United States v. "The Spirit of '76" by Michael Inman, Susan Jaffe Tane Curator of Rare Books, Rare Book Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman BuildingJuly 30, 2014

During World War I, the making of movies—even seemingly pro-American films—could be a dangerous proposition, given the wartime hysteria so prevalent on the U.S. home front.  Case in point:

Robert Goldstein, producer of the 1917 Revolutionary War epic The Spirit of ’76, was arrested under the Espionage Act, charged with making a motion picture that portrayed Britain, now America’s ally, in an unfavorable light.  Among other unflattering depictions, the film showed Red Coats bayoneting babies, raping women, and massacring Patriot soldiers. 

In building its case against Goldstein—ironically named United States  v. “The Spirit of '76”—the government asserted that Goldstein had knowingly made a pro-German propaganda movie with the intent to impugn the nation’s allies, foment disloyalty, and impede the U.S. military’s conscription efforts.  Goldstein countered, to no avail, that his main motivation in making the picture had been  financial—that he believed a movie dealing with America’s victory in the War of Independence would have broad box-office appeal, given the patriotic mood of the country.   The atrocities committed in the film by British soldiers were, he further contended, historically accurate and necessary to the plot.

In the end, a jury would have none of Goldstein’s arguments.   On April 15, 1918, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison (later commuted to 3 years) and fined 5,000 dollars.  Said sentencing judge Benjamin F. Bledsoe at the trial’s conclusion, “Count yourself lucky that you didn’t commit treason in a country lacking America’s right to a trial by jury.  You’d already be dead.”

Upon his release, Goldstein moved to Europe and attempted without success to reestablish his film career.  After being expelled from Nazi Germany in the mid 1930s, he returned to the United States where, so far as is known, he died in obscurity.  Like a great many films of the silent era, The Spirit of ’76 is now considered lost, with no print known to survive.

Anthony Slide’s 1993 book Robert Goldstein and The Spirit of ‘76 remains the standard work on Goldstein’s film, legal woes, and overall bad luck.

View all posts by Michael Inman

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Treason?

Submitted by Bobby (not verified) on August 6, 2014 - 8:42am

Treason? That's what the judge thought it was? How about allowing a gang of foreign bankers (Louis Meyer - French, Paul Warburg - German and his brother Max the Kaiser's Finanzminister and chief of Intelligence, plus being Vladimir Lenin's controller) to run their puppet into the White House? Allowing a gang of war industry executives to purchase editorial control of America's main mass media organs and disseminate British propaganda, and anti-German propaganda? That's all right, huh? The Czar of Russia had literally saved America's ass when he sent three Imperial Navy fleets of Russian warships to protect the United States from British warships anxious to break Lincoln's blockade of Confederate ports during the Civil War. I believe, the more powerful and the more wealthy you are, the more of a traitor you are allowed to become. All those young men we got killed in the trenches of France should rise up from their graves and point accusing fingers at traitors in positions of power and respect. Now, that would be justice. Traitors have thrice involved Americans in major wars that were unjustified, for their own profits. The German language is at least honest, it's word for war is the same word for getting something - "Krieg" means to obtain, to get something. Honesty seems to be the one thing the rich and powerful were never taught when they were little children, and they never learn it as adults.

None dare call it treason?

Submitted by Robert Brown (not verified) on September 13, 2014 - 12:11pm

Treason is as treason does. The rich and powerful never, ever commit treason, so they? Treason would be selling oil and machine parts to Nazi Germany, building the Kama River Truck Plant for the USSR, giving China and Japan most-favored-nation status in trade when we saw they were building their armed forces for fighting America. "Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.” (John Harrington)