Nobody has written more passionately or more vividly about the American Revolution than Howard Fast. The legendary living author of Freedom Road and Citizen Tom Paine, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Spartacus and the triumphant survivor of Hollywood's notorious blacklist of the fifties, Howard Fast is a part of American history.
It is an amazing testament to Washington's leadership of the young volunteer army fighting in summer clothes against the bitter cold, the snow and the almost impassable Delaware River.
Criss-crossing through Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York, this is also the tale of Colonel John Glover, the leader of a band of New England fishermen, of Tom Paine, the first American war correspondent; and the dreaded German Hessians themselves
Dispelling the myths of history, Howard Fast has written an unforgettable and true account of a key event in America's struggle for independence that all Americans should know and understand.
A dramatization of George Washington's perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the British forces at Trenton.
Original channel: A&E (US)
Original release: January 10, 2000 (USA)
Running time: 89 min.
Cast:
Jeff Daniels as Gen. George Washington
Roger Rees as Gen. Hugh Mercer
Sebastian Roché as Col. John Glover
Steven McCarthy as Alexander Hamilton
John Henry Canavan as Gen. Henry Knox
Ned Vukovic as William Alexander, Lord Stirling
David Ferry as Gen. Nathaniel Greene
Nigel Bennett as Gen. Horatio Gates
Karl Pruner as Gen. John Sullivan
Duncan McLeod as Williams
Andrew Kraulis as Billy
Kelly Harms as Tommy
Jonathan Watton as Cadman
Kris Holden-Ried as Capt. Heineman
Julian Richings as McKenzie
It's been a while since I have seen this film but for a made-for-television production it's very well done. The acting is superb, the story is well written, and Jeff Daniels does a remarkable job portraying General George Washington. With not many American Revolutionary films, especially those adapted from books, this is a definite viewing must.
RATING:
Howard Fast (1914–2003) was one of the most prolific American writers of the twentieth century. He was a bestselling author of more than eighty works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays. The son of immigrants, Fast grew up in New York City and published his first novel upon finishing high school in 1933. In 1950, his refusal to provide the United States Congress with a list of possible Communist associates earned him a three-month prison sentence. During his incarceration, Fast wrote one of his best-known novels, Spartacus (1951). Throughout his long career, Fast matched his commitment to championing social justice in his writing with a deft, lively storytelling style.
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