Sons of Liberty (1939)

Set during the American Revolution, this colorful 2 reel short tells the story of Haym Salomon, American patriot and financier of the American Revolution.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writer:

Crane Wilbur (original screenplay)

Stars:

Claude Rains, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Claude Rains	...	Haym Salomon
Gale Sondergaard	...	Rachel Salomon
Donald Crisp	...	Alexander McDougall
Montagu Love	...	George Washington
Henry O'Neill	...	Member of Continental Congress
James Stephenson	...	Colonel Tillman

Storyline

Set during the American Revolution, this colorful 2 reel short tells the story of Haym Salomon, American patriot and financier of the American Revolution.

---

Plot Keywords:

american revolution | jewish | british | patriotism | 1770s | 

---

Genres:

Short | Biography | Drama | History

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 1939 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This short is included as a bonus on the Warner DVD of Dodge City (1939)

---

Soundtracks

"Yankee Doodle"
Traditional
Played during the opening credits

User Reviews

Rarely Mentioned Episode of American History

A refreshing little short about a little known element of our Revolutionary History. Someone who almost single handedly financed the Revolution should have gained a larger place in our history books, but sadly, he was relegated to the footnotes section. This short began by showing the Jewish Congregation in Philadelphia - the oldest synagogue in America. I was perplexed by the previous user from England who felt it was made as a slap in the face of the British as they were about to go to war. Ironically, the British were not heavily represented in this short at all, unless the subject of the Revolution, merely by its existence, is an insult to the British. If that's the way they felt at the outset of war I'm surprised they didn't deny our help feeling the insult would be too great to allow yanks to come to their assistance...or should I say win the war.

As Haym was represented gathering his funding and moving it around the country, it was ironically shown that his greatest antagonist was pursuit by the Hessian Soldiers...sure they were employed by the British...but if someone wanted to point out some pre-WWII propaganda elements in this film, you couldn't look any further than the brave little group of Jews being chased after by the Germans! I'm not a student of Haym Solomon history, but this element might even have been solely added for political effect and perhaps to cushion any anti-British sentiment in this subject. America has always been proud of its beginnings, and has made many movies/shorts in celebration. You also forget that even at this early point, it was a serious possibility that we could soon be entering a war. Patriotic symbolism in Hollywood was not aimed at the British, regardless of the British actors who obviously didn't think this was a slap.

The production was fine, nice color, acting was fine...nothing out of the ordinary, but still very enjoyable and very valuable for pre-WWII American cultural studies.