A rockstar of 1776. Franklin, starring and executive produced by Academy, Emmy, and AFI Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Douglas, is now streaming on Apple TV+ https://apple.co/_Franklin
Based on Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” Franklin explores the thrilling story of the greatest gamble of Benjamin Franklin’s career. In December 1776, Franklin is world famous for his electrical experiments, but his passion and power are put to the test when — as the fate of American independence hangs in the balance — he embarks on a secret mission to France.
The drama also stars Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place”) as Temple Franklin, Thibault de Montalembert (“Call My Agent!”) as Comte de Vergennes, Daniel Mays (“Line of Duty”) as Edward Bancroft, Ludivine Sagnier (“Lupin”) as Madame Brillon, Eddie Marsan (“Ray Donovan”) as John Adams, Assaad Bouab (“Call My Agent!”) as Beaumarchais, Jeanne Balibar (“Irma Vep”) as Madame Helvetius and Theodore Pellerin (“There’s Someone Inside Your House”) as Marquis de Lafayette.
Based on Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” Franklin explores the thrilling story of the greatest gamble of Benjamin Franklin’s career. In December 1776, Franklin is world famous for his electrical experiments, but his passion and power are put to the test when — as the fate of American independence hangs in the balance — he embarks on a secret mission to France.
The drama also stars Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place”) as Temple Franklin, Thibault de Montalembert (“Call My Agent!”) as Comte de Vergennes, Daniel Mays (“Line of Duty”) as Edward Bancroft, Ludivine Sagnier (“Lupin”) as Madame Brillon, Eddie Marsan (“Ray Donovan”) as John Adams, Assaad Bouab (“Call My Agent!”) as Beaumarchais, Jeanne Balibar (“Irma Vep”) as Madame Helvetius and Theodore Pellerin (“There’s Someone Inside Your House”) as Marquis de Lafayette.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 [shouting]
00:02 [shouting]
00:04 They have it in their heads that I invented electricity.
00:08 Who am I to dissuade them?
00:10 [shouting]
00:12 Ben Franklin, he was a rock star around the world.
00:15 But he was also successful at diplomacy.
00:18 So here he was at 70 years old, being asked to go over to France
00:23 with his grandson and get their help to develop our democracy.
00:28 Why should our king be faithful to you?
00:31 To defeat the English.
00:33 If Ben Franklin did not succeed, we would not have America.
00:37 That's the bottom line.
00:40 The secret of a good period show is to make historical figures like real people.
00:45 You are a very untrusting young man.
00:48 I am your grandson.
00:49 And you see that with Franklin's relationship with Temple.
00:53 Benjamin Franklin stepped into that father figure role.
00:56 I hope I have bettered your prospects in this world after I have passed from it.
01:01 You need me to do something.
01:02 Put on a decent coat and hurry up.
01:04 You become very patriotic when you do a show like this.
01:07 Hopefully it will remind us how proud we are to be in a democracy.
01:11 Free people may govern themselves guided by common sense
01:16 and a belief in the greater good.
01:18 Here is your America.
01:20 It's an ideal that we have to support and desperately protect.
01:24 [Music]
01:30 [End of Audio]