In an Independence Day salute to American composers, TCM honors Vivek Maddala, a 2000 Grand Prize winner of our Young Composers Competition, with a showing of the MGM Technicolor short The Flag: A Story Inspired by the Tradition of Betsy Ross (1927). Just this year, Maddala composed, orchestrated and conducted a new symphonic score for the film. A San Francisco-based composer, Maddala also has created scores for the classic silents The Ace of Hearts (1921), starring Lon Chaney, and The Mysterious Lady (1928), starring Greta Garbo.

The Flag, set during the days of the American Revolution, stars Francis X. Bushman as President George Washington and Enid Bennett as Betsy Ross, the flag maker who reputedly made the first American flag, which became a national emblem after being adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777. A year before The Flag, Bushman had his most famous role as Messala, Ramon Novarro's rival in Ben-Hur (1925).

Director: Arthur Maude
Screenplay: Arthur Maude
Cinematography: Ray Rennahan
Music: new score composed by Vivek Maddala
Cast: Francis X. Bushman (George Washington), Enid Bennett (Betsy Ross), Johnnie Walker (Charles Brandon), Alice Calhoun (Edith Brandon).
BW-20m.

By Roger Fristoe