Cinevent Notes: THE TOMBOY (1924) Dorothy Devore

[Richard M Roberts]

Dorothy Devore is not a name bandied about with any regularity even among silent films fans these days, and certainly the silent comedy fans most immersed in the genre would probably be the only ones to recognize her name, but in the 1920’s, she was a very popular comedienne who was able to break free of short comedies and become a leading lady at a major studio. Born Alma Inez Williams, June 22, 1899 in Fort Worth, Texas, she and her parents moved to Los Angeles when she was still a child. Even when still in school, young Alma showed a definite talent for performing, acting, singing, even composing music for school plays and amateur revues. When she was fifteen, Alma acted as her own manager and secured herself a producer for her own DOROTHY DEVORE REVUE, using the new stage name she had chosen. She worked as a headliner at Al Levy’s and other Los Angeles nightclubs for the next three years, and was about to sign for a vaudeville tour before her worried mother decided to keep her still underage daughter a bit closer to home and had her look into a career in the movies.

Dorothy’ talent and vivacity was such that landing a job in the pictures was amazingly easy, she started at Nestor, one of the Units at Universal in 1917 where she became the leading lady to the popular comedy team of Eddie Lyons and Lee Moran, but she was soon noticed and signed away by former Nestor Producer Al Christie who was striking out on his own as an independent. Christie had a genuine knack for spotting comedy talent in rather attractive young women, having previously discovered and made stars of both Billie Rhodes and Betty Compson, who had both departed for greener pastures as the struggling filmmaker did all he could to keep the Christie Comedy Company afloat.

Christie hired Dorothy in late 1918, and began co-starring her in single-reel comedies with his male comedians Earl Rodney and Bobby Vernon and by 1920, it was becoming obvious that Dorothy was ready to take on a series of her own and Christie christened her new two-reel comedy series. Finally financially stable, thanks to a new distribution contract with Educational Pictures in 1920 that guaranteed stronger bookings of his shorts, Christie promoted Dorothy Devore as one of his top stars, specializing in the polite, situational humor tinged with light slapstick that he had been developing since his earliest days in the Industry.

Dorothy Devore soon became Christie’s top earning star, taking home $1500 a week, but by the early 1920’s, she was pushing the Producer for more. Christie had been loaning Dorothy out to feature producers (as he would for THE TOMBOY) while still making her popular short comedies, pocketing the extra money paid to him by the studios for her services while paying her regular weekly salary. Yet while she was working at the other studios, she was fielding offers to decamp from Christie by those producers offering her more money than Christie was paying her, and began pushing him for a raise. Trying to keep her happy, Christie began production on a Dorothy Devore feature film, HOLD YOUR BREATH in 1924, but it quickly became obvious that he was about to lose his star.

Devore had only a “gentleman’s agreement” with Christie, no formal contract, and when production on HOLD YOUR BREATH was taking longer than planned, Dorothy went to Christie and gave him an ultimatum, pay her $2500 a week to complete the picture or she would leave. Christie and his Brother and Business Partner Charles apparently laughed at her, that was more money than anyone apart from the Christie Brothers themselves were making at the studio, but Dorothy was adamant. Al Christie reminded her that he had built her up into a star in the last few years and that perhaps she should allow him to make a little profit from that. Finally, she agreed to finish HOLD YOUR BREATH at her current salary, and make an additional six short comedies for him before she left the studio. Dorothy would finish the feature, but did not remain to make the promised shorts, signing a contract with the Warner Brothers instead for $2500 a week.

The studio that was loaned Dorothy’s services for THE TOMBOY was the Mission Film Corporation, an small independent outfit run by Leon Price whose product was being distributed by the newly-formed Chadwick Pictures Corporation, started by Producer I. E. Chadwick in 1923 , new states-rights independent financing a new slate of feature film on the strength of a contract with comedian Larry Semon, who left his former employer Vitagraph in a slew of lawsuits and counter lawsuits to go into production with Chadwick. THE TOMBOY was finished before HOLD YOUR BREATH, but failed to beat the Christie feature into theaters, it is a film that shows off Dorothy Devore’s personality and acting skills more effectively than the more slapstick-laden Christie feature, though both are enjoyable films. Devore was happier with THE TOMBOY because she wanted to become better known as a dramatic actress than a comedienne.

