Sons of Liberty

CLAUDE RAINS gives an earnest performance as a rabbi Haym Salomon who finances Washington's troops during this historical short subject that appears on the Errol Flynn Signature Collection in collaboration with DODGE CITY.

GALE SONDERGAARD is his faithful wife who stands by while he courageously leads the rebels against The Crown in the fight for freedom. All the usual slogans denouncing tyranny and oppression are here, but the short is directed in firm style by the capable Michael Curtiz, who keeps things moving briskly throughout the twenty minutes of running time.

Seen briefly are JAMES STEPHENSON, DONALD CRISP, HENRY O'NEILL and, if you look closely, that's JOHN SUTTON as the horseback rider with a message for Rains. Photographed in Technicolor by Sol Polito, it's a fine example of the sort of shorts Warner Bros. made during the '30s and '40s to accompany feature films.

There's quite a decent cast assembled here for this tale of an early American fundraising exercise. It's all about Haym Salomon (Claude Rains) whose family had been bounced around Europe for years before he finally left Poland in search of the usual liberty etc. That clearly didn't exist anywhere at all in Europe. Initially, he volunteers to spy for George Washington but he's not so very good at that and is captured. Before they can hang him, though, he escapes and then finds himself at the centre of a campaign to plug the strained finances of an army facing an open rebellion if their wages aren't paid and their bellies aren't filled. With the British ever vigilant, he has his work cut out if he is to convince his Jewish brethren to invest in the precarious future of their embryonic nation and keep the money from their enemies. Unlike so many other of these downright jingoistic short features that were made in the 1930s, this one has more of a story to it and it goes some way to suggest that the war of independence was nowhere near as straightforward as Hollywood had hitherto suggested. There's a lot to pack into twenty minutes, but though it is still a bit sentimental, it's also somewhat more substantial and watchable enough.

A refreshing little short about a little known element of our Revolutionary History. Someone who almost single handedly financed the Revolution should have gained a larger place in our history books, but sadly, he was relegated to the footnotes section. This short began by showing the Jewish Congregation in Philadelphia - the oldest synagogue in America. I was perplexed by the previous user from England who felt it was made as a slap in the face of the British as they were about to go to war. Ironically, the British were not heavily represented in this short at all, unless the subject of the Revolution, merely by its existence, is an insult to the British. If that's the way they felt at the outset of war I'm surprised they didn't deny our help feeling the insult would be too great to allow yanks to come to their assistance...or should I say win the war.

As Haym was represented gathering his funding and moving it around the country, it was ironically shown that his greatest antagonist was pursuit by the Hessian Soldiers...sure they were employed by the British...but if someone wanted to point out some pre-WWII propaganda elements in this film, you couldn't look any further than the brave little group of Jews being chased after by the Germans! I'm not a student of Haym Solomon history, but this element might even have been solely added for political effect and perhaps to cushion any anti-British sentiment in this subject. America has always been proud of its beginnings, and has made many movies/shorts in celebration. You also forget that even at this early point, it was a serious possibility that we could soon be entering a war. Patriotic symbolism in Hollywood was not aimed at the British, regardless of the British actors who obviously didn't think this was a slap.

The production was fine, nice color, acting was fine...nothing out of the ordinary, but still very enjoyable and very valuable for pre-WWII American cultural studies.

Claude Raines plays Haym Solomon, the man who spent his fortune helping to pay for the American Revolution.

Claude Rains seems an odd casting choice for what was essentially the role of an Eastern European Jew, and Michael Curtiz an odd choice to direct a short subject. You may argue that Warner Brothers took their Technicolor shorts very seriously, and spent freely on them all, let alone the serious historical ones You'd be correct, a far as that went, but I think these issues need to be viewed in the context of 1939, a moment we, with war in Europe on the horizon, were undergoing on of its bouts of isolationism, and anti-semitism -- and the Warners were Jewish. The message, that some Jews also spent their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in the cause of American liberty is just as important as any, from Crispus Attucks onward.

This fine short subject from Warner Brothers won an Academy Award as the Best Short Subject in 1939. An honor for its director Michael Curtiz who would win another Oscar for Best feature film four years later with Casablanca and one for himself as Best Director.

This film should be put in the context of the times. One of the criticisms of the Jewish movie moguls is that they did not use their influence to combat anti-Semitism in the USA. IF that was the the case the Brothers Warner redeemed themselves in a small way bringing the story of Haym Solomon to the screen, the Jewish individual among America's founding fathers.

Solomon had quite a career during the revolution as a spy and later helping to finance the American Revolution with Robert Morris. The expenses they personally signed for these two men dear in personal wealth and health. Claude Rains is a fine Haym Solomon, the part is almost a dress rehearsal for his later role in Mr. Skeffington.

I've a feeling that this might have started out as a feature film project for Paul Muni. It would have certainly been a perfect fit for him. Around this time Muni and Jack Warner were coming to a parting of the ways.

It's good short subject and kids you can actually use it as the basis of a book report.