Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure

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Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure
VHS cover Mayflower The Pilgrims' Adventure.jpg
VHS cover from 1999
GenreAdventure
History
Screenplay by James Lee Barrett
Directed by George Schaefer
Starring Anthony Hopkins
Richard Crenna
Jenny Agutter
Theme music composer Brad Fiedel
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producer Linda Yellen
ProducerLinda Yellen
Cinematography Arthur J. Ornitz
Editor Eric Albertson
Running time100 min.
Production companySzygzy Productions
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseNovember 21, 1979 (1979-11-21)

Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure is a 1979 American made-for-television historical adventure film dramatizing the Pilgrims' voyage from Plymouth, England to Cape Cod in New England aboard the Mayflower in 1620. The film was directed by George Schaefer and stars Anthony Hopkins, Richard Crenna, and Jenny Agutter. [1]

Contents

The story focuses on romantic interactions between the passengers and crew, [2] with People describing it as "plotted like a pre-shuffleboard Love Boat ". [3]

The film was first broadcast by CBS on November 21, 1979. [4]

Cast

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Richard More (<i>Mayflower</i> passenger)

Richard More was born in Corvedale, Shropshire, England, and was baptised at St James parish church in Shipton, Shropshire, on 13 November 1614. Richard and his three siblings were at the centre of a mystery in early-17th-century England that caused early genealogists to wonder why the More children's father, believed to be Samuel More, would send his very young children away to the New World on the Mayflower in the care of others. It was in 1959 that the mystery was explained. Jasper More, a descendant of Samuel More, prompted by his genealogist friend, Sir Anthony Wagner, searched and found in his attic a 1622 document that detailed the legal disputes between Katherine More and Samuel More and what actually happened to the More children. It is clear from these events that Samuel did not believe the children to be his offspring. To rid himself of the children, he arranged for them to be sent to the Colony of Virginia. Due to bad weather, the Mayflower finally anchored in Cape Cod Harbor in November 1620, where one of the More children died soon after; another died in early December and yet another died later in the first winter. Only Richard survived, and even thrived, in the perilous environment of early colonial America, going on to lead a very full life.

Philip Delano was a passenger on the Fortune and an early citizen of Plymouth Colony. He is best known as the progenitor of the Delano family in the Americas.

Also see: The ships Anne and Little James

Saints & Strangers is an American drama television two-part miniseries. It tells the story of the Mayflower voyage and chronicles the Pilgrims' first year in America and the first Thanksgiving in 1621. The program aired on the National Geographic Channel and premiered on November 22, 2015.

References

  1. Roberts, Jerry (June 5, 2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. p. 517. ISBN   9780810863781 . Retrieved September 7, 2017 via Google Books.
  2. Rollins, Peter C., ed. (2003). "Places". The Columbia Companion to American History on Film. Columbia University Press. p. 148. ISBN   9780231112222 . Retrieved September 7, 2017 via Google Books.
  3. "Picks and Pans Review: Mayflower: the Pilgrims' Adventure". People . November 26, 1979. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  4. Buckley, Tom (November 21, 1979). "TV: Pilgrims' Adventure". The New York Times . Retrieved September 7, 2017.