1776

1776 is a musical about the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and its song "Cool, Cool Considerate Men," which mocks Congress's conservative Southern delegates, was quietly cut from the theatrical release, along with roughly ten more minutes of footage, by producer Jack Warner, a friend of Richard Nixon's, reportedly to avoid offending Nixon and his supporters, all without telling director Peter H. Hunt. In a separate incident, Nixon aide William Safire tried to get the song "Momma Look Sharp" cut before a White House performance, but the producer refused unless the show ran uncut, and it was performed in full there. The excised footage was rediscovered years later during a home video restoration and restored to later versions. Who it's for: anyone drawn to American history told as a stage musical, and to behind the scenes stories of political censorship. Who it's not for: viewers put off by the musical format or expecting a brisk, conventional history film, since this carries the pacing of the stage play it came from.