Director: Wallace McCutcheon, Edwin S. Porter

Cast: Unknown

Synopsis: Images of a rose, a young woman, and the American flag.

Three American Beauties is a very simple film directed by Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter for the Edison studios. Nothing more than a collection of three images, the film’s simplicity belies its ability to stir patriotic pride in the hearts of its home audience. The images are of a red rose, a beautiful young woman holding the aforementioned rose, and a shot of the Stars and Stripes fluttering in the wind. The beauty within the film is to be found in the hand-tinting, which is by far the best you’re likely to see from this era. The colours are rich and bold and consistent, and their sudden appearance on the screen, together with their implicit message, must have been enough to bring a lump to the throat of most American filmgoers back in 1906.

(Reviewed 26th September 2014)