''The Spirit of '76'' is a 1917 American

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

about the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

directed by Frank Montgomery and starring

Adda Gleason Adda Gleason (December 19, 1888 – February 6, 1971) was an American actress and writer. Chicago-born Gleason starred in the 1916 film adaptation of '' Ramona''. On Broadway, Gleason portrayed Charlotte in ''The Dust Heap'' (1924). In additi ...

and Howard Gaye. Produced by German-American film producer Robert Goldstein, the film would prove to be controversial upon release for its depiction of the British, and Goldstein was subsequently sent to a

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

for violating the

Espionage Act The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( ...

. No prints of the movie have been known to survive, and it is categorized as a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Synopsis

A romance between

King George III of Great Britain George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great B ...

and a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

girl,

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

, who becomes his morganatic wife, forms the early part of the story. Catherine is really half native, being the daughter of a French adventurer and an indigenous woman, adopted and brought to England by a Quaker voyager. The hardships of the American colonists are shown and their rebellion against the English rule. In this rebellion, Catherine sees a chance to avenge herself upon the King, who has legally married a German princess. She goes to America and becomes a power over a tribe of indigenous people. One of her aides is her own brother, who had been adopted by a colonist. Brother and sister are unaware of the relationship until the close of the story. The gallant fight which the Americans under General Washington wage against the English troops and the indigenous people under Catherine's lead forms a thrilling phase of the story and the chief incidents with which every American is familiar are dramatically set forth. In addition, there are several minor plots and romances, some of which end happily, others tragically, when the war is over and the fight for freedom won.

Cast

Catherine Montour Catharine Montour, also known as Queen Catharine (died after 1791), was a prominent Iroquois leader living in ''Queanettquaga,'' a Seneca village of ''Sheaquaga'', informally called Catharine's Town, in western New York. She has often been confuse ...

* Howard Gaye - Lionel Esmond * George Chesborough - Walter Butler * Chief Dark Cloud -

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in what is today Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain du ...

Doris Pawn Doris Pawn (born Doris Alice Pahn; December 29, 1894 – March 30, 1988) was an American silent era film actress. Early life Born and raised in Norfolk, Nebraska, Pawn spent her vacations on the ranch of an uncle. There, she learned to ri ...

- Madeline Brant * Jack Cosgrove -

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

* Norval McGregor - Lorimer Steuart *

Jane Novak Jane Novak (born Johana Barbara Novak; January 12, 1896 – February 3, 1990) was an United States of America, American actress of the silent film era. Background Jane Novak was born Johana Barbara Novak in St. Louis, Missouri to Bohemian immigr ...

- Cecil Steuart * William Colby -

Sir John Johnson Brigadier-general (United Kingdom), Brigadier-General Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet (5 November 1741 – 4 January 1830) was an American-born military officer, politician and landowner who fought as a Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalist dur ...

* Lottie Cruez - Peggy Johnson *

Chief John Big Tree Chief John Big Tree (born Isaac Johnny John, June 2, 1877 – July 6, 1967) was a member of the Seneca Nation and an actor who appeared in 59 films between 1915 and 1950. He was born in Buffalo, New York and died in Onondaga Indian Reserva ...

- Gowah * William Freeman -

Lord Chatham Earl of Chatham, of Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, William Pitt the Elder on his appointment as Lord Privy Seal, along with ...

* W. E. Lawrence - Captain Boyd * William Beery -

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

* Ben Lewis -

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

* Jack McCready - Tim Murphy

Production

The film was produced by

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based costume supplier and movie producer Robert Goldstein, who was born in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

parents. Goldstein outfitted the cast of

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the n ...

's 1915 silent epic ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...

'', and was reportedly inspired by Griffith's film to produce a movie about the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Griffith initially encouraged Goldstein's idea and cooperated with him, but later distanced himself from that project in favor of pursuing his own treatment of the subject, the 1924 film ''

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

''.The Unluckiest Man in Movie History (13 June 2000)
Slate.com archive
Retrieved 30 September 2013. The film's script contained several historical inaccuracies, including an

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

and a sexual relationship between George and

— possibly based on his supposed (and equally fictitious) relationship with

Hannah Lightfoot Hannah Lightfoot (12 October 1730 – before December 1759), known as "The Fair Quaker", was a Quaker in Westminster. She married Isaac Axford in December 1753 but, before the end of the following year, had disappeared. Later gossip, originally ...

Release and controversy

The film premiered in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in May 1917 — just one month after the United States entered

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, which included the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Upon release, the film became involved in controversy for its depiction of the British, in particular a scene depicting the

Cherry Valley massacre The Cherry Valley massacre was an attack by British and Iroquois forces on a fort and the town of Cherry Valley in central New York on November 11, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It has been described as one of the most horrific f ...

