I suspect that, if Americans are familiar at all with the name of Benedict Arnold, the related beliefs follow a lazy stereotype. Benedict Arnold is a traitor. Probably most Americans know that. Probably fewer know that he "sold" West Point to the British during the Revolutionary War. I doubt that very many know the reasons behind Arnold's defection. Even acknowledging that there WERE reasons, from his point of view, would contaminate the purity of the conception. He stands for "evil." He's not a human being at all.
Actually, according to this documentary, he was a courageous hero of the Continental Army who saved the United States twice and almost lost a leg at the Battle of Saratoga.
But he was also a man from a background of poverty, sold into indentured servitude by his mother. It appears to have left him anxious to have a solid bank account. On top of this he was an ambitious hot head who married into a prominent family of Philadelphia loyalists -- the Shippens, one of whom signed the Declaration of Independence and was one of the founders of what became the University of Pennsylvania. The loyalty of Arnold's wife, Peggy, was always weak.
Not an easy man to get along with, Arnold took easy offense and was given to issuing challenges. He suffered several slights from the Congress and, reluctantly, from his friend George Washington.
It was all too much for him. He asked Washington for appointment as Superintendent of West Point. There, he gave the finger to the United States and West Point to the British.
It's an instructive program. Aidan Quinn chews and snarls his way through the role, one foot in apoplexy. Kelsey Grammar is quite good as General Washington. The story sometimes smacks of soap opera but that doesn't detract from its overall quality.
Let me put it this way. F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote of the actress Joan Crawford that, "If you ever gave her a stage direction like 'lying', she would practically give an imitation of Benedict Arnold selling West Point to the British." If this documentary does nothing else, it at least fills out that picture of betrayal and treason with a little human flesh.
Actually, according to this documentary, he was a courageous hero of the Continental Army who saved the United States twice and almost lost a leg at the Battle of Saratoga.
But he was also a man from a background of poverty, sold into indentured servitude by his mother. It appears to have left him anxious to have a solid bank account. On top of this he was an ambitious hot head who married into a prominent family of Philadelphia loyalists -- the Shippens, one of whom signed the Declaration of Independence and was one of the founders of what became the University of Pennsylvania. The loyalty of Arnold's wife, Peggy, was always weak.
Not an easy man to get along with, Arnold took easy offense and was given to issuing challenges. He suffered several slights from the Congress and, reluctantly, from his friend George Washington.
It was all too much for him. He asked Washington for appointment as Superintendent of West Point. There, he gave the finger to the United States and West Point to the British.
It's an instructive program. Aidan Quinn chews and snarls his way through the role, one foot in apoplexy. Kelsey Grammar is quite good as General Washington. The story sometimes smacks of soap opera but that doesn't detract from its overall quality.
Let me put it this way. F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote of the actress Joan Crawford that, "If you ever gave her a stage direction like 'lying', she would practically give an imitation of Benedict Arnold selling West Point to the British." If this documentary does nothing else, it at least fills out that picture of betrayal and treason with a little human flesh.