The British are coming!
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Maybe there’s been one but I’ve always thought that would make for a cool movie scene.
At least a couple of films and productions have been set (or partially set/filmed) at or prominently featuring the Old North Church in Boston.
The most notable mainstream example is the 2004 film National Treasure (starring Nicolas Cage). The church plays a key plot role tied to its real historical significance in Paul Revere’s midnight ride (the "one if by land, two if by sea" lanterns). Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voight) gives a false clue about the treasure leading to the Old North Church, which misdirects the antagonists (including Sean Bean’s character, Ian Howe), leading to his arrest there. It’s referenced and featured in the story as a Boston location in the North End, though some sources note it’s more of a mentioned/briefly depicted site rather than a fully filmed interior location.
Other examples include:An art film/short called Old North (2019), directed/filmed on location inside the church by Sue Murad and Jenna Pollack of the Reciprocity Collaborative.
The HBO miniseries John Adams (2008) includes a scene set in 1775 inside the Old North Church, featuring a congregation singing a hymn.
The church (built in 1723, the oldest standing church in Boston) appears in IMDb listings for a few other historical or documentary-style productions, like the 1924 silent film America, but National Treasure is by far the biggest commercial movie connection.
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BREAKING NEWS: Seventy-Two Killed Resisting Gun Confiscation In Massachusetts.
A National Guard task-force detailed to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault-style weapons, was ambushed by elements of an anti-Government, para-military extremist faction.
Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.
Speaking after the clash, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement.
Gage blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices. The governor, who described the group’s organizers as “treasonous criminals,” issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government’s efforts to secure law and order.
The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed wide-spread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault-style weapons.
Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early this month between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms.
One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that “none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily.”
Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition.
However, troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government’s plans.
During a tense standoff in the Lexington town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists. Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange.
Ironically, the local citizenry blamed the government forces rather than the extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored, armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the National Guard units. Colonel Smith, finding his forces over matched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat.
Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint task force in its effort to restore law and order. The governor also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government troops.
Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, who have been identified as “ringleaders” of the extremist faction, remain at large.
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