[.ca] The Howards Of Virginia

From Amazon.com:
With its straightforward retelling of events leading up to the American Revolution, The Howards of Virginia is a standard slice of patriotism from Hollywood's golden age. Adapted by noted screenwriter Sidney Buchman from Elizabeth Page's 1939 bestseller Tree of Liberty, this colonial melodrama is notorious for saddling Cary Grant with one of his most ill-fitting roles, and it's true that Grant's 20th-century style clashes with his portrayal of buckskinned rebel Matt Howard. Still, his performance is far from being "really bad" (as critic Pauline Kael harshly opined), and Martha Scott brings tenacious dignity to her role as Howard's pragmatic wife, who defies her aristocratic family to join her new husband in the wilderness of Ohio. The stirrings of rebellion clash with some thankfully outmoded Hollywood clichés (such as Howard's initial rejection of his mildly disabled son), but overall this remains a respectable and altogether engaging historical adventure, encompassing the early career of Thomas Jefferson and noteworthy for its meticulous attention to period detail. --Jeff Shannon

Worthwhile viewing:
This is a fine movie for adults to watch along with their children. I totally enjoyed the political IN-correctness of this movie. Filmed on location in Willimsburg before the town was turned into Revolutionary Themepark, the street scenes truly were what they would have been during the revolution. Historical movies today work too hard at either beating us over the head with societal inequalities or pretending they didn't exist. In the 1700s Legislators were men, women stayed on the sidelines, black people were slaves. To deny the truths of the period is to deny the valour of the people who fought for change since then. The story moved quickly and the reasons for Revolution were clearly spelled out as affecting the whole nation, not just about one or two people as we have recently seen in movies like "The Patriot". Although most of the women's costumes were awful (zippers were obvious), the furniture detail and most of the men's costumes were well done. I would recommend this movie as worthwhile viewing.

If it weren't for Cary Grant...:
If it weren't for Cary Grant, I would never have finished watching this video/film. I was bored by the lack of character development, but Cary Grant's smoldering presence makes the movie worth seeing once.

Cary Grant -- miscast but still fun to watch:
At 115 minutes, this Hollywood historical film runs a bit long, and Cary Grant isn't the best fit for Matt Howard, but he is still fun to watch and the film covers interesting bits of the events leading up to the American Revolution, such as the Boston Tea Party. We also meet Thomas Jefferson and listen to Patrick Henry. The film's tension comes from the class differences between rebel Matt and his conservative wife, Jane. While the sets and costumes look good, the story lags at times, but this would be a worthwhile rental for Grant fans or Revolution cinephiles. The dvd features are: subtitles in English, French or Japanese, and trailers for three other classic films.

Anyone who loves the history of Virginia . . ..:
Being from Virginia, I am of course partial to movies about it. Having spent a lot of time touring historical homes in and around the state, this movie in particular stands out. Part of the movie was filmed at Carters Grove Plantation, one of the James River Plantations. Cary Grant was great friends with the McCrea's who owned the plantation in the 1930's-40's. He loved the house so much that he recommended to the film company that they use the house for the home of inlaws in the movie. (The plantation was also used for the George Washington miniseries with Barry Bostwick/as the Fairfax home) I recommend this movie to anyone that loves Cary Grant. Mr Grant's portrayal is very moving, Richard Carlson as Thomas Jefferson isn't so bad either !

A very big Cary Fan Hates This One!:
As much as it pains me to say, this is a terrible movie for Cary-and a terrible movie in general. All of Grant's strengths are hidden while he is asked to play a rugged, outdoorsman with no polish, class or sophistication. It sounds like a bad joke, doesn't it? Well it is. It hurts to watch this great actor stumble through this movie. Please keep in mind that I am a huge(maybe even obsessive) Grant fan, owning over 30 of his DVDs. This is, however, by far my least favorite. Sorry. Save your money and invest in the new Criterion edition of "Notorious."