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Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Two If by Sea

1996 American film

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 17, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Two If by Sea is a 1996 American romantic comedy film directed by Bill Bennett, and starring Sandra Bullock and Denis Leary. The screenplay, written by Leary and Mike Armstrong, is based on a story by Leary, Armstrong, and Ann Lembeck. The title of the film is a reference to the phrase "one if by land, two if by sea" associated with Paul Revere's midnight ride.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Two If by Sea” as 1996 American film. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around American and film.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with American and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Two If by Sea”, the useful work is to connect “1996 American film” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1996.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Two If by Sea”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Two If by Sea primary sources, Two If by Sea archive and American research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Two If by Sea”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Two If by Sea” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.