The Crossing (film)
Encyclopedia
The Crossing is a 2000 A&E
film
directed by Robert Harmon
. Based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast
, it stars Jeff Daniels
as George Washington
. Also appearing in the film are Roger Rees
as Hugh Mercer
, Sebastian Roche
as John Glover and Steven McCarthy as Alexander Hamilton
. The Crossing won a Peabody Award
for excellence in 2001.
crossing the Delaware River
and the Battle of Trenton
during the American Revolutionary War
. The film opens with the retreat of the Continental Army
across New Jersey
after repeated losses and defeats during the campaign of 1776
.
After the army narrowly escapes across the river to the Pennsylvania
shore, Washington, realizing that something must be done or the Revolution will collapse, conceives a plan to cross the river and conduct a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton
.
Despite their own fatigue and the winter weather, Washington manages to lift his weary soldiers' spirits, allowing the army to cross the river on Christmas
night. The crossing is done in one night, allowing the troops to attack Trenton at eight o' clock on December 26, 1776, and gains a stunning victory, capturing almost all the Hessians to their own advantage.
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Robert Harmon
Robert Harmon
Robert Harmon is an American film and television director. He is best known for the 1986 horror classic The Hitcher, starring Rutger Hauer, as well as for films like They and Nowhere to Run....
. Based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast
Howard Fast
Howard Melvin Fast was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...
, it stars Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
as George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. Also appearing in the film are Roger Rees
Roger Rees
Roger Rees is a Welsh actor. He is best known to American audiences for playing the characters Robin Colcord on the American television sitcom show Cheers and Lord John Marbury on the American television drama The West Wing...
as Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer was a soldier and physician. He initially served with British forces during the Seven Years War but later became a brigadier general in the Continental Army and a close friend to George Washington...
, Sebastian Roche
Sebastian Roché
- Early life :Roché was born in Paris, France, on August 4, 1964; he is of Scottish and French ancestry. He is also fluent in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Italian. On General Hospital, he spoke in Russian, Spanish and French, and on the pilot episode of Odyssey 5, he spoke in French...
as John Glover and Steven McCarthy as Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
. The Crossing won a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for excellence in 2001.
Plot summary
The drama is about George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
crossing the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
and the Battle of Trenton
Battle of Trenton
The Battle of Trenton took place on December 26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, after General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton, New Jersey. The hazardous crossing in adverse weather made it possible for Washington to lead the main body of the...
during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. The film opens with the retreat of the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
across New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
after repeated losses and defeats during the campaign of 1776
New York and New Jersey campaign
The New York and New Jersey campaign was a series of battles for control of New York City and the state of New Jersey in the American Revolutionary War between British forces under General Sir William Howe and the Continental Army under General George Washington in 1776 and the winter months of 1777...
.
After the army narrowly escapes across the river to the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
shore, Washington, realizing that something must be done or the Revolution will collapse, conceives a plan to cross the river and conduct a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
.
Despite their own fatigue and the winter weather, Washington manages to lift his weary soldiers' spirits, allowing the army to cross the river on Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
night. The crossing is done in one night, allowing the troops to attack Trenton at eight o' clock on December 26, 1776, and gains a stunning victory, capturing almost all the Hessians to their own advantage.
Cast
- Jeff DanielsJeff DanielsJeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
... Gen. George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of... - Roger ReesRoger ReesRoger Rees is a Welsh actor. He is best known to American audiences for playing the characters Robin Colcord on the American television sitcom show Cheers and Lord John Marbury on the American television drama The West Wing...
... Gen. Hugh MercerHugh MercerHugh Mercer was a soldier and physician. He initially served with British forces during the Seven Years War but later became a brigadier general in the Continental Army and a close friend to George Washington... - Sebastian RochéSebastian Roché- Early life :Roché was born in Paris, France, on August 4, 1964; he is of Scottish and French ancestry. He is also fluent in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Italian. On General Hospital, he spoke in Russian, Spanish and French, and on the pilot episode of Odyssey 5, he spoke in French...
... Col. John Glover - Steven McCarthy ... Alexander HamiltonAlexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
- John Henry Canavan ... Gen. Henry KnoxHenry KnoxHenry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War....
- Ned Vukovic ... Gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling
- David FerryDavid Ferry (actor)David Ferry is a Canadian actor and Dora Award-winning theatre director. Ferry was nominated for a Genie Award, for best supporting actor in Hounds of Notre Dame. He was also star of the popular Canadian radio program "Midnight Cab". He was born in St...
... Gen. Nathaniel GreeneNathanael GreeneNathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United... - Nigel BennettNigel BennettNigel Bennett is an English actor/director/writer who has been based in Canada since 1986. He is best known for playing the vampire patriarch Lucien LaCroix in the TV series Forever Knight, for which he won the Canadian Gemini Award for best supporting actor in a dramatic series.-Life and...
... Gen. Horatio GatesHoratio GatesHoratio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and... - Karl PrunerKarl PrunerKarl Pruner is a Canadian actor whose most notable work is in portraying Canadian Prime Minister John Turner in the 2002 mini-series Trudeau. He did not play Turner in the sequel Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making but did portray Frank Scott. Amongst his other work, he did voice acting as Beta Ray...
... Gen. Sullivan - Duncan McLeod ... Williams
- Andrew Kraulis ... Billy
- Kelly HarmsKelly HarmsKelly Harms is a Canadian director, producer, and actor who was born on April 27, 1974 in Barrhead, Alberta and currently resides in Toronto, Canada. His most recent film is Cursing Hanley, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. He is close friends with Bruce...
... Tommy - Jonathan Watton ... Cadman
- Kris Holden-Ried ... Capt. Heineman
- Chris Williamson ... Officer
- Paul Brogren ... Soldier #1
- Robert Persichini ... Soldier #2
- Peter Cockett ... Abe
- Michael Proudfoot ... Jacob (fisherman)
- Tim Post ... Ike (fisherman)
- Julian RichingsJulian RichingsJulian Richings is an English-born Canadian actor. He appeared in over 50 Canadian films and 20 separate television series.-Life and career:...
... McKenzie - Shaun Austin-Olsen ... Barclay
- Paulette Sinclair ... Mrs. Barclay
See also
- List of American films of 2000
- Washington's crossing of the DelawareWashington's crossing of the DelawareWashington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on December 25, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey...
- Fisher, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. Oxford University Press USA, 2004, 576 pages. ISBN 0195170342
- Ketchum, Richard. The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. Owl Books, 1999, 448 pages. ISBN 0805060987