Customer Reviews

Let Freedom Ring [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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It's great to see Nelson Eddy, cast in his first "solo" role, looking so comfortable and sure: no singing co-star, no tight uniforms, no white wigs, not even a Mountie hat! The handsome, booming baritone sings plenty of songs, all woven beautifully into the story. Eddy returns home from an Eastern college to save his frontier town from the clutches of greedy railroad barons. He masquerades as a toady to Edward Arnold's villainous landgrabber but sets up a hidden printing press to incite the underdogs to rebel against their oppressors. The big burly Irish actor, Victor McLaglen, is hilarious as a ham-fisted foreman of a crew of immigrant laborers who cries real tears when Eddy, at McLaglen's prodding, sings old Irish songs. Lionel Barrymore is Eddy's leathery rancher father, and pretty Virginia Bruce is perfect as the love interest and doesn't even have to sing. Combining handsome, virile Nelson Eddy's gorgeous, strong voice with its message of religious and ethnic tolerance, this film is all you want in a good Western film. And it's so great to see Nelson let go, loosen up, and even duke it out in a great fight sequence. Directed by Jack Conway and scripted by Ben Hecht, Let Freedom Ring is a powerful, entertaining film.

First, a word of caution. If you are looking for the Nelson Eddy movie, Let Freedom Ring, make sure that is what you are ordering. There is an unrelated documentary with the exact same title available on DVD, but as of this writing, the Eddy movie is NOT available on DVD. When ordering the movie, look for a VHS tape case with Nelson Eddy and Virginia Bruce on the cover.

The plot of the movie is one of patriotism and tolerance, a message threaded throughout many movies of the WWII era. The entire cast is excellent, but Nelson Eddy stands out as the clear star of the movie.

Eddy plays the prodigal son returning home from college to find his family and the rest of the town being bullied and terrorized by a crooked railroad boss. In a masquerade reminiscent of Zorro, Nelson's character Steve Logan alienates Maggie Adams (Virginia Bruce) the woman he loves as well as his father Tom Logan (Lionel Barrymore) and the rest of his neighbors by assuming a public stance of support for railroad boss Jim Knox (Edward Arnold) and Chris Mulligan (Victor McLaughlin), Knox's hired muscle. In fact, Steve is secretly fighting the corrupt Knox at every turn by publishing a newspaper which ultimately unites the townspeople and foreign-born workers of the railroad, encouraging them to stand up for their rights and fight Knox's corruption. Charles Butterworth is entertaining as Steve's sidekick and ally, "The Mackeral".

Nelson Eddy is outstanding in his role, ably mastering humor and the physical demands of a hero called on to save the day. His natural goodlooks come through in this movie which was made without the usual caked-on makeup that marked his other movies. He's no pretty boy either and not afraid to get dirty, as proven by his able handling of the fistfight scene between McLaughlin and him. Added to his acting ability, he gets to exercise his wonderful voice in some powerfully delivered songs.

If you can find this movie it is well worth the watch. One can only hope it comes out in DVD format before all the old tapes disappear.

What a treasure of a movie with Nelson Eddy this is hard to get. Nelson Eddy is great a hero that can fight and sing. Wonderful voice a joy to see.

Eddy is his nice self with beautiful renditions of some very nice songs. He also handles the comic nuances quite well and I do like him a lot. But for me Victor Mclaglen steals the show. This huge, ugly Irishman (he is really English) is funny beyond belief. Another favorite character actor Charles Butterworth is the perfect deadpan balance to Mclaglen's hysteria. We could have used a less tepid heroine. This one is pretty ordinary. A bit spikey would have been nice. I wonder if the "Dusty Road" song became a hit?? Very stirring!! Edward Arnold makes an elegant crafty villian. Also we have Lionel Barrymore fighting Arnold to keep his ranch in the onslaught of the railroad.

Scenarist Ben Hecht's tract to ethnic toleration does not lack the production values and quality of acting necessary for its artistic success. Within the format of a Hollywood-style Western, it is an easy task for Hecht to insert his typical hyperbole in the form of some truly crimson prose directed against big business represented by expanding railroad interests. Edward Arnold gives a solid performance as Jim Knox, a railway plutocrat who is determined to manipulate and exploit a polyglot force of European immigrant workers, led by their rough and ready Irish foreman, played to the hilt by Victor MacLaglen in this post-War Between the States musical melodrama. How to oppose Knox' land grabbing is the plight of a small coterie of settlers led by Tom Logan and his recently Harvard-graduated son Steve, portrayed by Lionel Barrymore and baritone Nelson Eddy. Reliable Jack Conway directs with proletarian emphasis, featuring closeups of seamed and craggy-faced railroad laborers, whose basic needs are apparently implemented whenever the sturdy Eddy bursts into song. Eddy employs the method of a clandestine newspaper to undermine the plans of the villainous capitalist Knox, working hand-in-hand with a sidekick, acted very nicely by the extraordinary ad lib performer, Charles Butterworth, whose nonpareil timing is a delight in his every scene. This is the first appearance of the seasoned Eddy without an equal singing partner, and he proves more than capable of carrying the show, although he is joined briefly during one number by his romantic interest, the talented and beautiful Virginia Bruce. Without question a disputation against capitalist profiteering, LET FREEDOM RING is even more a rousing entertainment, knitted with wonderful music, a top-flight cast, and neatly crafted direction.

Ben Hecht wrote a humorous script. He created a singing cowboy for Nelson Eddy to play. Instead of a pair of six shooters, Nelson would sing a song to win the day. Concluding with GOD BLESS AMERICA to chase the villain Edward Arnold out of town.