Press Release SPHE Press Release: 1776 (1972) (4k UHD) (1 Viewer)

[jayembee]

He seemed to be. He wasn't super energetic, but was getting around by himself and his autograph showed great motor skills and much better handwriting than mine. It's just amazing that he's 94 or 95 and could do two full days of comic con activities. There was a line to see him and most were there for Knight Rider or his post-70s tv series. He didn't even have any 1776 stills, so I am glad a brought my blu-ray. I wish I had the new 4K edition though. Sure do hope I have his health.

So...no one there for Captain Nice, then...

 

[JoeDoakes]

So...no one there for Captain Nice, then...

Can't say for sure. There was a still from that.

 

[roxy1927]

I am so stuck in the 60s. No stills from Two for the Road? What did he have to say about working with legends like Donen, Finney, Hepburn and Bron?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

 

[JPCinema]

Broadway revival has just been announced . ( I'm not sure how I feel about this)

"Broadway-Bound ‘1776’ Musical Revival Announces Female, Non-Binary And Trans Cast"​

 

[roxy1927]

I'm not touching this. I know how I feel.

 

[Will Krupp]

Broadway revival has just been announced . ( I'm not sure how I feel about this)

"Broadway-Bound ‘1776’ Musical Revival Announces Female, Non-Binary And Trans Cast"​

They way I look at it is this. It's a new take and a chance for different people to take a whack at the material. In my opinion, more power to them. If it pleases enough people, it'll run and if it doesn't, it won't. If it turns out it's not for me, then I can skip it. There are plenty of Broadway shows I don't have any interest in so I don't see them and not ONE person has ever cared!

(truth be told, I'd be more likely to see a radical reimagining of an old chestnut than I would be likely to sit through another godawful jukebox musical but, again, what I do or don't see has zero effect on anyone who isn't me.)

 

[roxy1927]

True. I rarely go anymore(last show was War Paint, the ticket was given to me as a present) because Broadway is for a new audience that I'm not a part of. I have some great memories though of wonderful productions including the original stagings of the Prince/Sondheim musicals and the Ingmar Bergman productions out in Brooklyn. It is a very different world.

 

[B-ROLL]

For those who are planning on watching 1776 this year ... you might want to check out that film-historian guy Ken Burn's two-part mini-series "Benjamin Franklin"

on PBS, DVD, blu-ray and Amazon Prime ... especially the first half hour or so of Part II !

 

[derekbd]

I showed 1776 to my Hamilton-loving son when I got my copy of the BD release. He liked it, but found "Molasses to Rum to Slaves" a bit of a slog. He's also a theatre kid.

Shocking! Did he not listen to the lyrics? What did he think of "Mama, Look Sharp"?

 

[waltodonnell]

Wow, what rock have I been living under? Great news! Between the four cuts, we'll have every scrap of footage released so far, deleted scenes, alternate takes, original theatrical takes, underscoring and sound effects together at last.

I say so far because there's still bits of deleted dialogue apparently filmed but never released before. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts holds a copy of the screenplay and an early draft of the musical dated October 25, 1968, possibly the first draft from Peter Stone when he came on board. I bought copies of both, as I am a massive fan of the movie since seeing a local Little Theatre performance when I was 3 in 1987. We had the movie soundtrack on record, my parents rented the movie on VHS and I've never looked back. I bought a VHS rip of the laserdisc version on ebay for a couple hundred bucks when I was 16 back in 2000, then of course the DVD update in 2002, then the blu ray cuts in 2015. In between there were trips to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, and all sorts of memorabilia: souvenir programs, the movie's comic book version (really), and a piece from the movie itself, Howard Caine's Mr. Lewis Morris costume for 300 bucks on ebay. My passion runs deep.

Anyway I mentioned the screenplay's other bits of deleted dialogue. Three bits: a wink at the audience explaining why Adams is the only delegate present out of 4, a nice moment between Adams and Hancock between Does Anybody Care and Does Anybody See what I See, and a line from Franklin when Caesar Rodney breaks the tie. Maybe they'll be with a release for the 250th anniversary July 2026. Here they are:

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[Ronald Epstein]

Conor,

Enjoyed reading those moments. I wonder if they were ever actually filmed.

I think this is the last big "hurrah" for 1776. I can't praise Grover Crisp enough for having the insight to (as you stated) put every scrap of footage released so far into this 4k.

I truly believe this release was for us. We are a small fanbase who were very vocal with Sony for the past few decades and they were listening.

 

[waltodonnell]

TR confirmed the scene with Hancock was filmed back when we were discussing the blu ray release. I would imagine the other two bits were as well.

You're probably right about this being the last release, I was shocked we're even getting this! I thought the 2015 blu ray was going to be it. If, a big if, this movie has one more chance on disc, July 2026 is it. The 250th anniversary of the country's birth, and the 200th anniversary of the deaths of Adams and Jefferson on the same day, July 4th, 1826. I can see Sony wanting to try and cash in on the patriotic ferver. If it happens that'll be our last chance to get those last few remaining seconds put back in.

