Here's the cover of the forthcoming DVD of 1776 — an odd choice of featured photo. The movie is low on romance and the only star who's likely to be familiar to today's buyers in William Daniels, who has the largest role…but I don't see him at all on the cover. On the other hand, it's nice to see that group shot at the bottom since it's from the "Cool, Conservative Men" number, which was cut from earlier releases and is restored for this one. So not only are they including it, they're featuring it. This is a pretty good film and what I find interesting about it is that halfway through — or, in the stage version at around intermission — you actually find yourself thinking, "They'll never succeed. They'll never get that country established!"
It's the story of how the Declaration of Independence came to be and how the original 13 colonies asserted their right to exit the grand British Empire. We all know that happened but the dramatics of 1776 are such that they encourage you to forget, just for the moment, that the United States of America did get founded. I also like that the whole thing ends, not on a note of flag-waving faux-patriotism but with the recognition that pain, suffering and sacrifice still lay ahead for the Founding Fathers and their countrymen. Some of the songs may not be all that we'd like them to be but, in the main, 1776 is a glorious thing to behold.
