Silent to sound.
Born in Salt Lake City,
Utah, Dorothy Gulliver grew up a fan of movies.
She got her big break in
1924 after winning the title of Miss Salt Lake City.
The beauty contest was
sponsored by Universal Pictures Studios.
The rest is movie history.
She made her mark in
silent movies, beginning with serials, and made the transition into “talkies”.
Sadly, some of her early
work is hard to find.
Even in small, sometimes
uncredited roles, her performance was memorable.
Watch carefully for her all-too-brief
role in the original King Kong (1933).
Over her career, her
roles became fewer and smaller, until she finally retired from acting.
Dorothy Gulliver is one
of the many unsung greats who were part of an important period of cinema
history.
A period when the era of
the silent film evolved into sound.
Gone were the screen title
cards, delivering dialogue and narrative to the audience.
Gone were the in-theater
orchestras, providing a musical accompaniment to the on-screen action.
The age of the audio
soundtrack had arrived.
I love watching old
movies, the original classics in particular, and I enjoy revisiting them when
they are screened on TCM.
It’s a moot point that
so many of them have not stood the test of time.
However, those who made
and acted in the silents, were the pioneers of film.
Since their time, directors,
actors, and creatives who followed would look back to their work for
inspiration.
It’s fascinating to
observe how far movies and the movie-making process has come since those early
silents.
A quote from Isaac
Newton resonates:
“If I have seen further,
it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”.
Credits:
A
Dog of the Regiment (1927); A Fighting Finish (1927); A Tragedy at Midnight
(1942); And George Did! (1926); Appointment for Love (1941); Around the Bases (1927);
Backward George (1927); Benson at Calford (1926); Big Hearted (1930); Borrowed
Hero (1941); Breaking Records (1927); Calford in the Movies (1928); Calford on
Horseback (1928); Calford vs. Redskins (1928); Cheating Blondes (1933); Clearing
the Trail (1928); College Love (1929); Crimson Colors (1927); Cross Country Run
(1929); Custer's Last Stand (1936); Dear Old Calford (1928); Early Arizona
(1938); Faces (1968); Farewell (1929); Fashion News (1930); Fighting Caballero
(1935); Fighting for Victory (1928); Fighting Spirit (1927); Fighting to Win
(1926); Flashing Oars (1927); Flying High (1929); Good Morning, Judge (1928); Graduation
Daze (1929); Honeymoon Flats (1928); Hook or Crook (1926); In Old Cheyenne
(1931); Junior Luck (1929); Kicking Through (1928); King Kong (1933); King of
the Campus (1929); Lone Star Pioneers (1939); Making Good (1926); Mexicali Rose
(1929); Mind Your Business (1930); Mr. & Mrs. North (1952); Night Parade
(1929); North of Shanghai (1939); Official Detective (1957); On Guard (1929); On
the Sidelines (1929); One Glorious Scrap (1927); One Wild Time (1926); Outlaw
Justice (1932); Paddling Co-Eds (1928); Painted Faces (1929); Revenge at Monte
Carlo (1933); Running Wild (1927); Samson at Calford (1927); Sliding Home
(1928); Speeding Youth (1929); Splash Mates (1929); Splashing Through (1927); Sporting
Courage (1929); Stand Up and Cheer! (1934); Strings of Steel (1926); Sweethearts
of the U.S.A. (1944); The Black Ghost (1932); The Bookworm Hero (1928); The
Cinder Path (1927); The Collegians (1926); The Dazzling Co-Eds (1927); The Dude
Desperado (1927); The Fighting Marshal (1931); The Galloping Ghost (1931); The
Honor of the Press (1932); The Junior Year (1928); The Lariat Kid (1929); The
Last Frontier (1932); The Last Lap (1926); The Pecos Dandy (1934); The Phantom
of the West (1930); The Rambling Ranger (1927); The Relay (1927); The Rivals (1929);
The Shadow of the Eagle (1932); The Shield of Honor (1927); The Shoot 'Em Up
Kid (1926); The Traitor Within (1942); The Varsity Drag (1929); The Voice of
Hollywood No. 7 (1930); The Wild West Show (1928); The Winking Idol (1926); The
Winning Five (1927); The Winning Goal (1928); The Winning Point (1929); The
Winning Punch (1927); Troopers Three (1930); Under Montana Skies (1930); Use
Your Feet (1929); Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976).
