Trivia for
1776 (1972) More at IMDbPro »

• The 176 minute extended version is available on the laserdisc and DVD. It contains 35 minutes cut from the original videotape release, including the song Cool, Considerate Men.
  
  
• Gwyneth Paltrow, the real life daughter of Blythe Danner (Martha Jefferson) played Patsy Jefferson in the movie: Jefferson in Paris (1995).
  
  
• William Daniels, who plays John Adams, also played John Quincy Adams (John & Abigail Adams' son) in the mini series "The Adams Chronicles" (1976), Samuel Adams (John Adams' cousin) in the TV movie The Bastard (1978) (TV) and John Adams again in the TV movie The Rebels (1979) (TV),
  
  
• Many of the actors were also in the Broadway production.
  
  
• The Broadway musical was conceived by a history teacher.
  
  
• President Richard Nixon was given a private screening of the movie before its release by his friend, producer Jack L. Warner. The song Cool, Considerate Men offended Nixon, so Warner removed it at Nixon's request. The song was restored on the deluxe wide screen presentation laserdisc and later was included on the restored director's cut DVD.
  
  
• The final shot required the camera to pull back to show the entire Congressional chamber. However, there was not enough room on the set for the camera truck to pull back far enough. Since the sound stages being used were slated to be demolished after production ended, and this was the final shot being done, a large hole was made in the wall - with the camera truck protruding outdoors after pulling all the way back. As it turned out, the sound stages were never demolished and the wall was rebuilt.
  
  
• During the filming of Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve, William Daniels sucked on ice cubes so as not to give away the fact that the night was freezing cold, rather than a humid summer evening in Philadelphia.
  
  
• Many of the characters' lines were actual quotes by these historic men, including Hancock's justification of his own signature and Franklin's: "Those who would forfeit liberty to obtain a little temporary safety..." as well as his saying, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
  
  
• Ron Holgate did all of his own riding - except for the trick mount at the end - in The Lees of Old Virginia, despite his never having been on a horse before.
  
  
• The song The Egg was written very late into the writing process for the Broadway show. So late, in fact, that promotional material had already been printed and it was upon seeing a poster depicting an eaglet coming out of a British eggshell and holding an American flag that Sherman Edwards came up with the song.
  
  
• In the song Is Anybody There, sung by John Adams, the lyric "Yet, through all the gloom, I see the rays of ravishing light and glory" were from a letter by the real-life Adams to wife Abigail the day after the Declaration was adopted.
  
  
• All of the exchanges between John and Abigail Adams are based on the real letters they wrote to each other while John was away. He called her his "dearest friend" and their letters ended with "Til then".
  
  
• Many of the outdoor shots were filmed at what is now the Warner Ranch just north of the main studio. The water fountain seen during the number with Franklin, Adams, and Lee is probably best known to television viewers as the fountain seen at the beginning of the TV show "Friends" (1994). The fountain still exists directly across the street from the house facades used in "Bewitched" (1964), and "I Dream of Jeannie" (1965). Most of the other colonial sets were destroyed by a devastating fire in the mid-70s.
  
  
• During filming, Blythe Danner (Martha Jefferson) was 5 months pregnant with Gwyneth Paltrow.
  
  
• John Adams was played by actor William Daniels, who later starred in the television show "St. Elsewhere" (1982) in which he played Dr. Mark Craig, a descendant of John Adams. The series was filled with references to 1776 and quotes from the movie. During one show filmed in Philadelphia, Dr. Craig declares that "it's hot as hell in Phialdelphia" and that he is "obnoxious and disliked", quoting his character from this movie..
  
  
• Although the Cool, Cool Considerate Men number was cut from the original film release as a favor to Richard Nixon by Jack L. Warner, the cut footage was not destroyed like Warner had done before in similar past circumstances since he was no longer a studio head. For that reason only, the excised segment was found and could be restored to the laserdisc and DVD. Nixon asked the writer Sherman Edwards to cut it out after seeing the play at the White House, but the author steadfastly refused.
  
  
• On the laserdisc commentary, director Peter H. Hunt says that originally he had not planned to cast Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin in the film version, because of how difficult the actor had been during the Broadway run of the musical. However, he relented and let Da Silva reprise his stage role in the film when the actor promised to cooperate and begged to play Ben Franklin in the movie as a legacy to his grandchildren.
  
  
• The original Broadway production of the musical "1776" opened at the 46th Street Theater on March 16, 1969 and ran for 1217 performances. William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard, Roy Poole, Virginia Vestoff, David Ford, Ron Holgate, William Duell, Ralston Hill, Jonathan Moore and Charles Rule all recreated their roles in the movie. The original Broadway production won the 1969 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Best Featured Actor in a Musial (Ron Holgate) and Best Direction and received nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Musical(Virginia Vestoff), and Best Scenic Design.
  
  
• The final feature film of David Ford, Donald Madden and Ray Middleton.
  
  
• The only filmed credit for Ralston Hill and Charles Rule.
  
  
• The movie debut of Emory Bass, Patrick Hines, Jonathan Moore and Stephen Nathan.
  
  
• The final scene shows the members of Congress being called individually to come forward in order to sign the Declaration of Independence while the camera trucks back, or zooms out. The characters' final positions are an approximation of John Trumbull's famous painting, The Declaration of Independence. The actual painting shows the congressional chamber from the front behind Hancock's desk while the scene in the movie is from the rear of the chamber, and therefore the characters appear reversed with the five members of Congress who were assigned to the committee to write the Declaration on the right of the desk as opposed to the left. Far fewer of the actual number of delegates, who were in Congress, are represented in the movie, but the resemblance to the painting is unmistakable including the delegate sitting with one leg crossed over another.
  
  
• The Rev. John Witherspoon, delegate from New Jersey, is an ancestor of actress Reese Witherspoon.
  
  
• According to the writer/director's commentary, Adams' actual quote following Franklin's urging to remove the slavery clause from the declaration was "If we give in on this issue, there WILL be trouble 100 years hence." The commentary stated that the quote was NOT used because it sounded too much like hindsight. Adams' forward looking prediction missed the first battle of the Civil War by only 16 years.
  
  
• Of all the actors in this movie, only William Daniels and Ken Howard play future presidents of the United States. Both actors were, in fact, future presidents of the Screen Actors Guild. William Daniels was elected in 1999 and Ken Howard was elected ten years later.
  
  
• Premiered at the famed Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
  
  

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