Vitagraph; 1925; based upon the novel by James Oliver Curwood; dir: David Smith; cast: Anita Stewart, Donald Keith, Jack Curtis. Vintage original 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm.) U.S. lobby card, near fine condition.
The color-tinted image features a close shot of the film's heroine, actress Anita Stewart (as Nepeese), wearing a beautifuil native American Indian costume, as she is being resuced by a native American man while lying in the snow on a riverbank. The caption in the lower left reads, "The faithful Indian drew Nepeese to shore." In the lower right corner is a vignette of Miss Stewart with Baree, the dog who is featured prominently in the film. This lobby card is in fine condition with a 0.5 in. horizontal tear on the left edge approximately 2.5 in. from the bottom, one pinhole in the upper right and lower left corners and light creases at the lower right corner and one on the right edge approximately 2 in. above the lower right corner. The small dark area which is seen at the upper left corner is a reflection of light and is not foxing or a flaw on the card. The colors are very fresh and vibrant and showcase the beautiful native American Indian themed costumes.
Born in Brooklyn, New York as Anna May Stewart, Anita Stewart began her acting career in 1911 while still attending Erasmus High School in extra and bit parts for the Vitagraph film studios at their New York City location. Stewart was one of the earliest film actresses to achieve public recognition in the nascent medium of motion pictures and achieved a great deal of acclaim early in her acting career. Among her earlier popular roles were 1911's enormous box office hit adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, directed by William J.Humphrey, and including an all-star cast comprised of Mabel Normand, Dorothy Kelly, Norma Talmadge and John Bunny, as well as roles in 1913's The Forgotten Latchkey and The White Feather.
In 1917, she married Rudolph Cameron and became the sister-in-law of film director and actor Ralph Ince, who began giving the young actress more prominent roles in films for Vitagraph. Throughout the 1910's and into the early 1920's, Anita Stewart was one of the silent screen's most popular actresses and was often paired in romantic roles with real-life husband, actor Rudolph Cameron. Stewart was also featured opposite such screen legends as Mae Busch, Barbara La Marr and Walt Whitman.
Stewart left her lucrative Vitagraph Studios career in 1918 to accept a contract with fledgling film mogul Louis B. Mayer by the terms of which she would head her own production company at the Mayer studios in Los Angeles. It was alleged that Stewart was recovering from an illness in a Los Angeles hospital when Mayer convinced her to leave Vitagraph for an undisclosed but exorbitant sum of money. Between 1918 and 1919, Stewart produced seven moderately successful vehicles, starring in all of them. Throughout the 1920's, Stewart continue to be featured in prominent roles in silent films. Following Stewart's divorce from Cameron in 1928, Stewart married George Peabody Converse the following year. Like so many of her silent film contemporaries however, Stewart found the transition to sound film extremely difficult. After making just one musical short in 1932,
The Hollywood Handicap, Stewart retired from the screen. On May 4, 1961, Stewart died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California in 1961. For her contribution to motion picture industry as an actress, Anita Stewart was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6724 Hollywood Boulevard.
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