Give Me Liberty

1936

22m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

0 Videos

2 Images

Drama

History

Patrick Henry's rousing speech before the Virginia legislature argues for colonial independence.

Directors

B. Reeves Eason

Writers

Forrest Barnes(screenplay by)

Forrest Barnes(story by)

Jack Scholl(lyricist by)

Stars

John Litel

Nedda Harrigan

Carlyle Moore Jr.

See production, box office & company info

Top cast

Patrick Henry

Doxie Henry

Capt. Milton

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

British Commissioner

Anti-Rebel Delegate Speaker

Myrtle Stedman

Martha Washington

Ted Osborne

Randolph Peyton

Jesse Graves

Washington's Servant Moses (uncredited)

Wade Lane

Judge (uncredited)

Charles Frederick Lindsley

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Wilfred Lucas

His Excellency Permitting Henry's Arrest (uncredited)

Jack Mower

Gentleman (uncredited)

Paul Panzer

Frontiersman (uncredited)

William Worthington

Pendleton (uncredited)

Directors

B. Reeves Eason

Writers

Forrest Barnes(screenplay by)

Forrest Barnes(story by)

Jack Scholl(lyricist by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Despite an half-decent effort from John Litel as he takes to a church in Virginia as Patrick Henry to espouse liberty from British colonial rule, the rest of this is all a rather lacklustre and overly theatrical costume drama with some serious over-acting. The presence of neatly suited and booted characters like “Moses” isn’t deemed relevant as these privileged white folks pontificate about liberty and freedom whilst just about every manual function in their lives is carried out by slaves. It’s that hypocrisy that becomes a little harder to stomach as this sets about illustrating, albeit inadvertently, that for the vast majority of women and for just about everyone of colour in Virginia, and elsewhere, all this would result in is a change from wigged and proud gents in London to equally wigged and proud gents closer to home. Had they just stuck to allowing Litel to deliver a complete version of Henry’s rousing and impassioned speech as if it were a monologue, then it might have worked. They didn’t, and what we have here is a borderline and nauseatingly simplistic critique on the glories of the as yet unformed USA versus the supposed and exaggerated tyrannies of the Old World. I found this to be annoying, sorry!

Geronimo196728 Jun, 2025