The Two Georges is a 1999 independent alternate history adventure thriller film written and directed by David McDermott. Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss, it stars Michael J. Fox, Isla Wood, William Shatner, Gary Oldman and Tom Wilkinson.
Plot[]
The flag used in the world of The Two Georges resembles the US 'Grand Union Flag'. In the world of The Two Georges, it was retained permanently as the 'Jack, Stars and Stripes', the flag of the North American Union inside the British Empire.
The Two Georges, being displayed in New Liverpool, is stolen while a crowd is distracted by the murder of 'Honest' Dick (a.k.a. 'Tricky' Dick), the Steamer King, a nationally known used car salesman. In its place is left a gramophone with a recording of the "Yankee Doodle," a notorious subversive song serving as the anthem of the Sons of Liberty.
Colonel Thomas Bushell of the Royal American Mounted Police leads the search for the painting, accompanied by its former curator (and his eventual love interest) Dr. Kathleen Flannery and Captain Samuel Stanley. Some days later, a ransom note is received from the Sons of Liberty. The Governor-General of the North American Union, Sir Martin Luther King, informs Bushell in confidence that the painting must be recovered before King-Emperor Charles III's state visit, or the government will have to pay the Sons' ransom demand of fifty million pounds.
The search takes Bushell, Flannery, and Stanley across the country via airship (an advanced form of dirigible), train, and steamer. They also meet many members of the Sons of Liberty, including Common Sense editor John F. Kennedy.
After chasing many false leads and the wrong suspects, Bushell and his associates arrive at Victoria (the nation's capital, on the south side of the Potomac River across from Georgetown, Maryland); during a reception at the Russian Embassy, Bushell encounters his ex-wife Irene, who had an affair with and subsequently married Sir David Clarke, Governor-General King's chief of staff. The Two Georges is found undamaged in a self-storage facility an hour before the King arrives. They also uncover the true culprits: the Holy Alliance and Bushell's superior officer and covert Sons of Liberty operative, Lieutenant General Sir Horace Bragg, who believed that emancipation was an injustice to his formerly slave-holding family. Bushell then thwarts Bragg's attempts to assassinate the King, first by gunfire then by a bomb concealed in the frame of The Two Georges. When Bragg is arrested and awaiting trial, he and Bushell argue over the outcomes of a potential war against the Holy Alliance and a resultant American separatist uprising caused by the theft of the painting. Later, Bushell and Stanley are both knighted by King Charles for their accomplishments.
Cast[]
- Michael J. Fox as Colonel Thomas Bushell
- Isla Wood as Dr. Kathleen Flannery
- William Shatner as Captain Samuel Stanley
- Gary Oldman as Lieutenant General Sir Horace Bragg
- Tom Wilkinson as Sir David Clarke
- Ronald Graham as King-Emperor Charles III
- Morgan Freeman as Sir Martin Luther King
- Natasha Henstridge as Irene Bushell