The Indian nations were advised to pursue a separate peace with the new Republic.

The account does not cover the America's less than honourable dealings with the Christianised Delawares who had adopted European dress and joined in the Rebellion against the crown only to face massacre at Moravia at the hands of the Army of Freedom.

Also in the Indian camp is 500 Nations, Vol. 5: Cauldron of War - Iroquois Democracy and the American Revolution. One vote put them in the British camp. The Cherry Valley raids resulted in the punitive expedition that humbled them.

Revolutionary War Documentaries © 2004 by jd collins ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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