In THE TOMBOY, Dorothy plays Tommy Smith, the title character, who runs a boarding house with her Father in a small rustic community. She takes a shining to Aldon Farwell, a handsome new boarder who is actually un undercover revenue agent on the trail of local bootleggers. After the Sheriff is killed, Tommy’s Father is accused of the crime, and the real bootleggers plant their hootch supply in his barn to frame him, leading Tommy and Aldon to solve the crime and trap the real murderers.

Mission/Chadwick hired a good leading man to co-star with Dorothy, Aldon Farwell is played by Herbert Rawlinson, British-born veteran of the silents who joined the Selig Polyscope Company in 1910 after years on the stage, Selig’s top star Hobart Bosworth had brought Rawlinson to the studio knowing well of his stage work. The two worked together in many Selig films, and Rawlinson was soon another one of Selig’s popular stars, playing in both comedy and drama. When Bosworth formed his own company to make feature films, he co-starred Rawlinson with him in the successful first version of Jack London’s THE SEAWOLF in 1913.

Rawlinson moved to Universal in 1914 where his star rose even further as he headed a variety of feature dramas, adventures, comedies, and most successfully, serials, He remained at Universal until 1919, when he set out as a freelancer continuing the same mix that had made his fame at the studio. By the time he made THE TOMBOY, perhaps his star was beginning to fade after nearly fifteen years in the business, but he was still giving understated but solid performances, here holding his own with his ambitious leading lady.

Herbert Rawlinson found parts drying up as the Silent Era came to a close, so he returned to the Broadway Stage, starring or co-starring in a number of well-received plays. Returning to Hollywood in 1933, and though now too old for romantic leading roles, he found himself very busy in character roles, his likable but dignified air of authority and realistic acting abilities as well as a British accent he could turn on and off effortlessly, allowed him to play everything from military leaders to bankers to ranch bosses to pirates. He bounced around most of the major and minor studios playing parts of all sizes: major supports or bits, in A’s, B’s, Z’s, and even shorts and serials, where he still got some of his most memorable roles, including his last starring role in Sam Katzman’s underfinanced but amazingly enjoyable BLAKE OF SCOTLAND YARD (1937).

Rawlinson would rack up hundreds of film credits through the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, and was equally busy on radio as well. He was considered in the Industry a consummate pro, so much that he would even literally emerge from his deathbed to play his final role, replacing an ailing Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood’s JAILBAIT (1954). Herbert Rawlinson died the day after finishing his scenes, succumbing to lung cancer on July 12, 1953, with a number of posthumous credits waiting in the can to come out after his death.

THE TOMBOY also features two fine silent film comedians, Lee Moran, who had now split from his partner Eddie Lyons, returns to work with his former leading lady. Harry Gribbon was a scene-stealing Sennett veteran, who had been dividing his time between East and West Coasts, starring in short comedies and feature support on the West, and appearing on the Broadway stage in the East, he is probably best remembered today as Marion Davies director at the LockStone Studios in SHOW PEOPLE 91928) and as the Policeman perpetually perplexed by Buster Keaton’s antics in THE CAMERAMAN (1928).

Director David Kirkland was also an old Sennett hand, he had started as an actor at Essanay in 1912, moving to directing as well at the studio in 1913. He joined Keystone in 1914, directing the Mack Swain comedies. He moved to Universal in 1915, writing and directing short comedies for both the Sterling and Henry Lehrman’s L-KO comedies, as well as his first feature in 1916, THE CRIPPLED HAND, starring Robert Z. Leonard and Ella Hall. Kirkland followed Henry Lehrman over to Fox to work on Lehrman’s Sunshine Comedies, but left in 1919 to direct light comedienne Constance Talmadge in several features for First National release, including A TEMPERAMENTAL WIFE (1919), A VIRTUOUS VAMP (1919), and THE LOVE EXPERT (1920), as well as making the first version of James Montgomery’s venerable stage farce NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (1919) starring Taylor Holmes.

However, Kirkland had trouble finding a tenure at the major studios, and was soon working in the independents like Mission making THE TOMBOY. In the mid-late 20’s he found more regular gigs in westerns, directing a number of Fred Thomson oaters for FBO, then he continued directing programmers for the studio after Thomsen’s departure to Paramount until the end of the Silent Era. Kirkland helmed a few more B westerns in the early days of the talkies, and actually moved to Mexico to continue directing films in the mid-30’s, but returned to Hollywood in the late 30’s and worked as a bit player for the next decade until finally retiring. Dave Kirkland passed away in 1964 at the age of 84.

