Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot

Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot was made not for the cinemas but for a museum. The thirty-five minute film tells a fictional story to explain the state of Virginia's role in the fight for American Independence, and is still shown regularly at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Centre. The film was produced by Paramount (Hitchcock's studio for much of the Fifties) and Herrmann took on the project eagerly. The story of a Virginian planter (played by Hawaii Five O's Jack Lord) allowed Herrmann to indulge in his love of eighteenth century music. He wrote sprightly hornpipes ("Overture") and delightful minuets ("Gown and Court") that look forward to the English music of The Three Worlds of Gulliver, and - with the spirit of Charles Ives no doubt looking over his shoulder - employed variations of "Yankee Doodle" ("The Drummer") to signal the approach of war. So enjoyable was the experience of scoring the short film that Herrmann declined to take a fee for the work.

The full score (which is almost as long as the entire film's running time) is available on a Tribute Film Classics disc as a companion to The Kentuckian (TFC 1004).