America: A Call to Greatness
Encyclopedia
America: A Call to Greatness is a 1995 docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....

 feature from Paige-Brace Cinema, chronicling United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 history from its inception through the 20th century. It stars Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

, Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

, Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...

, Peter Graves
Peter Graves
Peter Graves may refer to:* Peter Graves , American actor* Peter Graves, 8th Baron Graves , English actor and peer* Peter Graves , English cricketer...

, Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....

, and Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....

 among others and was written, directed and produced by Warren Chaney
Warren Chaney
Warren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...

. Actors portray historical figures in American history, using dialogue mirroring words spoken or written by them.

The two-hour movie incorporates music-video like production numbers centered around specific American themes. It employees such musicians as Lee Greenwood
Lee Greenwood
Melvin Lee Greenwood is an American country music artist. Active since the early 1980s, he has released more than twenty major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts....

, Phil Driscoll
Phil Driscoll
Phil Driscoll is a contemporary Christian singer, composer, and perhaps best known for his trumpet playing. He has a music and speaking ministry. Driscoll won a Best Gospel Performance Grammy Award in 1984 for a duet with Debby Boone on "Keep the Fire Burning", and has been nominated for two...

, Greg X. Volz
Greg X. Volz
Gregory Xavier Volz is a Christian singer. He is most noted for being the former lead singer of Christian rock band Petra from 1979 to 1985 and is currently the lead vocalist of the reunited lineup.-Biography:...

, The Imperials
The Imperials
The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been around for over 45 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many changes for the band in membership and musical styles...

, Larnelle Harris
Larnelle Harris
Larnelle Steward Harris is a gospel singer and songwriter. During his 30-plus years of ministry, Harris has recorded 18 albums, won five Grammy Awards and 18 Dove Awards, and has had several number one songs on the inspirational music charts.-Early life:A native of Danville, Kentucky, Harris...

, Sandi Patty
Sandi Patty
Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...

 and others. Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

, former western actor, businessman, film and recording star also appeared in what was to be his final screen performance. Commentaries from known businessmen, U.S. Senators, Congressmen, and three former U.S. Presidents are interspersed throughout the picture. The production was filmed at the Disney-MGM Studios
Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...

, Paige-Brace Studios and on location throughout the United States. It was shot on an estimated budget of $4.5 million.

Plot

Opening remarks by Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

 and Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

 are used to establish the film’s direction and mood. Introductory scenes quickly dissolve into one laced with sounds of thunder and artillery fire. The setting is atop Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

 where waters cascade over the falls’ edge. Superimposed in the haze are dissolving scenes of American conflicts from the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 through Desert Storm.

At the misty base of the falls, a glass-like figure materializes from the fog and walks toward the camera. As it draws closer, it assumes the features and flesh tones of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 who states, “In my years of public service for this nation, I have observed one truth...that no people can be bound to acknowledge the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
Washington’s figure morphs into that of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

 who declares, “Everywhere I turn today, I see dissent. I see, Sir, those who say this great American experiment cannot work. They fail in their understanding, to realize that their very right to say that, was paid for with human life. Yet, for their own marginal good and safety, they are freely willing to forsake the heritage of this nation. To those I say.... They, that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Franklin turns from the camera, transposing into President John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

 who proclaims, “Posterity--you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.... If you do not, I shall repent it in Heaven, that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.”

Adams fades as the Niagara setting dissolves to a stage scene with Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

 addressing the audience, “That proclamation, addressing posterity, was spoken by John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

, the second President of the United States. Adams was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...

. He served for eight years under George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 as this nation's first Vice-President. His words still ring through the halls of time. They call to those of us here today...to carry on the tradition of freedom, for which so many have died. We are that posterity... and, we have been summoned.”
Heston's scene transitions to that of the giant arch in Washington Square at the Disney-MGM Studios
Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...

. A lowering camera reveals vocalist Larnelle Harris
Larnelle Harris
Larnelle Steward Harris is a gospel singer and songwriter. During his 30-plus years of ministry, Harris has recorded 18 albums, won five Grammy Awards and 18 Dove Awards, and has had several number one songs on the inspirational music charts.-Early life:A native of Danville, Kentucky, Harris...

, singing, Let Freedom Ring. As the song concludes, fifty doves released on each side of the arch fly toward the camera. One dove trails the others in a similar arc but flies closer to the camera spreading its wings and passing over the lens. As it does so, it transitions to title for the picture and its opening credits.