As a Warner Brothers star, Dorothy Devore was indeed put into a number of both comic and dramatic feature films, or just as she had been at Christie, was loaned out to other studios as she was for THE PRAIRIE WIFE (1925), a drama produced by Eastern Productions for M-G-M release, but she soon found that she was one of the first victims of the notorious Warner Brothers seven-year, 52 weeks a year contracts, and she found herself being worked to death making comedies like A BROADWAY BUTTERFLY (1925), HIS MAJESTY BUNKER BEAN (1925), and dramas like THE GILDED HIGHWAY (1926). In 1925 alone, the Warner’s starred or loaned her out in nine features, even forcing her to cancel her honeymoon when she wed millionaire Albert Mather that year to make another film to replace an ailing actress. Yet Dorothy was succeeding in shedding her slapstick comedy reputation, earning the money she thought she was worth, and she was getting star-billing, even sharing above-the-title credit with Ken Maynard when she was loaned to make SENOR DAREDEVIL with him at First National in 1926 (that must have thrilled Maynard). Soon though, Dorothy began to wonder whether it was all worth it, and wearying of the Simon Legree treatment and thoroughly disliking Jack Warner, Dorothy finally had enough when the studio announced that her next leading man was-----Rin-Tin-Tin!

At this point, Dorothy Devore became the first in what would be a long-list of Warner Brothers employees to revolt against the slavery that could be stardom there. She refused to make the Dog picture, was replaced by June Marlowe, and the suspensions and squabbles with the studio began. Now married to a very wealthy man, Dorothy soon realized that the thing to do was instead of taking the Brothers Warner to court, she would buy out her contract, which she proceeded to do. Though this bought her freedom, it also bought her a cold shoulder from the other major studios, for the word was out, and in the 20’s a star who defied their studio was not soon to be hired by the other studios.

Devore soon found no other studio was interested in her, and that the only avenue still open to her was to return to the short comedies which she had first made her name. Returning to Al Christie was not an option, on either her or Christie’s part, there was still unforgiven bad blood between them regarding the way she left there, but Dorothy was able to do the next best thing, and negotiated a contract with Earle Hammons of Educational Pictures, now Christies former distributor as Christie had departed to Paramount. Hammons remembered the money Devore had made for him in the early 20’s, and gave Dorothy a dream deal: her own unit and near total control over production, including choice of director and cast, a three month shooting schedule per short, and reportedly a whopping salary of $5000 a week!

(Whoa, big footnote here, this amount was claimed by Devore in an interview she gave to Film historian Sam Gill in the late sixties, but Babe London, her friend and supporting comedienne later told him that could not be possible. Though Hammons did indeed give Devore control over her productions, and they were well-mounted for a typical short comedy of the period, a $5000 weekly salary was simply not heard of for anyone in short comedies in the late 20’s and was more than even many major star feature players were making (example: Buster Keaton only made $3000 a week at M-G-M). It is most likely that Devore’s Educational Comedies were financed to some degree by her through her wealthy husband. )

While there may have been some degree of competitive revenge on the part of Earle Hammons towards Al Christie, who had just been stolen away from Educational by Paramount when Hammons refused their overtures to merge Educational into their corporation, hiring back one of Christies biggest stars was still a good idea in Hammons mind. Dorothy Devore made comedies for Educational from 1927-29, and while the shorts were well-received and reviewed, Educational was on the road to financial ruin once they lost Paramount’s theaters to exhibit their shorts, and as talkies came in adding even more expense, Dorothy Devore's contract with Educational was not renewed. After that, she made only one more film , the 1930 feature TAKE THE HEIR, co-starring Edward Everett Horton and released in both sound and silent versions. The fact that the film was produced by Story Syndicate Productions (their only release) and distributed by the small states-rights distributor Big 4 productions says that it may have been either a vanity film produced by Devore herself as a comeback attempt in sound features, or that it was the only offer she could get. Sadly, we cannot even judge Dorothy Devore’s only sound performance as only the silent version survives today. In any event, she never made another film, and her life post-stardom was an unfortunate and somewhat mysterious one in the succeeding decades.

