Today’s movie is a biography with a scene that occurs on August 30. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
After the death of his father when he is eleven, George and his mother go to live on the farm he was left in his father’s will. His half-brother Lawrence weds Ann Fairfax, who’s from a prominent family. George is selected to survey Lord Fairfax’s lands in Virginia. George is sent as an emissary to the French. He later leads an expedition against the French, but is attacked by a superior force and compelled to surrender at Fort Necessity. He is condemned for the surrender documents he signed as they contain an admission that his force was trespassing on French lands. He marches with Braddock and saves they day when the force is ambushed by the French. He is made commander of the Virginia regiment, but the British refuse to make him an officer in the regulars. He meets Martha Custiss. He is ill for a long while, but proposes to Martha and is present when Fort Duquesne is captured from the French. He marries Martha and is involved in the opposition to the Stamp Act and later British acts. In the Second Continental Congress, he is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He places guns on Dorchester heights and forces the British out of Boston. He moves his forces to New York. They are almost caught and destroyed on Long Island, but he is able to evacuate them, concluding in the early morning hours of August 30, 1776. [3:58:40 to 4:01:23] They retreat to Pennsylvania, but recross the Delaware River and defeat the Hessian mercenaries fighting for the British in a surprise attack. The British attack and capture Philadelphia, forcing Congress to flee. The army retreats to Valley Forge, while Gen. Gates plots to replace Washington. Martha comes to visit and Baron von Steuben arrives and whips the troops into shape. The British evacuate Philadelphia and Charles Lee only agrees very reluctantly to attack at Monmouth and is upset when he is relieved after he retreats. The army very nearly mutinies at Morristown in 1780 over non pay and poor food. Washington meets with French Admiral Rochambeau to try and coordinate efforts and on the way back stops at West Point just in time to stop a plot by Benedict Arnold to hand over the fort
to the enemy. The army marches south and catches Cornwallis at Yorktown, where he surrenders, ending the war. Washington ends a plot by his officers to seize control of the government and then returns home to Mount Vernon.
A good biopic of the Father of Our Country. Mostly historically accurate. Doesn’t deviate too often into melodrama or political polemics.
The Encyclopedia of Military History from 3500 b.c. to the Present by R. Ernest Dupuy & Trevor N. Dupuy (Harper & Row, New York, 1977) at page 712 gives the date the crossing was complete
Director - Buzz Kulik
Screenplay - John Boothe, Richard Fielder
Runtime - 8 hours
Released - April 8, 1984
Awards - the film was nominated for the Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling (Part I); Outstanding Achievement in Makeup; Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special (Part II); Outstanding Film Editing for a Limited Series or a Special (Part III); Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special (Duke) at the 36th Primetime Emmy Awards
Starring -
Barry Bostwick as George Washington
Jaclyn Smith as Sally Fairfax
Lloyd Bridges as Caleb Quinn
Patty Duke as Martha Washington
David Dukes as Will Fairfax
Jose Ferrer as Robert Dinwiddie
Hal Holbrook as John Adams
Trevor Howard as Lord Fairfax
James Mason as Gen. Edward Braddock
Robert Stack as Gen John Stark
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Copyright by Ivan Waltersin 2015.
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