11 July, 2024 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 3 categories

Genre: Biographical drama, and Based on "A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America" by Stacy Schiff, Written by Kirk Ellis and Howard Korder, and Directed by Tim Van Patten, Starring: Michael Douglas, Noah Jupe, Daniel Mays, Ludivine Sagnier, Thibault de Montalembert, Assaad Bouab, Théodore Pellerin, Tom Hughes, Jeanne Balibar, Eddie Marsan, with Theme music composer: Jay Wadley, Country of origin: United States, Original languages: English, and French, No. of episodes: 8, and Executive producers: Kirk Ellis, Howard Korder, Tim Van Patten, Michael Douglas, Tony Krantz, Mark Mostyn, and Richard Plepler, with Running time: 60 minutes, and Production companies: Flame Ventures, EDEN Productions, Shadowcatcher Productions, Boil Some Water Entertainment, ITV Studios America, with Original Network: Apple TV+ (2024)

Franklin’s Holiday for a Revolution…

Franklin is a biographical drama miniseries about the United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, based on Stacy Schiff‘s 2005 book A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. It was released on Apple TV+ on April 12, 2024, and the series finale aired on May 17, 2024. The series depicts the eight years that Benjamin Franklin spent in France to convince King Louis XVI to support the burgeoning United States in the American Revolutionary War.

Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath: a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Among the most influential intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States; a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence; and the first postmaster general. Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at age 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard's Almanack, which he wrote under the pseudonym "Richard Saunders". After 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the policies of the British Parliament and the Crown. He pioneered and was the first president of the Academy and College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsylvania. He organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected its president in 1769. He was appointed deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in 1753, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. Franklin became a hero in America when, as an agent in London for several colonies, he spearheaded the repeal of the unpopular Stamp Act by the British Parliament. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired as the first U.S. ambassador to France and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco–American relations. His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing French aid. From 1785 to 1788, he served as President of Pennsylvania. At some points in his life, he owned slaves and ran "for sale" ads for slaves in his newspaper, but by the late 1750s, he began arguing against slavery, became an active abolitionist, and promoted the education and integration of African Americans into U.S. society. As a scientist, his studies of electricity made him a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics. He also charted and named the Gulf Stream current. His numerous important inventions include the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove. He founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company, Philadelphia's first fire department, and the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity. Foundational in defining the American ethos, Franklin has been called "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become". His life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and his status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored for more than two centuries after his death on the $100 bill and in the names of warships, many towns and counties, educational institutions, and corporations, as well as in numerous cultural references and a portrait in the Oval Office. His more than 30,000 letters and documents have been collected in The Papers of Benjamin Franklin. Photo Credit: Library of Congress

Stacy Madeleine Schiff (born October 26, 1961) is an American former editor, essayist, and author of five biographies. Her biography of Véra Nabokov won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in biography. Schiff has also written biographies of French aviator and author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, colonial American-era polymath and prime mover of America's founding, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin's fellow Founding Father Samuel Adams, ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra, and the important figures and events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692–93 in colonial Massachusetts.

In this dazzling work of history, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author follows Benjamin Franklin to France for the crowning achievement of his career In December of 1776 a small boat delivered an old man to France." So begins an enthralling narrative account of how Benjamin Franklin-seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French-convinced France, an absolute monarchy, to underwrite America's experiment in democracy. When Franklin stepped onto French soil, he well understood he was embarking on the greatest gamble of his career. By virtue of fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers, and hostile colleagues; engineered the Franco-American alliance of l778; and helped to negotiate the peace of l783. The eight-year French mission stands not only as Franklin's most vital service to his country but as the most revealing of the man. In A Great Improvisation, Stacy Schiff draws from new and little-known sources to illuminate the least-explored part of Franklin's life. Here is an unfamiliar, unforgettable chapter of the Revolution, a rousing tale of American infighting, and the treacherous backroom dealings at Versailles that would propel George Washington from near decimation at Valley Forge to victory at Yorktown. From these pages emerge a particularly human and yet fiercely determined Founding Father, as well as a profound sense of how fragile, improvisational, and international was our country's bid for independence.

Louis XVI; Kng of France; in his coronation robes with the order of the Saint Esprit. 1779. Oil / Canvas. 275,5x193,5cm. Schloss Ambras. Inv. 3444. Photo by Gerhard Trumler/Imagno/Getty Images

The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. France entered the American Revolution on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict. After French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, the Americans had effectively won their independence, though fighting did not formally end until 1783. Photo Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art

The limited series stars Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin, with an ensemble cast that includes Noah Jupe, Daniel Mays, Ludivine Sagnier, Thibault de Montalembert, Assaad Bouab, Théodore Pellerin, Tom Hughes, Jeanne Balibar, and Eddie Marsan as John Adams.

Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Noah Jupe as William Temple Franklin in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Daniel Mays as Edward Bancroft in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Ludivine Sagnier as Anne Louise Brillon de Jouy in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Thibault de Montalembert as Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Assaad Bouab as Pierre Beaumarchais in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Théodore Pellerin as Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Tom Hughes as Paul Wentworth in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Jeanne Balibar as Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Eddie Marsan as John Adams in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

On October 26, 1776, Franklin was dispatched to France as commissioner for the United States. He took with him as secretary his 16-year-old grandson, William Temple Franklin. They lived in a home in the Parisian suburb of Passy, donated by Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, who supported the United States. Franklin remained in France until 1785. He conducted the affairs of his country toward the French nation with great success, which included securing a critical military alliance in 1778 and signing the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

Michael Douglas and Noah Jupe in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Olivier Claverie as Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont in "Franklin" (2024) Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Franklin is the Featured Television Blog of the month for July, You can expect a detailed critique of the limited series with historical context of Franklin’s background. There is also a detailed recommendation of the series with the detailed synopsis of the eight episodes and the real life historical characters portrayed in the series. There is also a detailed review of the 2005 book the limited series is based off of from Stacy Schiff. For the interview, actor Michael Douglas sits down with CBS Sunday Morning to discuss the Apple TV+ series, playing Benjamin Franklin, and America today versus its revolutionary period. There is also a Top Ten List, and for Franklin, the list is My Top Ten Michael Douglas Movies! Last but not least, the Featured Television Blog of the month includes an Official Trailer for the featured series!