Coming across this portrait by prolific publicity stills photographers Witzel Studios from her time at Universal Studios 50 years earlier, Vera James remembered: 'They said to me … let's see if we can make you look good for once, sweet and innocent … I had a blonde wig and they gave me some apple blossom or something'.

James preferred dramatic roles. She played the crooked, dissolute competitor for the charming William Desmond in McGuire of the Mounted (1923), recalling with a chuckle: 'I could never be a glamour-puss … because there's nothing glamorous about me'.