Sons of Liberty (1939)

Waste of time

Absolutely brilliant

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

"Sons of Liberty" is an American English-language short film from 1939, the first year of World War II, so this one is already over 75 years old and the patriotic sentiment is easy to find in these 20 minutes. The director is Michael Curtiz, mostly known today for "Casablanca" and his writer is Crane Wilbur. People with a great interest in old American movies will find several familiar names, like Claude Rains ("Casablanca"), Oscar winners Sondergaard and Crisp and there are more people in here who you will find on the Walk of Fame or the lists of Oscar nominees. Pretty impressive for such a brief movie. It is in Technicolor, but the version I saw looked almost black-and-white still. As for the plot, this is about the life of Haym Salomon during the American Revolution. I may be slightly biased here as this era in history never really interested me that much, but the plot in here also did not manage to sparkle my interest. Apparently, the Academy thought differently as they gave this one an Oscar, which is why I would not say it is unwatchable. However, I personally found it underwhelming and don't recommend checking it out.

It was great that they honored the story of Haym Solomon, an under credited hero of the American Revolution. However, Claude Rains plays Solomon with a very British accent. Haym Solomon immigrated from Poland. There is nothing about Rains portrayal that indicates that he is of either European extraction or Jewish descent. Given that this short was made by Jewish Warner Bros and Jewish Michael Curtiz, it raises many questions as to what they were thinking and what were their motivations? Could it have been, as implied by some of the other reviewers, that Hollywood wanted to remind Americans, given the situation in 1939, that Jews were instrumental in the Amercian Revolution that led to our Freedom and that we should be prepared for a possible threat to our freedom? But, as was often of the mind set of pre-WWII Hollywood, they wouldn't want to make our Jewish protagonist too Jewish in fear of an American anti-semitic back lash. This walks a hypocritical tight rope. Oy Vey!

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.

This must have been Hollywood's way of trying to say what everyone in power knew but were afraid to say out loud: there was another threat to liberty afoot, and, this time, Jews were in especial danger. Why else would Hollywood have chosen to focus on Chaim Solomon out of so many other equally deserving patriots (And is this role the reason Claude Rains was chose to play the title role in "Mr. Skeffington"?)? The short is expectedly both solemn and melodramatic, given the subject matter and the reason for its being made. Rains, as could be expected, rises above the material, giving a real performance and not just emoting.I have read the comments of the viewer who feels that the short is "anti-British." Well, if so, then it is just as "anti-British" as the movie "Fire Over England" was "anti-Spanish". In other words, not at all.