We love the Hollywood history of America. Sometimes they even get it right.

First of all, a game. Match the actors to the parts.

The players: Barry Bostwick, Patty Duke, Kelsey Grammar, Burgess Meredith, David Niven, Nick Nolte, Ginger Rogers, William Shatner, Meryl Streep and Annette Bening (same part), Orson Welles.

The roles: Abigail Adams, John Adams, Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Dolly Madison, James Madison, George Washington, Martha Washington.

Next up, a musical version of the founding of our country, although I’ve selected a piece without music. This shot of 1776 might instead be thought of as the romantic version of the founding of our country:

Okay, here’s some music in a preview for a show that wasn’t a musical. Based on the Newbery Medal winning (and still popular) book by Esther Forbes, Johnny Tremain was released as a film and later as two parts on the Disney TV show.

More recently, Mel Gibson may have made something of a public mess of his private life, but he’s also made some well-received movies, like this one, The Patriot. There’s drama in these scenes:

How much real history you’ll get from these movies is a matter of discussion. But it is always interesting to see how Hollywood handles what really happened. After all, Hollywood made the following casting decisions (from that quiz above): Abigail Adams—Streep and Bening, John Adams—Shatner, Benedict Arnold—Grammar, Aaron Burr—Niven, Benjamin Franklin—Welles, Thomas Jefferson—Nolte, Dolly Madison—Rogers, James Madison—Meredith, George Washington—Bostwick, and Martha Washington—Duke.