| Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3

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| Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3 | The History Cooperative

Movie Reviews

Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor. Dir. by Mikael Salomon. A&E Original Television Presentation, 2003. 92 mins. (A&E Home Video, Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407; 888-423-1212; <http://store.aetv.com> [Sept. 12, 2003])
Apparently, Benedict Arnold will never have to stop paying for his treason. His latest punishment comes in the form of this docudrama, hyped by the A&E television network as an authentic re-creation of Arnold's life during the American Revolution as well as an exploration of the reasons for his treason. If the word "authentic" can be linked to the word "fiction," then the phrase "authentic fiction" much more aptly captures the reality of this production.	1
Historical reality plays second fiddle to scriptwriter William Mastrosimone's imaginings in this television movie. Of course, the principal characters in the story, ranging from George Washington and Joseph Reed to Margaret "Peggy" Shippen and John André, are real. Yes, Arnold did marry Peggy Shippen in 1779, and, yes, some have suggested that "Loyalist-leaning" Peggy was the culprit who led the heroic Patriot general Arnold down the perfidious pathway to treason. This film, as much a costume drama as anything else, embraces that point of view, with Peggy thus portrayed as a self-centered upper-class brat suspended somewhere, at least in Mastrosimone's musings, between the biblical Eve offering Adam the forbidden fruit and William Shakespeare's ever-scheming Lady Macbeth. Hopelessly infatuated with Peggy, the once brilliant Arnold loses all capacity to reason for himself. He now must fight off such political enemies as the sneering Joseph Reed, first to woo and then to wed and bed Peggy—yes, there is an obligatory semi-nude scene of sorts that should provoke many a giggle in high school history classrooms.	. . .

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