Dorothy Devore’s marriage to Albert Mather was, like so many things she went after and got in her life, not quite what she bargained for. Though very wealthy, Mather was 45 years old, twenty years Dorothy’s senior, and an incurable philanderer. Dorothy apparently threatened to divorce Mather on multiple occasions, but he continued to woo her back with money, gifts, and promises to reform. However, reform he did not, and by 1932, Dorothy had enough, and filed for divorce. Unfortunately, Mather turned vindictive and managed to drag the divorce case on for several years, also countersuing Devore on various charges, basically doing all he could to decimate whatever personal fortune she had. Finally free of him but nearly financially destitute by the mid-30’s, Dorothy Devore essentially disappeared. Babe London recalled that she completely lost track of her friend from 1935 to 1951, when she went to the funeral of Al Christie. Babe scanned the crowd of old Christie veterans attending, and could not spot any sign of Devore’s presence there. Finally Babe went up to mutual friend and former actress and writer Beatrice Van and mentioned Devore’s absence from the memorial. “Don’t be silly”, replied Van, pointing to an older-looking, somewhat plump woman in a shabby black dress, wearing sunglasses and a hat to hide her face, “That’s Dorothy over there.”. Babe didn’t recognize her old friend, and when she approached her, all she could get for a response was a quick “Hello Babe” before Dorothy walked away.

Babe London did not see Dorothy Devore again until both were residing at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills in the mid-1960’s. Sam Gill, who interviewed them both, and became good friends with Babe London, found Dorothy not only to be a bit imaginative in her interviews about her stardom and accomplishments, but also found that Babe, who at first was delighted about her old friend Dorothy coming to the Motion Picture Home where Babe was already living, began to seem a bit put out and annoyed with her that Dorothy was “high-hatting” her and others at the home she felt undeserving of her company and still putting on airs like she was a big star. Yet Dorothy did confide to Babe her own version of events that led to her disappearance after her divorce from Mather.

Dorothy told Babe that basically she had wanted to escape from Hollywood after the nightmare she had been through, and had left the United States, travelling and ending up in Shanghai, China where she claimed to have operated a Nightclub/Casino and operated slot machines in other parts of the town, staying there for many years but returning sometime after World War Two. Yet Babe London disputed this as well, she had frequently travelled to Hawaii and the Orient in the 20’s and 30’s and knew full well that that a single woman would have not been allowed to own or operate a casino or any other gambling interests. Confronted by Babe with this fact, Dorothy shrugged and answered, “Well, I did.”.

Dorothy Devore passed away at the Motion Picture Home on September 10, 1976. Whatever the true nature of her life after the movies, Dorothy Devore had indeed been a shining star in the Hollywood firmament for however short a time, and her surviving short comedies, as well as THE TOMBOY, still show that sparkle that made her one of the better comediennes of the 1920’s, exhibiting charm, spunk, and personality aplenty on the screen. If perhaps offscreen she exhibited a bit more spunk and backbone than was for her own good, she apparently paid the price aplenty for it as well.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Darren Nemeth]

Thanks for the great history and notes on this film.

I actually have a fully tinted nitrate print of this in my freezer.

Do you know what studio was shown in that dream sequence? The one pictured as she was flying over it?

[Tommie Hicks]

Some scripts of some of Dorothy's Christie two reelers were found under Dorothy's bed in the facility where she died. These can be viewed at the Library of Congress. They bear initials of Christie and other Christie personnel.

I have seen about a half dozen Wanda Wiley Universal shorts and I get the distinct impression from this small sample that Wanda was deliberately imitating Dorothy.

[Richard M Roberts]

Some scripts of some of Dorothy's Christie two reelers were found under Dorothy's bed in the facility where she died. These can be viewed at the Library of Congress. They bear initials of Christie and other Christie personnel.

I have seen about a half dozen Wanda Wiley Universal shorts and I get the distinct impression from this small sample that Wanda was deliberately imitating Dorothy.

I have to say I've always felt that way too about Wiley, and the timing is exactly right on Universal's part, they are promoting Wanda immediately after Dorothy has basically left the short comedy field, both comediennes even have the same alliterative names.

Though Al Christie never forgave Dorothy Devore for the way she left his studio in 1924, that bad blood apparently did not extend to brother Charles Christie, after Al's death, Charles for some reason or another saw Dorothy as some sort of a keeper of the flame and entrusted her to keep the Christie Studio paperwork. Dorothy sold her holdings to the University of Wyoming, where they reside today. It's mostly scripts and stills unfortunately, not much actual business paperwork.


RICHARD M ROBERTS