Inspiration (1915 film)

Inspiration
Promotional brochure
Directed by	George Foster Platt
Produced by	Edwin Thanhouser
Written by	Virginia Tyler Hudson (scenario)
Starring	Audrey Munson Thomas A. Curran
Cinematography	Lawrence E. Williams
Production company	Thanhouser Film Corporation
Distributed by	Mutual Film Corporation
Release date	November 18, 1915 (US) April 21, 1918 (US re-release)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Inspiration is a 1915 American silent drama film written by Virginia Tyler Hudson and directed by George Foster Platt and starring Audrey Munson. It is notable for being the first non-pornographic American film to feature full nudity of a woman. On reissue in 1918, the film was called The Perfect Model. All copies of the movie are believed to have been lost.

A young sculptor searches for the perfect model to inspire his work. He finds a poverty-stricken girl who he thinks is the one he has been looking for. When she wanders off, he visits all the famous statues in Manhattan hoping to find her again.

Inspiration was released November 18, 1915. Thanhouser's publicity department issued a press statement titled "Inspiration, a Study in Thanhouser Ideals", an interview some newspapers captioned in terms that implied that the studio advocated nudity in motion pictures. Producer Edwin Thanhouser wrote a letter to the editor of The Morning Telegraph to correct that impression: "I wish to state that our five-reel Mutual Masterpiece Inspiration was viewed and passed on by the National Board of Censorship without a single alteration."

"Inspiration presents a decided novelty, for it is the first moving picture in which the nude figure of a woman has been used for artistic reasons only," wrote The Morning Telegraph, which reported Munson's credentials as one of the most famous artist's models in the United States. "Miss Munson's classic beauty and her remarkable poise absolutely remove every suggestion of the objectionable," wrote the reviewer. "George Foster Platt, who directed the picture, has used the utmost delicacy producing the picture, and it would have to be a very prudish person who could find any serious objection to the film. The story is too insignificant to sustain the interest for five reels, but the many beautiful poses of Miss Munson will do more than make up for the lack of a good plot. The picture will attract more than usual interest and the delicate and attractive way that a difficult subject has been filmed will no doubt receive the praise it deserves."