, which was in reality carried out by Native American warriors. In the scene, British regulars and Hessian auxiliaries attack

Cherry Valley, New York Cherry Valley is a town in Otsego County, New York, United States. According to the 2020 US census, the village of Cherry Valley had a population of 487. However, the town has a much higher population. Within the town of Cherry Valley is a vil ...

, and are shown committing acts such as

assaulting In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result i ...

a woman and bayoneting a baby. Goldstein would subsequently defend his depiction of the event by noting that a Hessian soldier was the one depicted bayoneting a baby. The head of Chicago's Police Censor Board, Metellus Lucullus Cicero Funkhouser, confiscated the film at the behest of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

on grounds that it generated hostility toward Britain. Goldstein trimmed the offending scenes and received federal approval to continue the Chicago run; but the film premiered in Los Angeles a few months later with the deleted scenes restored. After an investigation, the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

concluded that Goldstein's action constituted "aiding and abetting the German enemy", and seized the film once again. Goldstein was charged in federal court with violating the

. At trial, the U.S. prosecutor argued that as the war effort demanded total Allied support, Goldstein's film was seditious on its face. Goldstein was convicted on charges of attempted incitement to riot and to cause insubordination, disloyalty, and mutiny by U.S. soldiers then in uniform as well as prospective recruits, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Implications were made throughout the trial that Goldstein was a German spy, although no evidence was presented in support of that accusation. The judgment was later upheld by an appellate court. Goldstein's attorneys were unable to argue for protection under the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

because the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

had ruled in 1915 that movies lacked such protection (that ruling was overturned in 1952). His sentence was later commuted to three years by President Wilson.

Legacy

After his release from jail, Goldstein tried and failed to re-establish himself as a filmmaker in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and England (which refused him a visa). Eventually he landed in Germany, where he was equally unsuccessful. His biographer,

Anthony Slide Anthony Slide (born 7 November 1944) is an English writer who has produced more than seventy books and edited a further 150 on the history of popular entertainment. He wrote a "letter from Hollywood" for the British ''Film Review'' magazine fro ...

, could locate no communications from him after 1935, and thought it likely that he perished in a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

. After Slide's book was published, a telegram sent from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1938 was discovered. In the telegram, Goldstein referred to "my enforced return o the U.S. three years ago..." suggesting that the Germans had deported him in 1935. Review of 1935

Immigration and Naturalization Service The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was a United States federal government agency under the United States Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and under the United States Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003. Refe ...

arriving passenger records show him arriving in

on August 16, 1935, ship name

SS Albert Ballin SS ''Albert Ballin'' was an ocean liner of the Hamburg-America Line launched in 1923 and named after Albert Ballin, the visionary director of the Hamburg-America line, who had committed suicide several years earlier. In 1935, the ship was renam ...

with departure port of

Hamburg, Germany Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. His ''confirmed'' whereabouts after 1938 are unknown. However, we see through contemporary records that in March 1940 he filed for Social Security using his given name ''ROBERT GOLDSTEIN'', birth date September 27, 1883, in

San Francisco, CA San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of 2024, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the ...

, son of Simon Goldstein and Margret ''(sic)'' Moran. There is circumstantial US Federal Census evidence that may place him as an inmate in Rikers Island Penitentiary in 1940 and again as an inmate in

Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane The Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane is a former state hospital in Willard, New York, United States, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1865 the Legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly w ...

in 1950. In both cases there is an inmate named Robert Goldstein born in California with a birth date within 2–3 years of 1883. Robert's younger brother, Louis Stanislaus Goldstein (September 9, 1894 – April 25, 1950), passed away in 1950. His obituaryThe Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, April 27, 1950, pg. 40 in the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

makes no mention of Robert. In his 1995 book '' Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong'', Prof.

James Loewen James William Loewen (February 6, 1942August 19, 2021) was an American sociologist, historian, and author. He was best known for his 1995 book, '' Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.'' A 2005 book, ''Sund ...

notes that Goldstein's prosecution was consistent with Wilson's targeting anyone suspecting of holding anti-British views, which the president claimed gave aid to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

References

External links

*
''American Law'' report on Goldstein Trial''Federal Reporter'' on Goldstein's trialArticle from ''The Jewish Atlanta Times''Article from ''Slate'' Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit of '76 (1917 film), The 1917 films 1917 drama films American Revolutionary War films 1910s English-language films American black-and-white films American silent feature films Films set in the 1770s Films set in Pennsylvania Film censorship in the United States Lost American drama films Silent American drama films 1917 lost films 1910s American films English-language drama films Lost silent American films