Mind the Paint Girl
Cast & Crew
Wilfrid North
Anita Stewart
Conway Tearle
Victor Steele
Templar Saxe
Arthur Donaldson
Film Details
Synopsis
Lily Upjohn leaves the London slums after her father dies and becomes a chorus girl at the Pandora Theatre. When a scene painter drops some paint from a scaffold, Lily's screams prompt the show's composer to create a hit song entitled "Mind the Paint Girl," which warns men about made-up actresses. After Lily becomes an overnight sensation singing the song, she is courted by Nicholas Jeyes, a young officer who gives up his commission so he can remain near her, and by Lord Francombe. Jeyes' increasing jealousy causes Lily to become distant, which further intensifies his degeneration. After Jeyes bursts into Lily's birthday celebration and discovers her embracing Francombe, who has just proposed, Jeyes' anguished tale of his ruin due to being dangled by Lily, moves her to promise him marriage, but at the end, Jeyes and Francombe become friends and neither marries Lily.
Director
Wilfrid North
Cast
Anita Stewart
Conway Tearle
Victor Steele
Templar Saxe
Arthur Donaldson
Robert Lee Keeling
Virginia Norden
Hattie Delaro
George Stewart
Gladys Valerie
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
In September 1917, Vitagraph had brought suit against Anita Stewart to restrain her from breaking her contract with them, after she had signed a contract with Louis B. Mayer to star in films for him. At that time, Albert E. Smith, the president of Vitagraph, had announced that he was suing to make a test to establish a precedent concerning a star's contractual obligations to a producer. Shooting began in May 1918 after Stewart was ordered by a judge to finish 26 weeks of work with Vitagraph before working for anyone else. In May 1918, filming was halted for some time when Stewart, director Wilfrid North and others of the company were injured in an automobile accident while returning to Vitagraph's Brooklyn studio from location shooting. After filming was completed in July 1918, Mayer paid Vitagraph a substantial sum to settle their damage suit, and Vitagraph let Stewart leave their employ early to join Mayer to form Anita Stewart Productions, Inc. The film was not distributed until First National Exhibitors Circuit released it on November 10, 1919; at that time there was no mention that the film was made by Vitagraph. It is possible that some later work on the film was done by Anita Stewart Productions. Cast members listed in early production articles who were not credited when the film was released included Evart Overton and Denton Vane. Victor Steele also played Lord Francombe in the original London stage production. Billie Burke played the lead role in the American stage production. George Stewart was Anita Stewart's brother.
