. . . such as lead actor Claude Rains as Revolutionary War financier Haym Saloman and director Michael Curtiz, because Tinsel Town wished to show that American Jews not only were inventing the American Dream through what the then predominantly Jewish-run movie studios were throwing up on the Big Screen, but they also were responsible for financing the establishment of America itself, which surely would have capitulated to the Tory Fat Cats loyal to London, without the influx of cash raised by Mr. Saloman. The Baby Boomer generation became aware of Mr. Saloman's story when he was on the postage stamps in 1975. The "Greatest Generation" of WWII knew his history from this SONS OF LIBERTY short. However, today's Millenials have no idea that America was bought and paid for by Jewish funds, or that many of the donors (including Mr. Saloman himself, as shown in SONS OF LIBERTY's closing scene) died in poverty due to their war-time financial sacrifices. As always, the "Christian" Fat Cats had the last laugh, all the way to the formerly-Jewish run banks!

Another Oscar-winning Technicolor short, a product this time of Warner Bros. rather than MGM; featuring the involvement of possibly their top director and such first-rate actors as Claude Rains and Gale Sondergaard, it is handled in the studio's recognizable style. The plot is a recreation of a historical incident from America's infancy, with various immigrants (led by a Jew, Haym Salomon) uniting into the titular 'resistance' group – that was also mentioned in D. W. Griffith's America (1924) – against the occupying British forces. With WWII looming, this clearly made for a stirring patriotic call to the masses: however, even when taken on its own merits, the film proves interesting (especially for the unenlightened) and entertaining.

This must have been Hollywood's way of trying to say what everyone in power knew but were afraid to say out loud: there was another threat to liberty afoot, and, this time, Jews were in especial danger. Why else would Hollywood have chosen to focus on Chaim Solomon out of so many other equally deserving patriots (And is this role the reason Claude Rains was chose to play the title role in "Mr. Skeffington"?)? The short is expectedly both solemn and melodramatic, given the subject matter and the reason for its being made. Rains, as could be expected, rises above the material, giving a real performance and not just emoting.I have read the comments of the viewer who feels that the short is "anti-British." Well, if so, then it is just as "anti-British" as the movie "Fire Over England" was "anti-Spanish". In other words, not at all.

However minor this sort subject is, one cannot fail to notice that, given the date of conception and release, the subject matter(Reminding the general American public of the Jewish contribution to the Independence of the Nation through the portrayal of Haym Solomon)and the direction entrusted to the care of Michael Curtiz rather than, say B. Reeves Eason or Don Siegel, this is not just another short. Warners, at the time, peppered their films(the Sea Hawk is a good example) with allusions to the imminent conflict and this might have been a naive, but very dignified attempt at preparing the American moviegoer of 1939 to the inevitable moment when a decision would have to be taken. Anyway, it is also very much a Michael Curtiz film, even clocking at twenty minutes; Claude Rains is rather good, a bit solemn at times, but the subject demands it; the use of color is quite impressive, but not surprising for a director who experimented with it as early as 1932(Doctor X) and 1933(Mystery of the Wax Museum)and his trademark use of shadows is also present. A theme present in many Curtiz features finds its way in this tiny two-reeler, with Solomon having to make a choice, take sides and leave his mark in history, like Rick and Captain Renault in Casablanca, or Captain Blood... So, although minor, this is pretty much a typical Curtiz Warner film... to be found on DVD alongside a brilliant(But much funnier)film, the 1939 Curtiz/Flynn western Dodge City... not bad indeed.