The longest running film, theatrically. It has been shown daily at Colonial Williamsburg since its original 1957 release.
Williamsburg-area residents were employed as extras. When enough could not be found, director George Seaton went to a nearby mental institution (Eastern State Hospital of Virginia) and proposed using selected patients. Psychiatrists thought this would be excellent therapy, so some thirty inmates appeared in the film without incident. In appreciation for the participation of its patients and staff, the premiere of the film was held at the Eastern State Hospital of Virginia in early 1957.
The basic material for the film was put together in a New York City hotel by director George Seaton, producer William H. Wright, and Thad Tate, a Virginia historian and teacher at the College of William and Mary.
In writing the final script, playwright Emmet Lavery frequently used quotations from the writings and diaries of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other revolutionary figures to fashion authentic dialogue.
Circa 1977: Two specially-designed theaters in the Information Center are used, utilizing 70 mm projection equipment with six-channel Todd-AO sound. Each print averages 1,250 runs at the two auditoriums , and ten prints are exhausted in the course of 9,000 showings each year. The print is cleaned by hand after each showing.