Note: this article originally appeared in the Toronto Star on June 7, 1997 on page G10. This article is copyright 1997 by Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. and is used here under the Fair Use provisions of US copyright law.
By Paul King and Barbara Fulton
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
The movie's had the longest run of any film in history. In fact, it's been playing on two screens daily "up to 19 times a day" for the past 40 years. And it's been seen by at least 32 million viewers.
It's the 38-minute [sic] feature, Williamsburg, The Story of a Patriot, which shows continuously at the twin cinemas in Colonial Williamsburg's Information Centre. Set in Virginia's colonial capital just before the American Revolution, the film features a young planter (played by the handsome, still-unknown Jack Lord) with the Founding Fathers in major roles.
Today, beyond its record-setting longevity, the movie's considered a classic. Shown on giant, specially-designed VistaVision screens, it was co-scripted and directed by two-time Oscar winner George Seaton (Miracle on 34th Street, Country Girl), who also gave us Airport. Yet the making of the movie is a story itself. Its first, unfinished treatment was written by James Agee, the famous film critic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (A Death in the Family), and screenwriter (Night of the Hunter, African Queen).
In 1951, when the 25-year-old foundation was being hit by a post-war tourist boom, excited executives planned an information centre with slide shows. But when their architect designed twin 250-seat theatres with massive screens (history's first duplex system), slides were scratched for a major movie concept.
So Williamsburg film co-ordinator John Goodbody compiled a list of eight top Hollywood writers, along with their credits and screenplay costs. They ranged from Christopher Isherwood ($l,000) to Dudley Nichols (Stagecoach), who demanded $50,000. The total film budget was $200,000, with $20,000 marked for script.
Then someone suggested James Agee, who'd just written a series on Lincoln for TV's Omnibus. His price was $l,000 plus $300 a week. When Goodbody saw the series, Agee was offered the job. But owing to ill health, he twice postponed visits to Williamsburg, finally arriving in January of 1955. Back in New York, he worked for weeks on his treatment basing it on an "intellectual planter," while avoiding "any famous men such as Jefferson, Washington, etc."
Yet by March, Agee's health was failing, and he still hadn't signed a contract. Goodbody was considering two other writers, McKinlay Kantor and Herman Wouk, when Agee's signed contract arrived. The delighted Williamsburg board prepared an announcement of Agee's acceptance. But on May 16, 1955, the day before its scheduled release, James Agee, at 45, died of a heart attack in a Manhattan cab.
Immediately after his funeral, Goodbody went to Agee's apartment and gathered up his notes and transcript, including a page still lying in his typewriter. Back in Williamsburg it was retyped as a 54-page treatment, including some dialogue. While some executives found it "extremely impressive," others objected to Agee's "slice-of-life mood piece." The manuscript was shelved.
In 1956, playwright Emmett Lavery was picked for the script, and George Seaton hired to direct. The film was shot in colonial Williamsburg over six weeks that spring at a cost of $500,000. When Seaton couldn't find enough extras, he hired 30 mental patients of the Eastern State Hospital to play members of the House of Burgesses. In gratitude, the film's premiere was held in the hospital.
On March 31, 1957, Patriot opened in the new twin cinemas with their 36-metre soft-edged screens and has run every day since. Besides special ear phones with sound tracks in six languages, both theatres have unique barrier walls between each wide row so no heads are seen in front. Meanwhile, the film reels are lovingly tended. While most commercial prints are played about 370 times, the average Patriot print shows 1,500 times, with some lasting up to 2,000. After each run, the six projectionists rewind each reel by hand, then clean and oil the projectors.
The movie was expected to run five years. James Agee's original "planter" is now heading into its fifth decade.
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