Les fils de la Liberté

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.

Sons of Liberty (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Oscar-winning short film from Warner takes place during the American Revolution as Claude Rains leads the group known as "Sons of Liberty" as they use their influence to battle anti-Semitism in the United States. This is a pretty impressive short and you can't help but notice how important this story must have been to Jack Warner for him to use a top-notch director like Curtiz and surround him with some great talent. Rains is terrific in his role and he is perfectly matched by Gale Sondergaard, Henry O'Neill, James Stephenson and Donald Crisp. The story itself is pretty bland but that doesn't take away any of the power, which was to be religiously strong as well as patriotic. Those things are what the film went for and it certainly got them. The Technicolor is perfectly used here and looks terrific. I just love seeing this early color tech and seeing how beautiful fires look using it.

Back in the days when a night at the movies meant a whole package of entertainment, the studios cranked out dozens of so-called "short subjects" as light filler material. They generally purported to be educational and many of them gave a potted history of some historical figure or process, with an emphasis on wholesome pop facts and just a cursory nod towards accuracy. They were usually rather cheap and cheerful affairs too. Sons of Liberty is an exception – a short subject which, despite its brevity, has been produced with all the lavishness of an A-grade feature.

For its cast, Sons of Liberty does not utilize the front rank of Warner Brothers stars, but certainly picks from the cream of character players. The lead role is given great weight and dignity by Claude Rains, whose charisma stems not from forcefulness but from a calm, thoughtful composure. It's also nice to see this stock baddie in a heroic role for once. In this respect, it almost seems like a cheeky in-joke that perennial female villain Gale Sondergaard is cast as his wife, especially since her part is so small and doesn't really use her talents much. There are also brief appearances by Donald Crisp and Montagu Love, which like Sondergaard's are so short they seem to be more to add class than actual quality.

The director is Michael Curtiz, at the time one of the most highly regarded of Warner's team. Curtiz always packed a lot of information into the frame in order to quickly establish meaning and context, so in many ways he is ideal for the whistle-stop pace of the short subject. There's a bit of typical Curtiz arty symbolism going on here with the Claude Rains character being repeatedly associated with flames. A bit superfluous perhaps, but the linking motif at least allows for a bit of smooth flow as Curtiz works a candle or a lantern into the beginning or end of a shot, which is often the only bit of vibrant colour in the scene.

Ultimately however, Sons of Liberty cannot rise above its short subject roots. Its prime function is to inform rather than entertain, and so like all short subjects it crams in info rather than allowing scenes to play for drama or excitement. Just as one scene begins to build, we get a bit of voice-over narration skipping us on to something else. Pretty as it looks, and finely acted as it is, Sons of Liberty really looks a bit like a twenty-minute trailer for a full-length feature, which in no way makes it a substitute for the real thing.

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.

This is a Michael Curtiz-directed 20-minute color short about a group of immigrants to the new country (America) who formed a group called "Sons Of Liberty." They were persecuted people who are happy to rid themselves of that and don't care to be persecuted again. They fear they are being "threatened, once again by the British," as Claude Rains' character "Haym Salomon" puts it.

In September of 1776, General Howe invades New York City and gets a "warm reception" from the group as they burn the docks where is ship and other British boats and storefronts are located. Donald Crisp plays "Alexander McDougall," Salomon's ally and leader of the SOL.

Salomon is taken by the Brits and charged with "aiding and abetting the enemy of the Crown." However, Soloman uses his intelligence and education to gain the British trust and become a spy for George Washington. However, he gets discovered hiding someone and is thrown in jail, to be hanged. He comforts some of the other prisoners, such as reciting the 23rd Psalm to one, who turns out to be Nathan Hale. Soloman once again escapes, and the scene quickly shifts to Philadelphia in the year 1781.

Shortly, we see George Washington (Montagu Love) and hear of the problems he's having with disgruntled and underpaid militia.

The story of how the Americans overcame adversity is the rest of it. One doesn't often see or hear of the Jewish people being involved with the American Revolution, so Soloman's character gives the story a new twist.

Patriotism? The Bible? The Torah? Yup, it's all here in spades, something dated but refreshing to see in a secular-dominated film industry would never make something remotely close to this today.