Sweet
Liberty
A cinematic prophecy,
foreshadowingThe
Patriot. We LOVE this one. It shows EXACTLY what
Hollywood usually does to history: chews it up and spits it out. The
ageing matinée idol (played by Michael Caine) playing the
youthful Ban Tarleton in a red uniform, because the director
says US audiences won't know he's British if he's in
green,
is, unnervingly, exactly what was done in
The Patriot
with the Legion
uniforms!
A historian writes a serious history
book on the Southern Campaigns, which is bought by Hollywood. Chaos
descends when the film crew descends on the small South Carolina
town...
At Brattonsville in 1999, a historian on
set for The
Patriot told me that their
crew was watching Sweet
Liberty on video. Which says
EVERYTHING.
Alan Alda deserves an award for
prophecy...
All together now: "Defy authority.
Destroy property. Take people's clothes off!"
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