Clues to Adventure (1949) User Reviews

The Bill Of Rights

[boblipton · 6/10 · 7 March 2020]

John Nesbit considers a Mother Goose rhyme, a newspaper article from the 18th Century, and a rusty piece of iron in this entry in THE PASSING PARADE.

Although some of the entries are weak in their assumptions, the middle one is about John Peter Zenger, and all three are linked by being the sources of the Bill of Rights - the first ten amendments to the United States constitution, enshrining the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

In these difficult times - and all times are difficult for the people who live in them - it is good to reflect on these rights, which must be fought for continually; the Supreme Court of the United States spends most of its labor making that point again and again. These rights must not only be celebrated; they must be exercised continually, lest we get out of the habit.

Another Passing Parade Short concerning three roads to the Bill of Rights

[theowinthrop · 6 November 2008]

John Nesbitt's PASSING PARADE series (the theme comes from Tschaikovski's Fifth Symphony) is always interesting, even if he somehow screws history while telling us about it. In this case he deals with three different keys to the pass:

1) The Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme "Hushaby Baby" (or "Rockabye Baby", as most of us know it).

2) The New York Weekly Journal

3) An "Iron Mask" Nesbitt (and his researchers) are looking over the the background of each and their effects on the present generation (or at least the generations up to 1949).

The Nursery Rhyme supposedly relates to the fall of King James II of England in 1688 (known as the "Glorious Revolution"). The story here is that the King was faking the birth of his son and heir, and it was turned into a nursery rhyme by people who could not speak the truth safely - but today we have freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights. The Weekly Journal is John Peter Zenger's newspaper, which was the center of the 1736 stormy trial in New York City that established (forty years before the Revolution) freedom of the Press. The "Iron Mask" reflects the mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, the symbol of cruel and unusual punishment that also is rejected by the Bill of Rights.

The problem of all this is that in quickly telling three stories, Nesbitt and his writers get things wrong. First, James II had two legitimate heirs when he became King James. They were his daughters Mary and Anne. Neither was a male heir, but there had been female rulers of England (Mary I and Elizabeth I) and it was not impossible to have another one. We are told (instead) he had no kids. Secondly we are told that classic old wives tale that King James' new son by his second wife was really a foundling sneaked into the palace in a warming pan. Actually the child (who grew up to be James Stuart, the "Old Pretender" of the 18th Century) was a legitimate son of King James, and nearly was accepted as King James III in 1714 when his sister Anne was dying (only the ineptitude of Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, wrecked the scheme). Also, the reasons for the removal of King James were tied to his religious zealotry for Catholicism in Protestant England. Free speech (not really pressed for by James' successor William III) had little to do with it.

The Zenger trial I have little problem with, but this particular short does not do real justice to it. Its scenes were based on a 1939 short with Victor Killian as Zenger, and the brilliant courtroom work of Andrew Hamilton (Zenger's lawyer) is not even noted here. By the way, the other two segments came from earlier shorts in the series too.

The segment on "cruel and unusual punishments" connected to the tragedy of the "Man in the Iron Mask" is really questionable. Everyone then and now knew the mystery, but it wasn't the only example and unusual punishment. In fact, it was the only time this kind of punishment was used (and it wasn't an iron mask, but a leather mask - iron would have been too cruel). Furthermore, it's undercut because the prisoner actually was well treated by his jailers who gave him a servant and books and musical instruments to play. Not a great time, but not on the level of say Auschwitz. Finally it was a French case - why would it concern the Anglo Saxon colonists of the thirteen colonies? It is an interesting episode of this series (especially linking the nursery rhyme to the fall of the Stuarts - "when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all" being a supposed reference to ending the genealogy tree of James II. Actually all the "Glorious Revolution" did was speed the reigns of Mary II and Anne, both of whom were James' kids by a Protestant mother. Flawed history, even if interesting.

Nice Passing Parade Entry

[Michael_Elliott · 22 October 2009]

Clues to Adventure (1949)

*** (out of 4)

Entry in John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series shows us three different stories that all link to the Bill of Rights. First off we hear how a popular nursery rhyme for children helped get King James II out of England. Next up we learn that a small newspaper helped establish freedom of the press. Finally, the story of the man in the iron mask shows why cruel and unusual punishment is not allowed. Nesbitt's Passing Parade is one of the most entertaining series that pop up on Turner Classic Movies ever few weeks. The films don't have the greatest production values as a lot of them lift scenes from other movies but what works so well are the actual stories. As usual, I wasn't aware of any of the three stories being told here so my thrill of learning something new goes well with this series. The way we get told these forgotten stories are a lot of fun and they manage to stay entertaining throughout the 9-minute running times.