Howard Da Silva, William Daniels and Ken Howard in "1776" (Credit: Columbia Pictures) It’s difficult to explain why “1776,” the 1972 motion picture based on the musical of the same name, is such a great movie. Starring William Daniels as John Adams, Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin and Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson, it tells a fascinating story with which all Americans are (or at least should be) intimately familiar — namely, the tale of the fierce debates at the Second Continental Congress that culminated in the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. It’s a great story, one that both I and many of my close friends ritualistically watch during every 4th of July.