Stewart was convinced to continue acting when he was cast in the lead role of "Yellow Jack", playing a soldier who becomes the subject of a yellow fever experiment. It premiered at the Martin Beck Theater in March 1934. Stewart received unanimous praise from the critics, but the play proved unpopular with audiences and folded by June. During the summer, Stewart made his film debut with an unbilled appearance in the Shemp Howard comedy short "Art Trouble" (1934), filmed in Brooklyn, and acted in summer stock productions of "We Die Exquisitely" and "All Paris Knows" at the Red Barn Theater on Long Island. In the fall, he again received excellent reviews for his role in "Divided by Three" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, which he followed with the modestly successful "Page Miss Glory" and the critical failure "A Journey By Night" in spring 1935.