''The American'', ''The Flag Maker'', is a

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

1927 American silent

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

J. Stuart Blackton James Stuart Blackton (January 5, 1875 – August 13, 1941) was a British-American film producer and director of the silent era. One of the pioneers of motion pictures, he founded Vitagraph Studios in 1897. He was one of the first filmmakers to ...

and starring

Bessie Love Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned ei ...

and Charles Ray. It was based on the short story "The Flag Maker" by Jewel Spencer, and was produced by

George K. Spoor George Kirke Spoor (December 18, 1871 – 24 November 1953) was an early film pioneer who, with Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson, founded Essanay Studios in Chicago in 1907. He was a founding partner of V-L-S-E, Incorporated, a film distri ...

through his company Natural Vision Pictures. The film, made in the experimental

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

process Natural Vision, developed by Spoor and P. John Berggren, was never released theatrically.

Plot

A rich Turk Seref is released from an American prison after 20 years, with plans to exact revenge on the fiancee who had betrayed him.

Cast

Production

The Natural Vision process required the action to be filmed on two cameras: one for production and one for the dailies. The production camera was set back unusually far from the action, and subsequently filmed only wide shots and no close-ups.

Canceled release

The film was slated for a March 1927 premiere at New York's Roxy Theatre, which was to have been equipped to show films in Natural Vision. However, producer Spoor refused to release the film because it was "poorly made". Director Blackton protested, claiming that he had not been allowed to complete the picture, and had not been fully paid for his work.

References

;Citations ;Works cited *

External links