The Lamplighter scene in 4k would be nice too

 

[Ronald Epstein]

TR confirmed the scene with Hancock was filmed back when we were discussing the blu ray release. I would imagine the other two bits were as well.

You're probably right about this being the last release, I was shocked we're even getting this! I thought the 2015 blu ray was going to be it. If, a big if, this movie has one more chance on disc, July 2026 is it. The 250th anniversary of the country's birth, and the 200th anniversary of the deaths of Adams and Jefferson on the same day, July 4th, 1826. I can see Sony wanting to try and cash in on the patriotic ferver. If it happens that'll be our last chance to get those last few remaining seconds out back in.

The Lamplighter scene in 4k would be nice too

I was completely shocked and blind-sighted by the release.

I did contact Grover Crisp at Sony a few months prior and asked him that if a 4k release was being considered he would make certain ALL the cuts were included since the 4k digital release that was currently on iTunes only had one cut.

He responded kindly and said he would push for that if Sony was considering a release.

I would bet that Grover already was working on the release at that point, but I can't be certain. The announcement came out a few months afterward.

I keep repeating this over and over again, but I can't help but think that this was a personal favor to the fans by Grover and Sony. The film is not hugely popular but has been the subject of many posts on this forum and requests to Sony for release every time we enter a new format. And most all the fans have always, always pushed for all the footage that was included in the laserdisc release. So, what did Grover and Sony do? For this last "hurrah" they gave us the actual Laserdisc release as a supplement.

I can't praise Mr. Crisp and Sony enough for what they did here.

While I am on a roll, I'll add this...

Warner and Sony are the two best studios when it comes to their releases. You have Grover over at Sony and George Feltenstein over at Warner. Both of these individuals know their studio's library, have a passion for film and put emphasis on releasing a quality product. We are very lucky to have both these men helming restorations at their respective studios.

 

[Charles Smith]

That can hardly be said better, or too strongly. Thank you, Ron, for your support on this over the years.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Received my review copy today, but won't be able to get to it until after Memorial Day. But for those wondering if this includes a remastered Blu-ray, sadly, it does not. I stuck the Blu-ray disc in my PC's BD drive, and the author date on the disc is April 2015.

 

[Denham]

That's a shame. I have a projector and Sony's UHDs don't play nice with these lumen limited devices.

Otherwise this would be a dream release.

 

[roxy1927]

That's interesting because I have a friend who lives halfway across the country. I don't know what equipment he uses but I talked him into getting Grimm and he watched it on his 55in TV and he loved it. He then brought it to his brother's house who has a projector and they watched it there. Obviously the image was much larger and again I don't know exactly what equipment they were using but he much preferred it on his TV. Maybe it was a not very good projector though I know they enjoy sci fi and comic book action films on it.

 

[Allansfirebird]

Wow, what rock have I been living under? Great news! Between the four cuts, we'll have every scrap of footage released so far, deleted scenes, alternate takes, original theatrical takes, underscoring and sound effects together at last.

I say so far because there's still bits of deleted dialogue apparently filmed but never released before. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts holds a copy of the screenplay and an early draft of the musical dated October 25, 1968, possibly the first draft from Peter Stone when he came on board. I bought copies of both, as I am a massive fan of the movie since seeing a local Little Theatre performance when I was 3 in 1987. We had the movie soundtrack on record, my parents rented the movie on VHS and I've never looked back. I bought a VHS rip of the laserdisc version on ebay for a couple hundred bucks when I was 16 back in 2000, then of course the DVD update in 2002, then the blu ray cuts in 2015. In between there were trips to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, and all sorts of memorabilia: souvenir programs, the movie's comic book version (really), and a piece from the movie itself, Howard Caine's Mr. Lewis Morris costume for 300 bucks on ebay. My passion runs deep.

Anyway I mentioned the screenplay's other bits of deleted dialogue. Three bits: a wink at the audience explaining why Adams is the only delegate present out of 4, a nice moment between Adams and Hancock between Does Anybody Care and Does Anybody See what I See, and a line from Franklin when Caesar Rodney breaks the tie. Maybe they'll be with a release for the 250th anniversary July 2026. Here they are:

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Do you happen to remember which folder in the Stone collection that script with revisions form 1971 was in? I'm interested in getting copies from that collection, and they don't break out what draft is what in the finding aid.

 

[roxy1927]

I wrote that I saw the movie when it first played Radio City as the Christmas show in '72. Then I was working at the Hall in '76 when the film was shown again for the Bicentennial. I thought all that had been cut was Cool Cool Considerate Men which as I already wrote I saw as part of a preview in the summer of '72 when the Music Hall showed Butterflies Are Free and I was wondering what in the world happened to it when I finally saw the film later that year. Little did I know there appears to be so much more that exists in bits and pieces that I didn't know about a half a century ago. By the way that Bicentennial summer 1776 was followed by Cukor's The Bluebird. Boy did people hate that movie. You couldn't keep them in the auditorium.