Sunday, October 5

Biographical Family Film "Stars and Stripes Forever"

We don't have cable TV, satellite TV or even regular TV at our house. We do watch tapes and DVDs, when we find a good one for the whole family. Most of what we watch comes from our local library and I ran across a good movie last week, "Stars and Stripes Forever", a wonderful biography of John Philip Sousa.

In the 1890's, Sousa was leader of the Marine Corps Band and served under five presidents. He left the military to form his own orchestra, which became known as the "most famous band in the world". Sousa appreciated all types of music and was equally adept at playing dignified chamber music or the rousing marches he was famous for.

"Stars and Stripes Forever" is wonderful film that portrays Sousa's many sides of husband, father, bandleader, composer and military officer. Hear flawless performances of some of his famous marches and see recreations of many of the parades he led. One of my favorite scenes is a rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", set in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Stars and Stripes Forever" stars Clifton Webb as John Philip Sousa and co-stars Debra Paget, Ruth Hussey and a very young Robert Wagner. This film was produced in 1952 and is not rated. I do consider this a family film but there are a couple of dance hall scenes with skimpy costumes- no nakedness, just form-fitting. Run time is 1 1/2 hours, color.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll have to look for that movie. I always enjoy biographies.

And thanks for all the great links! I am a big fan of Homeschool Freebie of the Day, but haven't heard of some of the others.

Denese said...

I'm so glad you can use the links, I run across them all the time and love to share. :)

We found "Stars and Stripes Forever" at our library, you might try inter-library loan if yours doesn't have it. If all else fails, it's for sale online (like everything else nowadays).