Wonderful Movie

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Of all the major Hollywood studios of the 30's, Warners Bros were the most engaged with the threat posed in Europe by Hitler and entrusted the great Michael Curtiz with the direction of this Oscar winning short which lavished the blandishments of Technicolor and the charismatic presence of Claude Rains flanked by a classy supporting cast - including Montague Love as George Washington - on this reminder of the role played in the Revolution by a super-patriotic Jew who according to this account even died reciting the US Constitution on his deathbed.Given the current situation in Europe, 'Sons of Liberty' avoids overtly identifying the British by name as the bad guys, and most of the film's accents - including Rains' - are impeccably British, one notable exception being the 'March of Time' style narrator who occasionally interjects to clarify or speed things up.

I'm going to make myself unpopular and side with the previous reviewer of 5 July 2014. In fact, I'd go further and say it's a surprise to find Warner's top director, Michael Curtiz working on a movie of such limited potential. Despite the fact that it was photographed in pleasing Technicolor, production values are extremely limited. There are few, if any, photographic flourishes. In fact the camera seems to have been bolted to the floor. I'll admit that many Warner short subjects were made on the cheap, but they moved fast and were generally most agreeable. This one doesn't move at all. Unlike Curtiz's usual camera flourishes, this one seems to employ a camera that is not only bolted to the floor but incapable even of the slightest movement, right or left. Or maybe it's simply that the sets are so small, there's nowhere for the camera to go? The atmosphere is claustrophobic rather than intriguing and the tone of the movie is patronizing rather than stimulating. Claude Rains is woefully miscast. Available on DVD as an extra with Curtiz's superbly fast-moving, big budget western actioner, "Dodge City"!

CLAUDE RAINS gives an earnest performance as a rabbi Haym Salomon who finances Washington's troops during this historical short subject that appears on the Errol Flynn Signature Collection in collaboration with DODGE CITY.GALE SONDERGAARD is his faithful wife who stands by while he courageously leads the rebels against The Crown in the fight for freedom. All the usual slogans denouncing tyranny and oppression are here, but the short is directed in firm style by the capable Michael Curtiz, who keeps things moving briskly throughout the twenty minutes of running time.Seen briefly are JAMES STEPHENSON, DONALD CRISP, HENRY O'NEILL and, if you look closely, that's JOHN SUTTON as the horseback rider with a message for Rains. Photographed in Technicolor by Sol Polito, it's a fine example of the sort of shorts Warner Bros. made during the '30s and '40s to accompany feature films.

This is a Michael Curtiz-directed 20-minute color short about a group of immigrants to the new country (America) who formed a group called "Sons Of Liberty." They were persecuted people who are happy to rid themselves of that and don't care to be persecuted again. They fear they are being "threatened, once again by the British," as Claude Rains' character "Haym Salomon" puts it. In September of 1776, General Howe invades New York City and gets a "warm reception" from the group as they burn the docks where is ship and other British boats and storefronts are located. Donald Crisp plays "Alexander McDougall," Salomon's ally and leader of the SOL.Salomon is taken by the Brits and charged with "aiding and abetting the enemy of the Crown." However, Soloman uses his intelligence and education to gain the British trust and become a spy for George Washington. However, he gets discovered hiding someone and is thrown in jail, to be hanged. He comforts some of the other prisoners, such as reciting the 23rd Psalm to one, who turns out to be Nathan Hale. Soloman once again escapes, and the scene quickly shifts to Philadelphia in the year 1781.Shortly, we see George Washington (Montagu Love) and hear of the problems he's having with disgruntled and underpaid militia. The story of how the Americans overcame adversity is the rest of it. One doesn't often see or hear of the Jewish people being involved with the American Revolution, so Soloman's character gives the story a new twist.Patriotism? The Bible? The Torah? Yup, it's all here in spades, something dated but refreshing to see in a secular-dominated film industry would never make something remotely close to this today.