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Spirit of '76
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- MP4 (432x288, sd 8.1 MB): 01/15/115538.115523.Spirit_Of_76.mp4
- MP4 (720x480, hd 15.5 MB): 01/15/115540.115523.Spirit_Of_76.mp4
- WEBM (432x288, sd 8.1 MB): 01/15/115542.115523.Spirit_Of_76.webm
- OGV (384x288, sd 3.2 MB): 01/15/115532.115523.Spirit_Of_76.ogv
- OGV (720x480, hd 12.8 MB): 01/15/115534.115523.Spirit_Of_76.ogv
- MP4 (720x480, source 11.3 MB): 01/15/115523.Spirit_Of_76.mp4
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
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
- Contributions:
- G.W. "
Billy"
Bitzer (camera) - Type:
- video
- Original format:
- User:
- Library of Congress
