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).
