Liberty | |
---|---|
Genre | Historical period drama |
Screenplay by | Pete Hamill (billed as Robert Malloy) |
Directed by | Richard C. Sarafian |
Starring | |
Composer | William Goldstein |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | |
Producer | Paul Pompian |
Production locations |
Baltimore, Maryland Chateau de Ferrières 77164, Ferrières-en-Brie, France Maison Opéra Paris, France Senlis 60300 Oise, France |
Cinematography | Al Francis |
Editor | Robert Florio |
Running time | 180 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | June 23, 1986 |
Liberty is a television film which aired on NBC on June 23, 1986. [1] It is a largely fictionalized account of the construction of the Statue of Liberty, which had been completed 100 years earlier.
Scenes were shot on location in Paris and Baltimore. [2] [3]
Sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( Frank Langella) and author Édouard de Laboulaye ( Jean-Pierre Cassel) agree to create a monument to present to the United States on behalf of the French people. Bartholdi searches for a model, approaching (and romancing) young woman Jeanne Baheau ( Corinne Touzet) for the body of the statue, and deciding to use his mother ( Claire Bloom) as a model for its face.
Enlisted to help with its construction are immigrant coppersmith Jacque Marchant ( Chris Sarandon), shop owner Seamus Reilly ( George Kennedy), and assistant Robert Johnson ( LeVar Burton). Marchant falls in love with poet Emma Lazarus ( Carrie Fisher), who supplies the sonnet " The New Colossus" for the base of the statue. [1] [3] [4]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
Chris Sarandon | Jacque Marchant |
Frank Langella | Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi |
Carrie Fisher | Emma Lazarus |
Dana Delany | Moya Trevor |
Corinne Touzet | Jeanne Baheau |
George Kennedy | Seamus Reilly |
Claire Bloom | Madame Bartholdi |
LeVar Burton | Robert Johnson |
Jean-Pierre Cassel | Édouard de Laboulaye |
Remak Ramsay | John La Farge |
Philip Bosco | Boss William Tweed |
Alan North | Ulysses S. Grant |
Max Wright | Alexandre Gustave Eiffel |
Jean De Baer | Allyse |
Dennis Boutsikaris | Joseph Pulitzer |
Walter Gotell | Rabbi Goteyel |
Angela Bassett | Linda Thornton |
Reviews of Liberty were generally negative. Jeff Jarvis of People called it "as pretentious as a high school sophomore trying to act like a college freshman." [5] Clifford Terry of the Chicago Tribune described it as "turgid as well as ludicrous, drawing upon the device of meshing fictional and historical characters." [4]
Screenwriter Pete Hamill was unhappy with the finished product, and had his name changed to "Robert Malloy" in the credits. [1]