Jewish World Review Jan. 19, 2005 / 9 Shevat, 5765

Michael Kilian

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Taking action to give George Washington 15 minutes of fame


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | MT. VERNON, Va. — The last time I pondered the subject, I didn't exactly find a lot in common between George Washington and Arnold Schwarzenegger.


I mention Arnold because he and George at least share the circumstance of having been elected to public office. There would seem to be even less in common between the general and Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes and Steven Segal. This observation arises because the excellent people who run Washington's Mt., Vernon, perhaps America's most important historic site, have hit upon a rather revolutionary idea in their current campaign to get the Father of Our Country back into our school and college textbooks and, with luck, the minds of our historically uneducated young people.


According to Mt. Vernon Executive Director Jim Rees, they plan portray George as America's "First Action Hero."


Work has begun on a new movie to be shown at Mt. Vernon's orientation center that, according to Rees, will be "a dramatic Hollywood-style film to dispel the elder statesman icon and introduce the image familiar to his contemporaries  —  the heroic, dashing and charismatic young man who eventually gained recognition as the `Father of Our Country.'"


In many respects, the young George certainly was an action figure. While still a teenager, he explored and surveyed the wilderness of Virginia's Appalachian frontier. Not long after, in the dead of winter, with only a mountain man to guide him, he undertook a dangerous mission deep into France's American territory to, in effect, order the French out.


They declined. The next year, he ambushed a French party; fought and lost a small battle; and signed, unknowingly, a murder confession. Written in French, it was used to start the French and Indian War (I should note here that a knowledge of French is not generally required of American action heroes).


The year after that, he acquitted himself bravely and ably at the disaster known as Braddock's defeat, saving many lives in the process, and subsequently, as a lieutenant colonel, commanded the forces fending off Indian attacks all along the Virginia frontier.

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And then, of course, there was all that other stuff  —  the American Revolution, the Battle of Trenton, Valley Forge, Victory at Yorktown and two terms as president of the United States.


Few of the latter ever get to be action heroes, settling for having meals with the troops at Christmas time, but George, as president, personally led a militia army into the backwoods to put down a taxpayers' revolt. So there's a treasure trove of material here. Unfortunately, the movie, which will run continuously on two screens, is to be only 15 minutes long, making for a bit of a cram. I think George spent more time than that just trying to figure out what the French document containing his confession was all about.


Amazingly, the director they've selected for this micro-mini epic is Ron Maxwell  —  writer/director of the Civil War film "Gettysburg," starring Jeff Daniels, Stephen Lang, Tom Berenger and Martin Sheen, and its prequel of a sequel, "Gods and Generals," starring Lang, Daniels and Robert Duvall.


Rees praised Maxwell for "his strong sense of history, his ability to make the story of people and events compelling and entertaining, and his understanding of how we want to reintroduce Washington to the public."


Certainly, much of "Gettysburg" was compelling and entertaining, focusing as it did on the single story of the single most important battle of the Civil War. Lang, as Confederate Gen. George Pickett, he of the famous charge; and Daniels, as


Little Round Top Union Army hero Joshua Chamberlain, gave us more action than a dozen Schwarzeneggers could provide, even with automatic weapons.


"Gods and Generals" was somewhat less compelling and less entertaining, scattering its focus on three battles and innumerable re-enactments of "historic moments." Also, Duvall was about 20 years older than his character, Robert E. Lee, was at the time  —  and Daniels was 10 years older (and maybe 20 pounds heavier) than he was in "Gettysburg." More to the point, "Gettysburg" came in at four hours and 15 minutes, including an intermission. "Gods and Generals" was something like three hours and 40 minutes, though I staggered out thinking I had been watching it for eight weeks.


The problem in both cases was Maxwell's penchant for intruding interminable and ponderous speeches upon his action footage. I think those mutinous Maine soldiers agreed to take up the musket and go back into the fight mostly because they feared Daniels' character would make another speech to them if they didn't.


And if those Confederate officers had simply gotten on with Pickett's charge instead of standing around exhorting their men to think of their homes and sweethearts and the sacred soil of Virginia, they might have won the battle.


Said Maxwell of this new Washington film project: "This will depict George Washington as a dynamic youth, an adventurous and active leader, a businessman, military champion and America's original action hero, instead of the stiff figurehead on the dollar bill that we all know so well."


All this, in 15 minutes.


If Maxwell must include a speech, as I know he must, may I therefore recommend Washington's second inaugural address. The shortest on record, it's all of 133 words.



Michael Kilian is a lifestyle columnist for The Chicago Tribune. Comment by clicking here.

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