10 PHOTOS of Silent Film SPIRIT OF THE RED CROSS by JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG-1917

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

This auction is for a group of 10 original, vintage photographs taken in 1917/1918 during the filming of the silent movie, SPIRIT OF THE RED CROSS, starring PEGGY ADAMS (also known as CLAIRE ADAMS) and RAYMOND McKEE. I do not know if this film still exists. It was written by famous illustrative artist, JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG (Known for his Uncle Sam I WANT YOU poster...also created in 1917) Although not included in this auction, you can view an image of an original poster for this film at Ball State University archives...the Elizabeth Ball Collection. It seems Mr. Flagg did double duty as writer of the screenplay and as artist for the advertising art. (Flagg also designed many of the Red Cross posters during World War One) The film was produced by JACK EATON of the FAMOUS PLAYERS-LASKY CORPORATION for the COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MOTION PICTURES for the RED CROSS....released April 28, 1918. It was a 20-25 minute film to kick off the RED CROSS fund drive. It played in every major movie house across the nation as an accompaniment to the headlining movie of the day. This amazing group of photographs comes from the photo album of a young soldier in 1917 from Sharpsville, Indiana. He was stationed at Camp Shelby, Mississippi (later going overseas to Europe, setting up a large base camp near Brest, France and on to Konz Germany ) with the 113 th Engineers, 151 st Infantry, 38 th Division. He was a carpenter. The filming that resulted in these photographs likely took place at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The plot of the story is that Sammy (RAYMOND McKEE), an American boy, sails for France to fight in the World War. His sweetheart, Ethel (CLAIRE ADAMS), follows him as a Red Cross nurse. Sammy witnesses great work done by the Red Cross volunteers and when he is wounded in battle he is rescued by his own 'Ethel'. It is interesting to note that Adams ended up joining the nursing corp and spent the war years as a real nurse! She made quite a few pictures appearing with notables like John Gilbert, Tom Mix and Lon Chaney. In 1923 she was Rin Tin Tin 's leading lady in Where the North Begins , which was a huge success and is often credited with saving Warner Bros. from bankruptcy . She later maintained that Rin Tin Tin was her "favourite leading man". Her best known film was The Big Parade , the second largest grossing silent film in cinematic history. A review of the film can be seen by searching " THE CAMERA PAGE VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1 " It talks about Ms. Adams shooting the man who injured Mr. McKee and..."There has never before been a propaganda picture of this kind that deserves such universal recognition. Many others with love and war as their basic theme have been produced and have met with considerable success, but here is one that strikes the true keynote of the dread battle anthem, whose warning, resonant notes echo unceasingly around the world, and displays in a most vivid manner the wonderful work of the Red Cross organization has accomplished during this world conflict." All of the photographs except the last 3 can be easily removed from the album paper as they are not affixed. The last three are slightly affixed (with glue) and remain on the album page. They are of a quality that when scanned at high resolution one can see many details of people and objects with clear distinction. First photo (3 1/2 x 5"): "MEN READY FOR BATTLE SCENE" This is a great image showing the silent movie camera on its tripod with the cameraman, director, advisor and actors looking upon a scene being filmed. Next photo (3 1/4 x 5"): "PEGGY ADAMS AND MOVIE HERO..ACT 2". This image features the stars Peggy Adams (as Ethel) and Ray McKee (as Sammy) In the left background there is a movie camera on a tripod capturing a scene where a soldier is yelling at his troops facing him behind a wooden fence with barbed wire. Next photo (3 1/2 x 5"): "EATING LUNCH IN TRENCHES..ACT 3" This image shows 7 soldier actors in a well-dug trench mostly smoking. They have their helmets on and the trench has a ... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.