When Every Day
Was The Fourth of July

(1978, U.S.) color 98 minutes
Dan Curtis Productions Inc. / National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
Story: Dan Curtis, Lee Hutson
Screenplay: Lee Hutson
Music: Walter Scharf
Cinematography: Frank Stanley
Produced by Dan Curtis, Steven P. Reicher
Directed by Dan Curtis

With: Dean Jones (Ed Cooper), Louise Sorel (Millie Cooper), Chris Petersen (Daniel Cooper), Katy Kurtzman (Sarah Cooper), Harris Yulin (Prosecutor Joseph Antonelli), Geoffrey Lewis (Albert Cavanaugh, the 'Snowman'), Scott Brady (Officer Michael Doyle), Ronnie Claire Edwards (Mrs. Najarian), Ben Piazza (Herman Grasser), Henry Wilcoxon (Judge Wheeler), Moosie Drier (Howie Martin), Scott Kimble (Dave Zimmer), Johnny Timko (Marty Albert)

***

Plot Outline: The year is 1937; the place, Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Cooper family, with their two children, Sarah and Daniel, live a peaceful life. Ed Cooper is a successful lawyer. Young Sarah is selling subscriptions to The Saturday Evening Post in order to raise money to buy her brother some fireworks for the upcoming Fourth of July.

Elsewhere in town lives Albert Cavanaugh, a decorated war hero who suffers from damage to the celebral cortex, a malady which has rendered him mute, but not dumb. Gentle Albert is made fun of by most of the neighborhood children, but Sarah thinks he's a very sweet man. In fact, Albert invites Sarah up to his hotel room, in order to show her the cache of fireworks materials he has.

Soon, Albert's world turns upside down, as he is accused of the murder of Mr. Najarian, a local merchant. Albert is arrested at the scene by Doyle, a rageful cop. Things look bad for Albert, until Sarah pleads with her father to represent him in court. Reluctantly, Ed agrees to take on this difficult, thankless task.

The trial is long and treacherous. It is revealed that Albert at one time belonged to a radical group connected with famed anarchists Sacco & Venzetti. It turns out that the murdered Najarian's testimony had been instrumental in finding the two immigrant revolutionaries guilty of treason and conspiracy to murder.

Even worse, when poor Sarah is forced to testify, it is revealed that Albert had invited the small child up to his hotel room, in an act that was clearly ill-advised. The prosecution attempts to paint this unfortunate blunder as highly suspect, if not downright malefic.

The horrid insinuation against Albert in regards to his little girl friend proves too much for the noble man, and he explodes into a rage, attempting to kill the prosecutor. Sadly, this all but proves to the jury that Albert is an unstable kook; he is found guilty, and sentenced to the electric chair.

Meanwhile, Officer Doyle's son Red, tired of the beatings he suffers at the hands of his pathetic father, runs away from home. He helps Sarah and her friends find the evidence they need to prove Albert's innocence, but not before Doyle attempts to murder the children in a chilling nighttime battle during a raging thunderstorm.

Soon, Cooper presents the new evidence, and Albert is acquitted. Later, the entire town gathers at the beach to celebrate the fourth of July, and the victory of truth and justice.

***

WHEN EVERY DAY WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY isn't exactly kiddie matinee material, being a made-for-television movie with adult themes, but after we saw the film we just had to include it on our database of classic children's cinema. Firstly, WHEN... is definitely a film which can be enjoyed by children. Also, it is a most engaging and exciting film about childhood itself. In addition, WHEN... is a TV-Movie masterpiece we want to tell the world about. And finally, it stars one of our favorite actresses, Katy Kurtzman (DYNASTY, BEAT THE TURTLE DRUM) in what may be her finest role.

WHEN... effectively sketches a familiar, yet very genuine, Depression-era small town America, specifically Bridgeport, Connecticut. The location shooting in Bridgeport really captures the flavor of that time and place, creating a gorgeous milieu in which the timeless qualities of trust, faith and conviction can weave their magic spell. (And we humbly confess that it did our heart good to discover the film was, in many cases, shot in Bridgeport, where we spent a good portion of our childhood).

This endearing work of film art comes to us from producer/director Dan Curtis, who formerly gave us such video legends as DARK SHADOWS and THE NIGHT STRANGLER. (Curtis hails from Bridgeport, so this may partly explain the loving treatment given the city in this film.)

The incisive screenplay by Lee Hutson is always engaging, and the sublime score by Walter Scharf has all the charm of a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Frank Stanley's exquisite photography evokes those bright, sunny summer days of childhood, when you thought the world would go on forever.

The basic story, that of a community outsider being falsely accused of murder, follows the basic story line of Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, a film we also admire. Albert Cavanaugh is very much modeled on Robert Duvall's Boo Radley, although he comes across as an original character. More curiously, Albert looks very much like the prototype for the title character in Billy Bob Thornton's breakthrough feature, SLINGBLADE (1997).

Now, on to Ms. Kurtzman. Given that she's just about the cutest thing on two legs, it is the veritable icing on the cake that this prolific and versatile child actress can really act, portraying a range of emotion, intent and character development rarely seen in actors of this vintage.

Katy plays a role not dissimilar to that of Mary Badham in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Frankly, we always thought that Badham's portrayal was too studied and self-conscious to be truly sympathetic, whereas Kurtzman's breezy naturalism and effortless empathy come across as entirely genuine and accessible.

Katy as Sarah embodies many things. One of the most interesting is that Sarah strives to be an independent female entrepreneur in a stifling, male dominated world. That she is hawking magazine subscriptions for The Saturday Evening Post suggests a quest for knowledge, and a desire to share that enlightenment with her world; surely, Sarah is thus a beacon to her community.

Indeed, Katy's kute kisser shines like a beacon throughout the whole film, even in several of her amazingly effective crying scenes. (Her scenes here reinforce our earlier hunch that Ms. Kurtzman may be the best movie crier of all time!)

It is also great to see one of our top Kiddie Matinee icons, Dean Jones (THE LOVE BUG, BEETHOVEN), in a marvelous, meaty role he can really sink his teeth into. Jones shines in almost anything he does, from the hilarious THAT DARN CAT to the execrable MISTER SUPERINVISIBLE, but it is wonderful to see him really flex his acting muscles here. Jones portrays everything from ecstasy to rage with an effortless simplicity both disarming and authentic.

Another outstanding performance comes from one of our favorite character actors, Scott Brady (JOHNNY GUITER, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF TIME). His portrayal of drunken, corrupt cop Doyle is extraordinary, way over the top yet never predictable or cliche. Brady's Doyle is vivid, vicious evil incarnate, and scenes featuring him play more like horror than drama. Indeed, a later scene in which Sarah, Daniel and their pals break into Doyle's home during a thunderstorm, and are subsequently trapped and chased by the deranged alcoholic, plays like a true horror-film climax, genuinely unnerving and gripping.

Oddly, female lead Louise Sorel (DAYS OF OUR LIVES, ALL MY CHILDREN) gets shorts shrift in the film, highlighted in a few paltry scenes. Was her role peripheral to begin with, or did Curtis realize that Ms. Kurtzman was the obvious female lead, and all competition doomed?

Geoffrey Lewis (HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, SALEM'S LOT) is quite amazing as Albert, aka "the Snowman". Wisely underplayed, Lewis' Albert is a creature of immediate sympathy, yet never one of pity. His mute gentleness borders on the sublime, yet he is not without emotion or conviction. Surely, Albert's explosive burst of rage at being accused of child molestation shows that here is not a lame, deferential buffoon, but a very wounded, yet very proud man, one fully aware of his responsibility to his community, and to himself.

The trial itself is well-constructed, fantastically written, and completely engaging. It is a shining model of the archetypal courtroom drama, with timing, pacing and revelation perfectly orchestrated. The explosive courtroom climax, in which Albert loses his cool and attacks the prosecutor, comes out of nowhere and packs a terrific punch.

A haunting, bittersweet coda features the whole town at Seaside Park (hooray!) on the eve of July 4th, holding sparklers and watching a magnificent fireworks display. Albert and Sarah make an appearance, hand in hand, and the town celebrates their hard-won peace and tranquility, a peace which was sadly to be short-lived, as another terrible war loomed just over the horizon...

Indeed, WHEN EVERY DAY WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY was followed by a sequel, THE LONG DAYS OF SUMMER (1980), which chronicled the Cooper family's struggle with the growing Nazi threat, and how it polarized folks in the U.S. Dean Jones returned to the cast as Ed Cooper, but Sarah Cooper was played by "Annie" actress Louanne. These two films suggest that Curtis was attempting to interest the networks in a series based on "The Coopers". Personally, we think it would have made a great show.

First broadcast on NBC on March 12 1978, WHEN EVERY DAY WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY is still available on home video. Hopefully, we will someday see a special edition DVD, with commentary by the principals, because this is an extraordinary film which showcases the TV-Movie at the very top of its form.

And damnit, we're still waiting for our "End of the World Special"!

Please be sure to read our exclusive interview with Katy Kurtzman: TV's All-American Girl!

Video/DVD Availability: VHS (MPI Home Video)

School's out for summer!

Katy Kurtzman plays young entrepreneur Sarah Cooper.

Dean Jones plays Ed Cooper, attorney.

Geoffrey Lewis plays Albert Cavanaugh.

Sarah and Albert share a quiet moment.

Katy Kurtzman, TV's All-American Girl...