The duration of the picture provides a continuing narrative of America’s founding and evolution from the revolutionary days of 1776 through the 20th century. By means of prosthetic make-up technology and historical locations, famous leaders from the past are used to speak to the present.
Film and television personalities, guests and vocalists support the production with commentary and music. The music varies from Petra (band)
Petra (band)
Petra is a music group regarded as a pioneer of the Christian rock and contemporary Christian music genres. Formed in 1972, the band took its name from the Greek word for "rock"...

 founder, Greg X. Volz
Greg X. Volz
Gregory Xavier Volz is a Christian singer. He is most noted for being the former lead singer of Christian rock band Petra from 1979 to 1985 and is currently the lead vocalist of the reunited lineup.-Biography:...

, to Babbie Mason
Babbie Mason
Babbie Yvett Robie Wade Mason is an American gospel singer, songwriter, writer, and adjunct professor of songwriting at Atlanta Christian College and Lee University, and also a television talk-show host. In 1995, she was featured in the Warren Chaney docudrama, America: A Call to...

, Andrae Crouch
Andrae Crouch
Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....

 and Lee Greenwood
Lee Greenwood
Melvin Lee Greenwood is an American country music artist. Active since the early 1980s, he has released more than twenty major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts....

. Both music and commentary are interspersed with the re-creations of famous Americans in history.
Successive scenes build upon the other, moving from the nation’s founding to the problems of a 20th century contemporary society. One dramatic episode originates with Senators John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

 and Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...

 discussing military sacrifices throughout the nation’s history. Their settings transition to President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 on location in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...

 delivering his Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...

. As Lincoln speaks, the background dissolves into evolving war scenes progressing through each of America's major conflicts. The segment ends with Lincoln’s closing lines over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier refers to a grave in which the unidentifiable remains of a soldier are interred. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in wars without their remains being identified...

 as the surroundings dissolve into an early American street with The Imperials
The Imperials
The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been around for over 45 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many changes for the band in membership and musical styles...

singing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic".

Closing scenes contain commentaries from presidents (past and living); each expressing how they view America's greatness. President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

 speaks last and with his closing words, the setting dissolves to one with actor, singer and businessman, Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

. Autry addresses the viewing audience explaining what America has meant to him. At the close, he recites the Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...

 after which his scene transitions to one with President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 articulating farewell remarks to the audience.

Reagan's set dissolves into a gigantic American flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...

 that in turn transitions to Liberty Square at the Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...

. Sandi Patty
Sandi Patty
Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...

 and a sizable choir sing "The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...

" as a large American flag rises behind them. At the song’s close, a wide shot of the singer, choir and pavilion reveal a massive display of overhead fireworks. The scene dissolves to the final credits underscored by a new version of America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward....

 by Gene Autry (his first song release since 1965).

Reviews

Winston Aaronson of Screen Times said the film is “well directed and extremely well written.” Verna Schroder of The Sun News wrote, “the film is emotionally moving.” Some reviewers cautioned that the historic nature of the film possibly made it too religious or conservative for some audiences.

Cast

  • Charlton Heston
    Charlton Heston
    Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

     Host & Narrator
  • Mickey Rooney
    Mickey Rooney
    Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

     Host & Narrator
  • Deborah Winters
    Deborah Winters
    Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...

     Host & Narrator
  • Peter Graves
    Peter Graves
    Peter Graves may refer to:* Peter Graves , American actor* Peter Graves, 8th Baron Graves , English actor and peer* Peter Graves , English cricketer...

     Host & Narrator
  • Jane Russell
    Jane Russell
    Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....

     Host & Narrator
  • Rita Moreno
    Rita Moreno
    Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....

     Host & Narrator
  • Gene Autry
    Gene Autry
    Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

     Host, Narrator and Performer
  • Christopher Hewett
    Christopher Hewett
    Christopher Michael Hewett was an English actor and theatre director best known for his role as Lynn Belvedere on the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere.-Career:...

     Host & Narrator
  • Dorian Harewood
    Dorian Harewood
    W. Dorian Harewood is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his portrayal of Simon Haley in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.-Career:...

     Host & Narrator
  • Steve Geyer Host & Narrator
  • Cassidy Rae
    Cassidy Rae
    Cassidy Rae, born 7 June 1976 in Clermont, Florida, is a former American actress. She starred in the made-for-television movie Crowned and Dangerous with Yasmine Bleeth in 1997....

     Host & Narrator
  • Julianne Morris
    Julianne Morris
    Julianne Morris is an American actress.She first reached stardom as Amy Wilson on the soap opera The Young and the Restless from November 18, 1994 to May 22, 1996....

     Host & Narrator
  • Blue Deckert as George Washington
    George Washington
    George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

  • Rutherford Cravens
    Rutherford Cravens
    Rutherford "Ruddy" Cravens is an American TV movies and series actor, whose filmography also includes some theatrical movies like RoboCop 2, Friday Night Lights, Ray, "Temple Grandin and No Country for Old Men....

     as Benjamin Franklin
    Benjamin Franklin
    Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

  • James Black
    James Black
    James Black was the creator of the original Bowie knife designed by Jim Bowie.-Early life:James Black was born in Hackensack, New Jersey on 1 May 1800. James' mother died when he was very young and he had difficulty getting along with his stepmother. Black ran away from home to Philadelphia,...

     as John Adams
    John Adams
    John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

  • Gabriel Folse as Thomas Jefferson
    Thomas Jefferson
    Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

  • Charles Charpiot as Calvin Coolidge
    Calvin Coolidge
    John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...

  • Raymond Baker as Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...



  • Nick Hagler as Mark Twain
    Mark Twain
    Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

  • David Sanders as Will Rogers
    Will Rogers
    William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....

  • Daniel Kamin as Theodore Roosevelt
    Theodore Roosevelt
    Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

  • Charles Rimmel as Harry S. Truman
    Harry S. Truman
    Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

  • Leonora Scelfo as Laura Whitfield
  • John Meadows as Andrew Jackson
    Andrew Jackson
    Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

  • David Logan Rankin as Patrick Henry
    Patrick Henry
    Patrick Henry was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786...

  • Kyle Scott Jackson as Booker T. Washington
    Booker T. Washington
    Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...

  • Robert Marich as Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

  • Jean Pennington as Clara Barton
    Clara Barton
    Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian. She is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.-Youth, education, and family nursing:...

  • Susan Hilyard as Susan B. Anthony
    Susan B. Anthony
    Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...

  • Luis Lemus as James Madison
    James Madison
    James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...

  • Steve Word as Woodrow Wilson
    Woodrow Wilson
    Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

  • Daniel Silverheels as Chief John Big Tree
    Chief John Big Tree
    Chief John Big Tree , born Isaac Johnny John, was a member of the Seneca Nation and an actor who appeared in 59 films between 1915 and 1950....

  • E.P. Ryan as Benjamin Disraeli
  • Suzanne Savoy
    Suzanne Savoy
    Suzanne Savoy is an American actress and voice actress. Best known for playing Susan Lombardo in The Man with the Perfect Swing. She also appears and does voice-overs for many commercials, and has roles ranging from minor to starring in both film, and television...

     as Abagail Adams
  • Morgan Redmond as Reverend John Witherspoon
    John Witherspoon
    John Witherspoon was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey. As president of the College of New Jersey , he trained many leaders of the early nation and was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration...

  • James Huston
    James Huston
    James Huston was a Canadian typographer and journalist. Born in Quebec City, he was also a longtime member and subsequent President of the Institut canadien de Montréal....

     as General Douglas MacArthur

Musicians (in order of appearance)

  • Larnelle Harris
    Larnelle Harris
    Larnelle Steward Harris is a gospel singer and songwriter. During his 30-plus years of ministry, Harris has recorded 18 albums, won five Grammy Awards and 18 Dove Awards, and has had several number one songs on the inspirational music charts.-Early life:A native of Danville, Kentucky, Harris...

  • Phil Driscoll
    Phil Driscoll
    Phil Driscoll is a contemporary Christian singer, composer, and perhaps best known for his trumpet playing. He has a music and speaking ministry. Driscoll won a Best Gospel Performance Grammy Award in 1984 for a duet with Debby Boone on "Keep the Fire Burning", and has been nominated for two...

  • Benjamin
    Benjamin
    Benjamin was the last-born of Jacob's twelve sons, and the second and last son of Rachel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin. In the Biblical account, unlike Rachel's first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan. He died in Egypt on...

  • Greg X. Volz
    Greg X. Volz
    Gregory Xavier Volz is a Christian singer. He is most noted for being the former lead singer of Christian rock band Petra from 1979 to 1985 and is currently the lead vocalist of the reunited lineup.-Biography:...

  • Point Of Grace
    Point of Grace
    Point of Grace is an all-female Contemporary Christian music group. The trio consists of Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, and Leigh Cappillino. The group started out as a quartet in 1991, with original members Breen and Jones, as well as Terry Jones and Heather Payne...

  • Leon Patillo
    Leon Patillo
    Leon Patillo is an American Contemporary Christian singer and evangelist.-Career:Patillo's first musical endeavor was with the group Creation, later called Leon's Creation. Formed in the late 1960s, Creation was a funk group similar in style and composition to Sly & the Family Stone; they were...

  • Tata Vega
    Tata Vega
    Táta Vega is an American vocalist whose career spans theater, film, and a variety of musical genres.-Early life:...

