The film version of the Broadway musical comedy of the same name. In the days leading up to July 4, 1776, Continental Congressmen John Adams and Benjamin Franklin coerce Thomas Jefferson into writing the Declaration of Independence as a delaying tactic as they try to persuade the American colonies to support a resolution on independence. As George Washington sends depressing messages describing one military disaster after another, the businessmen, landowners and slave holders in Congress all stand in the way of the Declaration, and a single "nay" vote will forever end the question of independence. Large portions of spoken and sung dialog are taken directly from the letters and memoirs of the actual participants.
| Release Date: | Nov 1972 |
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| Genre: | Drama / History / Family / Musical |
| Awards: | Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination |
| Cast: | William Daniels (John Adams (MA)), Howard Da Silva (Dr. Benjamin Franklin (PA)), Ken Howard (Thomas Jefferson (VA)), Donald Madden (John Dickinson (PA)), John Cullum (Edward Rutledge (SC)), Roy Poole (Stephen Hopkins (RI)), David Ford (Congressional President John Hancock...), Ron Holgate (Richard Henry Lee (VA)), Ray Middleton (Col. Thomas McKean (DE)), William Hansen (Caesar Rodney (DE)), Blythe Danner (Martha Jefferson), Virginia Vestoff (Abigail Adams), Emory Bass (Judge James Wilson (PA)), Ralston Hill (Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson), Howard Caine (Lewis Morris (NY)), Patrick Hines (Samuel Chase (MD)), William Duell (Andrew McNair, Congressional Custodian), Daniel Keyes (Dr. Josiah Bartlett (NH)), Leo Leyden (George Read (DE)), Stephen Nathan (Courier), Jonathan Moore (Dr. Lyman Hall (GA)), James Noble (Rev. John Witherspoon (NJ)), John Myhers (Robert Livingston (NY)), Rex Robbins (Roger Sherman (CT)), Charles Rule (Joseph Hewes (NC)), Andy Albin (William Paca (MD) (uncredited)), William Bassett (Thomas Heyward, Jr. (SC) (uncredited)), Jack De Mave (John Penn (NC) (uncredited)), Gordon Devol (Thomas Lynch, Jr. (SC) (uncredited)), Frederic Downs (Samuel Huntington (CT) (uncredited)), Peter Forster (Oliver Wolcott (CT)), John Holland (William Whipple (NH) (uncredited)), Heber Jentzsch (Charles Carroll (MD)), Richard McMurray (Francis Lewis (NY) (uncredited)), Mark Montgomery (Leather Apron (uncredited)), Barry O'Hara (George Walton (GA) (uncredited)), Dick O'Shea (Francis Hopkinson (NJ) (uncredited)), Jordan Rhodes (William Hooper (NC) (uncredited)), Fred Slyter (Richard Stockton (NJ) (uncredited)) |