Rushed off to work just after the cartoon ended and barely arrived in time. Thankfully, that was the worst thing that happened all day. Surprisingly for the beginning of the month and the day before a major holiday, we were steady but not overwhelmingly busy except at the noon rush hour. I was on my own in the morning, but one of the college boys arrived at noon and took over the sweeping. I spent most of the day pushing carts, and my tired legs aside, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. The weather remains gorgeous here, a little warmer and slightly humid, but not too bad, and with a deliciously cool breeze.
Soon as I got home, I went straight into adding L through O's to the rock albums inventory. Artists I put in today include Bette Midler, the Steve Miller Band, the Monkees, Olivia Newton-John, and Tony Orlando and Dawn.
Listened to patriotic music while I worked. I have the original 1980 vinyl release of Yankee Doodle Mickey, with "The Liberty Tree" from Johnny Tremain sung by the Disneyland Glee Club and a very young Molly Ringwald belting "This Is My Country" and "God Bless America." My favorite number is the Armed Forces Medley, with Mickey singing for the Marines and the Air Force, Goofy for the Army, and of course, Donald for the Navy.
America the Beautiful is a huge two-disc collection of patriotic music put out by Reader's Digest in 1986 for the 100th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty and her big restoration. Among the vocal selections are Kate Smith's famous rendition of "God Bless America," an energetic "This Land Is My Land" performed by the New Freedom Singers, and a gorgeous "Shenandoah" by the Robert Shaw Chorale. Of the instrumental pieces, my favorites include "On the Trail" from the Grand Canyon Suite, "American Patrol," and a medley of George M. Cohen songs by Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops that you can actually hear people in the audience singing along with on the recording,
Switched to Match Game Syndicated as I finished up the inventory and had a delicious dinner. The first episode I caught was the very funny one where Gene was "shocked" by the question holder, complete with wavy lines on the screen. Charles took his microphone, then claimed he'd "never take over a part that badly acted." Phyllis Diller and Fred Grandy looked on in a later episode as a gentleman in a cowboy hat who tried to figure out "Tonight __" in the Head-to-Head and Diller showed off some pretty nifty wigs, including a beaded one.
Finished the night with two Disney movies and specials from the 1950's centering around the American Revolution. Johnny Tremain is their 1957 version of the 1944 novel (which I'm in the midst of re-reading). Johnny (Hal Stalmaster) is the cocky apprentice of a silversmith in Boston who claims he can make a special silver cup for wealthy Johnathan Lyte (Sebastian Cabot). Johnny is so eager to do it, especially after talking to Paul Revere (Walter Sande), he rushes and does it on a Sunday. Not only does he upset his religious master (Will Wright), he burns his hand so severely that he can't continue as a silversmith.
Looking for other work, he eventually joins the printer of a local newspaper that specializes in articles criticizing England for their unfair taxes. Johnny finds himself running errands for none other than the Sons of Liberty after the laid-back copy boy Rab (Richard Beymer) teaches him how to ride the spirited horse Goblin. He tells Lapham's daughter Priscilla (Luana Patten) that he intends to sell the cup his mother gave him to Lyte, but Lyte thinks he stole it. After Josiah Quincy (Whit Bissell) and Priscilla prove his innocence, he throws himself into getting even more involved with the Sons of Liberty. He even takes part in the Boston Tea Party, helps Revere with his ride, and joins the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
While a lot of characters and incidents were dropped from the book, including Lyte's beautiful daughter, Lapham's youngest daughter Isannah who is attached to Priscilla, and Lapham's other loutish apprentices, enough remains for me to thoroughly enjoy Disney's excursion into American history. Beymer looks a lot more interested than he ever did four years later in West Side Story, while Cabot and Ralph Clanton have a fine time as Lyte and General Gage of the British Army. Despite the DVD copy I found being rather grainy, it's still worth seeking out for fans of the book, American Colonial history, or the Disney historical action movies and TV shows of the 50's and 60's.
Johnny Tremain was not Disney's first adaptation of a children's novel that revolved around American Colonial history in the 1950's. The animated special Ben & Me debuted in front of the documentary The Living Desert in 1953. The "me" in this case is Amos Mouse (Sterling Holloway), who finds himself helping Benjamin Franklin (Charlie Ruggles) with his many inventions. Putting Amos in the air on that famous kite that discovers electricity is the last straw for the beleaguered mouse. He returns home to the First Church...but Ben needs his help again years later when he and Thomas Jefferson (Hans Conried) have to come up with a certain Declaration of Independence.
Once again, this does lose incidents from the book, including the entire second half where Amos helps Ben when he's the ambassador to France, but there's enough left to be enjoyable. Holloway makes an especially funny Amos; the animation when he's up in that kite is both scary and absolutely hilarious. Worth looking around for if you or your younger child is a history buff or are looking for unique and patriotic animal stories.
Finished the night with another patriotic special, Uncle Sam Magoo. I went further into the second Mr. Magoo TV special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog last year before the 4th of July.
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