"1776"(1972)the film musical has been restored by Sony & director Peter Hunt in 4k-HD...

The musical starring Howard DaSilva, William Daniels, Blythe Danner & Ken Howard has been restored by Sony's Grover Crisp & director Peter Hunt in a 169-minute director's edition and will receive a theatrical showing at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica, CA. on July 3rd...Mr. Hunt is also conducting a question and answer discussion after the viewing...can a blu-ray release be too far behind???

 

When I used to browse the DVD verdict website this film was on their "best of" list. And for a long time I thought the director was the "James Bond" Peter Hunt!

 

That's a strange, strange film, but it's got some good moments. Howard DaSilva steals the entire film as Ben Franklin. I did all the previous transfers of this film in the 1980s and 1990s; I have no doubt the new 4K version is 10,000 times better. This is a murky, weird-looking, soft film throughout, shot with a ton of diffusion and soft scope lenses.

 

Not a fan of most of the later-day musicals; most seeming creatively iffy and inexplicably bloated to me. This isn't one of the exceptions, though at least it has some merit. It appeals to me in subject but not in practice.

There was a Laserdisc of it that was notable at the time. Very expensive. "Letterbox" OAR, as I recall. The elements were in plainly varied condition and I seem to recall the "restored" footage being badly faded but the stereo sound quality was rather good (could be confusing it with another at this point). The film seemed to be considered an obscure flop and the attempted restoration such a surprise that it seems it gained the film some new interest.

Since they've gone ahead and done the work, there should be a Blu-Ray, but this restoration is again a bit of a surprise, IMH.

 

Video review by PAW
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/paw/music-movies/39937-music-movies-1776

 

I have a love of this movie. It started my love of American history, and Addams, Jefferson, and Franklin. My favorite song from the movie

 

If you can make it to the Aero Theater in Santa Monica on July 3rd at 7:30pm, you'll be able to see this newly-restored director's cut and meet Mr. Hunt himself after the showing...tickets are available online...

 

We were forced to go see this in like 3rd grade at a movie theater, for a school trip.

We as kids were laughing at how many times they swore in the movie!

That is all I remember.

 

Kevin, you're dating yourself...this movie's 42 years old!!!

 

Here's a bit more on that Laserdisc:

http://johnadams1776.tripod.com/1776laserdisc.html

 

The original Broadway show has a lot of fans. I saw a revival and enjoyed it. Like the film, it benefits from a book by Peter Stone.

 

Bumping this thread for a MAJOR update...Peter Hunt's newly-restored Director's Edition of "1776" will be showing theatrically at the TCM Film Festival later this month AND released on blu-ray June 2nd, 2015 by Sony...the pre-order page was online BRIEFLY today at Amazon.com but was removed because it was posted prematurely, but the MSRP for the blu-ray is $19.98...and running time is 166 minutes!!! Will post further details as they develop...

 

A field trip in either 9th, or 10th grade. NO THANKS EVER AGAIN.

 

Pretty highly reviewed at IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068156/reviews?ref_=tt_urv

 

These are reviews of the old version, not of the subject of this thread. You got me excited there, for a minute.

 

What are you talking about ? His link is the same film being discussed here.
.

 

Same film, but the same old version that we have on DVD now, not the new, restored, expanded 4K version that the thread is about. The review that the link brings us to is from 12 December 2002.

 

It's also IMDB, so it's about the film, not the technical aspects of a home video version. It's being posted is completely within topic. If you read the posts, we were discussing the film itself.
.

 

"We may see murder yet!"

 

William Daniels with a long wig and without facial hair...wow. He's such a great actor.

Never, ever heard of this film. These musicals made after the genre's golden age feel weird and out of place to me. This is a neat scene though, love the long takes and moving camera.

dan c

 

Jesus, that first tracking shot made me sea sick.

 

It's a very "stagey" movie, very much influenced by the Broadway play. I think there's no other way to show how Adams conflicted with the other delegates in Congress. Otherwise, it'd be too static if he just stood on one side of the set and everybody else stayed on the other. Howard Da Silva as Franklin steals the entire picture, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Sony and Peter Hunt today officially announced the impending blu-ray release of Mr. Hunt's restored Director's Cut Edition of "1776" on June 2nd...MSRP is $19.98 and the disc will be loaded with bonus features, including the original theatrical cut of the film via seamless branching and a brand-new audio commentary by Mr. Hunt and co-stars William Daniels & Ken Howard...as soon as the pre-order link is back online at www.Amazon.com I'm GETTING THIS!!!

 

I only remember the Richard Henry Lee song where he turns every word into an adjective (Social-Lee, political-Lee, financial-Lee, natural-Lee).

 

In the long version he comes back , finishes the song, and rides off. It's the funniest moment in the film.