The McDonagh Sisters: 'Best Friends'

In this clip from Rebecca Barry's documentary The McDonagh Sisters (2003), narrator Rachel Ward reveals what became of the sisters after their filmmaking venture came to an end.

With no known film footage, and only a handful of photographs of all three sisters together, this sequence relies heavily on still images and newspaper clippings as the narrator summarises the details of each of the women's subsequent careers and personal lives.

It's remarkable how the simple and judicious use of archival images can be so engaging.

A final re-enactment shows the sisters celebrating. The scene is largely superfluous except for leaving us in a happy mood by depicting their friendship.

It also strongly reinforces what historians and fans have come to believe about the McDonagh sisters: they were bold and unconventional women who remained the best of friends, even after their production company had folded.