Original Oversized Billboard Poster for Curtis's Silent Film. [IN THE LAND OF THE HEAD HUNTERS]. In the Land of the Head Hunters / Edward S. Curtis' / Indian Epic Drama of the Northern Sea / with Native Music Symphonized. New York: H. C. Miner Litho Co. for World Film Corporation, 1914. 24 sheet lithographic poster. Lithographed in color, loose in 24 individual panels as issued. Some chipping and wear throughout. Provenance: Edward S. Curtis; by descent to his daughter, Beth Curtis Magnuson, and her husband Manfred 'Mag' Magnuson; acquired from the preceding by Dr. Billy T. Utley. ORIGINAL BILLBOARD POSTER FOR EDWARD CURTIS'S GROUNDBREAKING 1914 SILENT FILM. Building on the success of his 1911-1912 multimedia stage show, The Vanishing Race, which featured two stereopticon projectors dissolving back and forth between images, Curtis conceived of this foray into the motion picture era, which he believed would make him financially whole. It was the first film to feature First Nations peoples as actors, some eight years before Robert Flaherty did the same in Nanook of the North. The film, which fictionalized the world of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples of the Queen Charlotte Strait in British Columbia, was written and directed by Curtis. Though Curtis described the film as 'a documentary picture of the Kwakiutl tribes,' and it does have some documentary accuracy, it is not, strictly-speaking, a documentary, as it incorporates a melodramatic plot with some fictional elements. It featured a score, performed live at the premieres, written by John J. Braham based on wax cylinder recordings taken by Curtis of Kwakwaka'wakw music. Curtis shot the film in the summer of 1914, and edited it throughout the fall for its December preview. It was Curtis's hope that the film would be successful enough to fund the completion of his The North American Indian project. The film received critical praise, described by The Seattle Times as 'a vital, virile smashing big dramatic production worthy of ranking with the photo marvels of the decade,' but was a commercial failure. Curtis spent $75,000 to produce the film, which only earned $3,296.18 after a year in theaters. This was, in part, due to a dispute with World Film Corporation, run by Lewis Selznick, over who would pay to put the movie into wide release. The film was put in limbo and pulled, pending litigation, and never made its way back to theaters. He sold the rights to the New York Museum of Natural History, who subsequently lost Curtis's material and the film was considered lost until 1947, when Illinois film collector Hugo Zeiter discovered a damaged, incomplete print of the film in a dumpster, which he donated to the Field Museum of Natural History. In 1974, Bill Holm and George Quimby edited a 16mm copy of the film they had found in 1965, scored by Kwakwaka'wakw musicians and released as In the Land of the War Canoes. In 2008, these versions were brought together by Milestone Films. Despite not gaining widespread distribution, the 'film truly represents an active, artistic collaboration between two dramatic traditions: the rich Kwakwaka'wakw history of staged ceremonialism and the then-emergent mass-market colossus of American narrative cinema' (Aaron Glass, Brad Evans and Andrea Sanborn, 'Edward Curtis Meets the Kwakwaka'wakw,' Rutgers University). Lot to be sold without reserve. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Unless indicated by the ¤ symbol next to the lot number (or bearing an explicit statement such as 'No Reserve' or 'Without Reserve'), which denotes no reserve, all lots in the catalog are subject to a reserve. The reserve is the minimum hammer price that the seller is willing to accept for a lot. This amount is confidential and does not exceed the low estimate value. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing