The Flag of Humanity

Nana Bryant as Clara Barton argues down generals and saves the lives of dying soldiers with a kindly word in this ridiculous yet heartfelt accolade for the founder of the American Red Cross.

Life most of Warner Brothers' pre-war Technicolor shorts, this one shows off the process beautifully. Director Jean Negulesco and cinematographer Charles Boyle. light the battlefield shots so the faces as the sources of light in a dark world. The scenes set nominally in Europe wind up looking like fine lithographic work. While most of this is a talking-heads hagiography, the visuals are not neglected.

With the approaching war, this short goes back to 1861. Clara Barton (Nana Bryant) fights off rigid Army rules to help the battle wounded. She would later help usher in the birth of the American Red Cross. She continues to fight for an international treaty and help in times of disasters until her death in 1912.

With war engulfing the world, this educational short is shown in theaters. I do wish they show more advanced planes in the opening scene. This plays like one of those educational shorts shown to high school kids on a slow day. It is very standard and very old fashion without any edginess.

This was a less than exciting short film I saw between features on Turner Classic Movies recently. While the film popped out due to its very intense Technicolor, the film itself just wasn't that moving and at times the plot looked pretty cheesy--like this was made for classroom use and capturing the attention of a wider audience WASN'T even a consideration. In particular, I really hated how many times in the film things were reiterated--such as when the characters talked to her, they usually said "Clara Barton" instead of "ma'am", "Miss Barton" or "Clara". Plus, one sickly confederate soldier said that he was a "Johnny Reb, A Confederate a Rebel,..."--almost like he was the cartoon character Mojo Jojo from the Powerpuff Girls. This was just sloppy writing--period.

It was interesting to see John Hamilton (later, "Perry White" on the SUPERMAN TV show) in a beard as President Garfield. Yep--it's him under that beard.

Maybe a thoughtful concept, but the execution was mediocre at best. The direction was stiff, the script overly sentimental, and the players over-acted by a country mile. The dialog was out of a Hallmark greeting card--sappy and affectatious. Tremendous dramatic license was obviously taken.

I really had difficulty finding anything redeeming about it, and my vote (of 5) was generous, to say the least.

Made by Warners, surely they could have turned the idea over to their script department and given it some real flesh--the idea really deserves to be a feature length film as the story is one we are familiar with, and the characters are historical. Perhaps in the hands of MGM or Paramount, who had a much better sense of history, it could have had more merit.

A very touching and well-done short subject about Clara Barton and the Red Cross. Great performance by Fay Helm as Miss Barton, this film also has great technicolor, good supporting performances, and very good use of music. I liked it very much. If you like short subjects and can find them on television, be sure and watch this one. It is a very good one.