From: davidf@HQ.Ileaf.COM (David Fristrom)
Subject: 1776 Special Edition
Reply-To: davidf@HQ.Ileaf.COM (David Fristrom)
Organization: Interleaf, Inc.
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 92 19:18:44 GMT

I've just watched the Pioneer Special Editions release of the film
musical 1776 on laser disk, and it's something special for fans of
musical theatre.  The 1776 movie is already a treat for musical buffs,
since it is probably the closest screen adaptation ever of a stage
musical (can anyone think of a rival -- and I don't mean videos of
stage productions?).  The cast is practically identical to the
Broadway production (and the few changes bring in stage actors who
would have fit in perfectly well on Broadway), and Peter Stone's
script has few changes from his stage book, without feeling confined
like some film adaptations. The director, Peter Hunt, is also the
same, and he made the leap to movies without making it feel stagey.
My general rule is that musicals usually need major changes in order
to become good movies, but 1776 is a case where changes weren't
needed, and weren't made.

The most obvious change for the movie is the deletion of the song
"Cool Considerate Men."  Like most people, I had simply assumed that,
for whatever reason, the number was never filmed.  It turns out we
were wrong.  The people at Pioneer have tracked down and restored some
forty minutes of film which had been cut by its producer, Jack Warner,
in order to shorten the film and allow an extra screening a day (there
is also some reason to believe that the cuts were in part political,
as they tend to be scenes that reflect badly on our founding fathers).
These cuts are scattered throughout the film; the longest are the
overture, entr'acte, and the opening titles, but the most significant
cut was "Cool Considerate Men," which is now back in all it's glory.
Unfortunately, the prints of the cuts they were able to find aren't as
in good shape as the "standard" version, so the cuts are noticeable
because of changes in color values (and in one short sequence all they
could find was a black-and-white print).  This can be somewhat
distracting, but does allow you to see what was cut.

This edition is presented in letter-box format and has a stereo
soundtrack -- the movie was recorded in stereo but until now only
released in mono.  It also includes a discussion with Peter Hunt, the
director, on one of the analog audio tracks, which provides some
interesting information about the movie and the Broadway show.

While watching this restored version, however, I was shocked to
realize that there is an anachronism in the song "Cool Considerate
Men."  In it, the conservative congressmen sing about dancing "to the
right, always to the right, never to the left."  But, I recalled (and
a check with the OED confirmed), the use of "right" and "left" as
political terms came from the French assembly during the revolution of
1789, 13 years after the date of the musical.  It's strange -- I'm not
at all bothered by congressmen singing and dancing, when I know
perfectly well that they didn't, but I am bothered by their using a
term that hadn't yet been invented.

David Fristrom		|
Interleaf, Inc.		|	"Sit down, John, sit down, John
davidf@ileaf.com	|	 For God's sake, John, sit down!"