The 1957 Disney film Johnny Tremain tells the story of a proud and talented young silversmith's apprentice in Boston in the years leading up to the American Revolution.
Detailed Story:
The film opens in Boston in 1773. Johnny Tremain is a skilled but arrogant 14-year-old apprentice to the kind silversmith Mr. Lapham. Johnny is the lead apprentice and often bosses around the other boys, Dove and Dusty. Mr. Lapham hopes Johnny will marry his granddaughter, Priscilla (Cilla), and eventually take over the family business.
A wealthy merchant, John Hancock, commissions Mr. Lapham to create an intricate silver sugar basin. Despite Mr. Lapham's hesitation, the confident Johnny accepts the challenging task. While working on the basin's handles on a Sunday (breaking the Sabbath), the resentful apprentice Dove deliberately gives Johnny a cracked crucible. The molten silver spills, severely burning Johnny's right hand, crippling it and ending his promising career as a silversmith.
Unable to work at his former trade, Johnny struggles to find employment. His pride prevents him from taking menial jobs. He eventually encounters Rab Silsbee, a friendly young apprentice at the Boston Observer printing shop, who offers him work delivering newspapers.
Through Rab, Johnny becomes involved with the burgeoning revolutionary movement. He meets prominent patriots like Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and James Otis. He learns about the growing tensions with British rule and the colonists' desire for liberty. Johnny also reveals to Cilla a secret: his mother told him they are related to the wealthy Loyalist merchant Jonathan Lyte, and he shows her a silver cup bearing the Lyte family crest as proof.
Desperate for money, Johnny approaches Mr. Lyte, hoping for help due to their supposed kinship, showing him the silver cup. However, Lyte coldly accuses Johnny of stealing the valuable heirloom and has him arrested.
Rab and the Sons of Liberty arrange for a lawyer, Josiah Quincy, to defend Johnny. Cilla testifies on Johnny's behalf, confirming his possession of the cup before his injury. Johnny is acquitted, and his silver cup is returned.
Now working as a newspaper delivery boy, Johnny becomes increasingly involved with the Whig cause. He participates in the Boston Tea Party, disguising himself with other patriots to dump tea into the harbor in protest of British taxation.
As tensions escalate, Johnny continues to support the revolutionary efforts, running errands and gathering information. The film culminates with the outbreak of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Johnny is present during these pivotal first battles of the American Revolutionary War, fighting alongside the colonial militia.
The film ends with Johnny, now a participant in the fight for American independence, standing with the other patriots, ready for the long struggle ahead. Along his journey, Johnny has shed his youthful arrogance, found a sense of belonging in the Patriot cause, and learned the importance of liberty and community over his own self-interest.
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