  • Terry Clark
    Terry Clark
    Terry Clark , born Terrance John Clark in Gisborne, New Zealand was also known as Terry Sinclair, Tony Bennetti and Mr Big, was a head of the "Mr Asia" drug syndicate which imported heroin into New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom in the 1970s.-Career:Clark was well known for his...

  • Annie Herring
    Annie Herring
    Annie Herring is one of the pioneers of the Jesus music genre, later to be called Contemporary Christian music. She was more notably a part of the trio, 2nd Chapter of Acts in which she wrote most of the songs and sang lead and harmony vocals with her brother Matthew Ward and sister Nelly Greisen...

  • James Collins
    James Collins
    -Sports:*James Collins , Welsh footballer, currently playing for Aston Villa*James Collins , Irish footballer, currently playing for Shrewsbury Town*James Collins , NBA basketball player...

  • Rick and Cathy Riso
  • Jean Luc Lajoie
  • 4 Him
  • Babbie Mason
    Babbie Mason
    Babbie Yvett Robie Wade Mason is an American gospel singer, songwriter, writer, and adjunct professor of songwriting at Atlanta Christian College and Lee University, and also a television talk-show host. In 1995, she was featured in the Warren Chaney docudrama, America: A Call to...

  • Andrae Crouch
    Andrae Crouch
    Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....

  • Lee Greenwood
    Lee Greenwood
    Melvin Lee Greenwood is an American country music artist. Active since the early 1980s, he has released more than twenty major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts....

  • One Nation
    One Nation
    One Nation may refer to:In politics:* One Nation , a nationalist party in Australia** One Nation NSW, a defunct splinter group of the above, operating exclusively in New South Wales* One Nation , a defunct party in Israel...

  • The Imperials
    The Imperials
    The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been around for over 45 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many changes for the band in membership and musical styles...

  • Sandi Patty
    Sandi Patty
    Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...

  • International Cinema Choir & Chorus
  • Gene Autry
    Gene Autry
    Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...


Program guests (in order of appearance)

  • D. James Kennedy
  • Bill Bright
    Bill Bright
    William R. "Bill" Bright was an American evangelist. The founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, he wrote The Four Spiritual Laws in 1952 and produced the Jesus Film in 1979.-Early life:...

     and Vonette Bright
  • Rev. Peter J. Marshal
  • David Noebel
  • David Barton (author)
  • Ambassador Alan Keyes
    Alan Keyes
    Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...

  • Joe Weider
    Joe Weider
    Josef E. "Joe" Weider is co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders along with brother Ben Weider and creator of the Mr. Olympia, the Ms. Olympia, and the now-defunct Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests...

  • Buzz Aldrin
    Buzz Aldrin
    Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...

  • Major General John K. Singlaub
    John K. Singlaub
    John Kirk Singlaub is a highly-decorated former OSS officer and a retired Major General in the United States Army, and a founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency . He was a joint founder, with Congressman Larry McDonald, of the Western Goals Foundation, a conservative private...

  • U.S. Representative Steve Stockman
    Steve Stockman
    Steve Stockman is a Republican politician who represented Texas's 9th Congressional District between 1995 and 1997.- Biography :Stockman was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, near Detroit. He graduated from Dondero High School....

  • Senator Bob Kerrey
    Bob Kerrey
    Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...

  • Senator John Mccain
    John McCain
    John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

  • Senator Paul Simon (politician)
    Paul Simon (politician)
    Paul Martin Simon was an American politician from Illinois. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and United States Senate from 1985 to 1997. He was a member of the Democratic Party...

  • President Jimmy Carter
    Jimmy Carter
    James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

  • President George H.W. Bush
  • President Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....


Overview

America: A Call to Greatness was filmed at the Disney-MGM Studios
Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...

, Paige-Brace Studios and on location in each state of the Union. Using narrative, dramatization and music, the two-hour docudrama tells the story of the American Nation from its founding through the 20th century. The film reflects the historical roots of the United States using dialogue spoken or written by the nation’s founders. Actors employing prosthetic makeup portray early American founders and political figures from John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

 to Clara Barton
Clara Barton
Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian. She is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.-Youth, education, and family nursing:...

 and Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

. Settings for the historical reenactments were filmed at the historical sites for the period in which they lived. In the film, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 speaks at Gettysburg
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...

 and George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 during wintertime at Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...

.

The hosts for America: A Call to Greatness included film and television personalities including Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

, Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

, Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...

, Peter Graves
Peter Graves
Peter Graves may refer to:* Peter Graves , American actor* Peter Graves, 8th Baron Graves , English actor and peer* Peter Graves , English cricketer...

, Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....

, Cassidy Rae
Cassidy Rae
Cassidy Rae, born 7 June 1976 in Clermont, Florida, is a former American actress. She starred in the made-for-television movie Crowned and Dangerous with Yasmine Bleeth in 1997....

 and Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

, among others. Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....

 left retirement to make an appearance as did Christopher Hewett
Christopher Hewett
Christopher Michael Hewett was an English actor and theatre director best known for his role as Lynn Belvedere on the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere.-Career:...

. In addition to celebrities of the time, many other distinguished Americans made guest appearances. Included were Astronaut Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...

, war hero, General John K. Singlaub
John K. Singlaub
John Kirk Singlaub is a highly-decorated former OSS officer and a retired Major General in the United States Army, and a founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency . He was a joint founder, with Congressman Larry McDonald, of the Western Goals Foundation, a conservative private...

 and author and American historian Dr. David Barton
David Barton
David Barton is an American evangelical Christian minister, conservative activist and author. He founded WallBuilders, a Texas-based organization with a goal of exposing the claimed US constitutional separation of church and state as a myth...

. Other prominent guests included: D. James Kennedy, Bill Bright
Bill Bright
William R. "Bill" Bright was an American evangelist. The founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, he wrote The Four Spiritual Laws in 1952 and produced the Jesus Film in 1979.-Early life:...

 and his wife, Vonette Bright, Rev. Peter J. Marshal and David Noebel, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries...

.

Political figures on both sides of the political spectrum make narrative appearances including Senator Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

, Congressman Steve Stockman
Steve Stockman
Steve Stockman is a Republican politician who represented Texas's 9th Congressional District between 1995 and 1997.- Biography :Stockman was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, near Detroit. He graduated from Dondero High School....

, Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

, Ambassador Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...

, Senator Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...

, and three former United States Presidents (Presidents Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 and George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

).
The film interweaves music and drama using music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 like production numbers employing vocalists and musicians including Lee Greenwood
Lee Greenwood
Melvin Lee Greenwood is an American country music artist. Active since the early 1980s, he has released more than twenty major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts....

, Phil Driscoll
Phil Driscoll
Phil Driscoll is a contemporary Christian singer, composer, and perhaps best known for his trumpet playing. He has a music and speaking ministry. Driscoll won a Best Gospel Performance Grammy Award in 1984 for a duet with Debby Boone on "Keep the Fire Burning", and has been nominated for two...

, Greg X. Volz
Greg X. Volz
Gregory Xavier Volz is a Christian singer. He is most noted for being the former lead singer of Christian rock band Petra from 1979 to 1985 and is currently the lead vocalist of the reunited lineup.-Biography:...

, The Imperials
The Imperials
The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been around for over 45 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many changes for the band in membership and musical styles...

, Sandi Patty
Sandi Patty
Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...

 and others. Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...

, former western actor, businessman, film and recording star made an appearance in what was to be his final performance. Autry introduced the first song, "America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward....

", since his retirement in 1965.

Remarks by Presidents (past and present) synopsize the picture before the production closes with singer Sandi Patty
Sandi Patty
Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...

 singing "The Star-Spangled Banner". On the music's final notes, fireworks fill the sky overlooking the singer, choir and Disney's Liberty Square.

Distribution

After the film's fall 1995 premier, theatrical run and opening broadcast, the picture was released on Laserdisc in the United States by Millennial Entertainment. The discs were withdrawn when the picture was re-released for theatrical venue screenings throughout the United States. Following a long independent venue run, the film was released to DVD in March 2011.

Production

Casting was conducted January through March 1994. Subsequently the picture was filmed at the Disney-MGM Studios
Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...

 during the summer of 1994 and at the Paige-Brace Studios in January and February 1995. Footage shot in 50 States provide scenic inserts and background for the production including many small towns and countrysides. Filmed scenes extended from the Dakotas’ foothills to the spires of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and from the Golden Gate
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is the North American strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge...

 Bridge to the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. A film crew accompanied by Director, Warren Chaney
Warren Chaney
Warren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...

, traveled the United States for seven months in early 1994. For the production's release to television, the film's director (Warren Chaney
Warren Chaney
Warren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...

)
forewent traditional station break announcements (bumpers) by filming various people and population groups as his film crew gathered background footage across the nation. An Indian Chief from Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Pagosa Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, Archuleta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,591 at the 2000 census...

delivers a station break message in sign language and an Army Sergeant announces the break from his military post. A young child proclaims, "We be right back," before the picture's final credits

Editing and post production was carried out at the The Post Group, Orlando Florida and South Coast Film and Video, Houston, Texas.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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