The Spirit of '76 (1917) was a silent film directed by Frank Montgomery
that depicted the American Revolution , and due to its depiction
of British atrocities against Americans, caused the U.S. government to
ban the film, and send its producer, Robert Goldstein, to Federal Prison
for ten years, because it "violated the Espionage Act and was critical
of the U.S.A.'s ally in WWI"
The film was produced by Robert
Goldstein (born September 21, 1883), a Jewish immigrant from Germany who
owned a costume shop. The Spirit of '76 was considered controversial at
the time because of its depiction of the British atrocities during the
American Revolutionary War, and "offended" tender pro-British
sensibilities in America, while Wilson wanted to open up the Market to
American Corporate Interests with the help of Britain.
The Spirit of '76 premiered in Chicago in May 1917, just one month
after the United States declared war on Germany. The head of Chicago's
police censorship board, a Mr M. Cicero Funkhouser, confiscated the film
at the behest of Woodrow Wilson's Justice department on the grounds
that it "generated hostility toward Britain", America's brand new ally.
Goldstein trimmed the offending scenes, got federal approval for the
censored version, and resumed the Chicago run. But when the film
premiered in Los Angeles a few months later, Goldstein reinserted the
deleted scenes concerning British atrocities. This was considered aiding
and abetting the German enemy by the U.S. government, which after an
investigation, arrested Goldstein.
The film was again seized
and Goldstein was charged in federal court with violating the Espionage
Act. At trial, the U.S. prosecutor argued that as the World War I 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 federal prison.
"AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (AND ALL THAT CLAP TRAP)"
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