The Flag

IMDb lists The Flag as having been released on October the First, 1927. In the final scene of the film, George Washington and a British officer shake hands. The British officer says, ‘We are on opposite sides today, Sir; but as God is over us all, some day we will be united in a common cause.’ Then there’s a title card that reads, ‘And in 1917 – United in a common cause’ with a shot of U.S., British, and French flags being carried.

I took that to indicate that the film was shot in 1917; but I found the 1927 date when I looked it up on IMDb. It seems strange that the filmmakers would have a scene that appears to be in the pattern of wartime propaganda films, nearly a decade after the war ended. Was there some reason in 1927 that people needed to be reminded that the U.S. and England were allies? After presenting a story about the Revolution, did they feel the need to remind people that though we were enemies once, we were now friends? Or were they just stuck for an ending?

Well, Alice Calhoun was in it, and Alice Calhoun didn’t start acting until 1918, so I doubt the 1927 date is a typo. I think that if you need an explanation as to why that ending was put in, the best would be that it was written and directed by Arthur Maude, who was born in Yorkshire.