Women in silent comedies: Dorothy Devore
Often those who have only a rudimentary understanding of silent screen comedy will believe that it is, for the most part, a lot of frantic slapstick with swooping cameras and jerky edits. Not so. There is a genuine art to the physical comedy in early silent cinema. And there were also comedians who eschewed slapstick and relied on more situational humor.
Among the truly funny women in silent comedy, Dorothy Devore is best known for what can be considered her masterpiece, “Hold Your Breath” (1924). That film is filled with wild physical gags and is a visual delight. But Dorothy also appeared in many situation comedies for the same producer, Al Christie, and was one of the most attractive, appealing, and talented of the women in silent comedies.
Dorothy entered films in 1918 after spending several happy years headlining in nightclubs. Movies weren’t actually her first choice. She wanted to enter vaudeville and go on the road. But producer Al Christie persuaded her to take a chance on the movies despite earning far less than she would have on stage.
In one of her earlier shorts, “Know Thy Wife,” Dorothy plays Betty, a common girl who is smitten with Bob, a young man of wealth and breeding (Earl Rodney). Bob believes when he brings Betty home, his folks will love her. But he soon receives a telegram from home that indicates they have picked out an appropriate bride for him, named Lillian (Leota Lorraine). So Betty dresses as a man and Bob pawns her off as Steve, his roommate. The complications that ensue include the two being expected to share a room, the father finding a girdle and wondering who it belongs to (Bob indicates “it’s mine, it’ll keep me from being round shouldered”), etc. Bob having no fun with Lillian at a fun vaudeville show, and Betty out on the town with Bob’s dad, being flirted with by women who believe her to be a man are other amusing developments. When the mother realizes Betty is a woman, two to hug and the father believes
Of course the situations in a silent comedy, even without slapstick, are conveyed visually, and it is the charm of the performers that comes through. Dorothy had a great amount of charm. By the time she made “Kiddin’ Katie” (1923), Dorothy was one of the most popular comics in Christie’s productions. “Kiddin’ Katie” features Dorothy as Katie, whose overweight younger sister Queenie (Babe London) sends Katie’s picture to a man (James Harrison) in order to attract him. When the man wants to meet, Queenie must endure a series of painful weight loss procedures, while Katie has to pretend to be a young child.
By the time she did “Hold Your Breath” (1924), her best film, Dorothy’s talent and popularity resulted in her gaining a great deal of creative control over her films. “Hold Your Breath” is a delightful daredevil comedy featuring Dorothy as a determined woman who tries to save her brother’s job by doing it for him. Her brother was gassed during the war, is still battling the effects, and his doctor has ordered him to stay home from work. However he may lose his job as a newspaperman if he stays out for the two months the doctor has prescribed. Dorothy goes to the paper and insists she can carry his load until he is able to return. Dorothy is assigned to get a story and some photos of an angry, reclusive millionaire who just acquired an expensive diamond bracelet. After several attempts to connect with the reporter-hating millionaire, Dorothy tries flirting with the man. That does work, and he agrees to an interview. However while in the rich man’s top floor penthouse, an organ grinder’s monkey climbs the building, enters through an open window and steals the bracelet. Dorothy is accused of stealing it, so she climbs out on the dangerous building ledge and goes after the monkey. From this point the film resembles the type of high-and-dizzy comedy that Harold Lloyd was famous for doing, especially his classic “Safety Last,” released a year earlier. However, unlike Harold Lloyd, Dorothy is not climbing the building as a stunt. She is going after the monkey, while police are after her believing she stole the bracelet. So, several people are involved in struggling on a building high above ground, with the monkey effortlessly climbing about. As with the Lloyd film, the stunts look very dangerous and harrowing. Slapstick silliness is provided by such scenes as the cop being pulled into a window by his pants, becoming extricated from them and plummeting to the next floor ledge in his underwear, and Dorothy hanging from a ledge by a window where a dog comes up and starts licking her face, tickling her into almost losing her grip.
While this film would naturally not compare to “Safety Last” it is still an excellent comedy in its own right. The stunt work, a lot of it done by Miss Devore herself, is quite impressive and funny. At one point she is being pulled up by a rope, which does not clear a ledge, so she repeatedly bangs her head as they pull. The hay on the street that is supposed to cushion her fall starts on fire. And there are the usual near misses that add to the tension of a comedy such as this. Dorothy performs these stunts wearing a dress and high heels. Unfortunately, this five reel feature appears to only be represented today by an accessible three-reel abridgement.
Not long after the release of “Hold Your Breath,” Dorothy left Christie and started appearing in features for studios like Fox and Warner Brothers. But by the end of the 1920s, she was back to comedy shorts for Jack White, once again enjoying full creative control. Dorothy Devore left movies after appearing in the part-talkie “Take the Heir” (1930) with Edward Everett Horton. She died in 1976 at the age of 77.
At the time of its release, “Hold Your Breath” received a rave review from The Los Angeles Times, which stated: “Dorothy Devore has assured herself popularity rivaling Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton in her five reel thrill picture. It is one of those combinations of laughs and thrills that are absolutely unqualifiedly surefire entertainment.” That assessment still holds up today, over 90 years later.