Media item

Spirit of '76

Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.

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Dramatic recreation of the ca. 1875 painting "The spirit of '76" by Archibald M. Willard. Film opens on a stage with a painted backdrop of a battlefield and stage props of dirt, stones, and a broken wagon wheel. From stage left marches a trio of Revolutionary soldiers in a fife and drum corps. As in the painting, the center drummer is a tall, older, white-haired man in a white shirt and dark vest. On his left, the other drummer is a young boy dressed in a uniform with a tricorner hat and boots to the knee. On the right marches a dark-haired fife player with a bandaged head, dressed in an unbuttoned uniform. When they reach center stage, the three march in place and play a tune as smoke from the battlefield drifts behind them. The soldiers then turn around, march towards the backdrop, and off stage right. A flash of smoke on stage simulates canon fire, after which the drummers and fife player march back onstage, still playing. After they have performed briefly, a man in a uniform and tricorner hat enters behind them, waving a large American flag. The corps continues to march in place and play as the flag waves.

Note:
Filmed May 19, 1905, in the Biograph New York City studio.

See also the entry for this film on the Library of Congress American Memory website

Creator:
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
Publication date:
18 May 1905
Length:
00:57

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Contributions:
G.W. &quot
Billy&quot
Bitzer (camera)
Type:
video
Original format:
 
User:
Library of Congress
Tags: