- INTRODUCTION
Perhaps unwisely (as my scholarly time is very limited right now and probably will be for a number of years) I have
decided to start slowly assembling research materials on the lives and work of forgotten silent film stars Dorothy Phillips (a famous actress) and her husband Allen Holubar (former actor turned famous director).
Holubar directed a number of films, apparently elevating himself into high repute as a director before his untimely death. Phillips, for her part, was frequently called the “emotional” actress – a tag which I find intriguing – and also was quite well known by the early 1920s. She was so well known, in fact, that Spanish language author Horacio Quiroga chose her to be the central figure in a short story in which he explored his love of Hollywood and movie stars. However, she too saw her career effectively end with the death of her husband and collaborator.
Anyone with time on their hands to go poking around for interesting information, feel free to let me know what you find in a note on this page.
- ACTING AND EDGERLY
For those who are wondering, the connection here is that Dorothy Phillips is the one famous actress I am aware of who is credited with attendance at one of Webster Edgerly’s schools of performance – in this case, Shaftesbury College in Baltimore.
(The only other potential Edgerly pupil I have found in Hollywood is bit player Alice May Youse. However, two of Mrs. Youse’s three films on IMDB are simply Dorothy Phillips vehicles. She was actually the president of Shaftesbury College after Edgerly; it’s possible, then, that it was actually Youse who trained Phillips.)
Though she graduated late, and may never have studied under Edgerly at all, I am interested in the potential here to analyze her acting style (and perhaps the style that Edgerly proposed) in the context of film history. (Which will be difficult, as not much of her early work survives…nothing officially released on DVD.) But before I can do much with that, I must first know about her, and there is little to go on.
- LINKS
- Tiny Wikipedia page for Dorothy Phillips
- May 1921 issue of Photoplay magazine has Phillips on the cover and may have an article on her.
- January 29, 1921 issue of Screenland has her on the cover as well.
- Grapevine Video’s non-professional DVD release of “The Heart of Humanity” (The film has also been released in a cheapo boxed set called “War Stories”; the print is fine but the transfer has an unacceptable amount of digital artifacting and motion-blur.)
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- MY DOROTHY PHILLIPS MEMORABILIA COLLECTION
Since beginning this work (which still occurs only rarely as time permits), I have begun assembling a collection of Dorothy Phillips related memorabilia. This is what I have so far, which has cost me somewhere in the region of the ungodly sum of $50. The listed dates are what was provided when I purchased said object; I will correct these where I find errors. (Specifically, I don’t believe she was working for Universal in 1914, so I question the date of the stamps.)
1914 Official Universal Label Stamps – sheet of six
(Sheet lists both IMP and Universal names. Unsure of date, though this is definitely an early photo of Dorothy, as she’s giving her vamp look.)
1917 Kromo Gravure blank back card
(There were a few versions of the 1917 KG set. Dorothy was only included in box 3 of the “1,2,3″ set, as far as I know. Unnumbered out of 150. Issued in boxes of 50 cards each; could be distributed in various ways by various companies. Stock glamor shot.)
Unknown Year – Teofani Three Star Magnums Cinema Stars #21 (of 25)
(Oversized tobacco card. Due to its size and its origin in Thailand, I have my suspicions that this is a reprint, though I can’t for the life of me figure out why anyone at this point would bootleg a card of our Dorothy. Painted image, and not a very good one.)
1922 Susini y Bock cigarette card #600
(From Cuba. This is a production still [or possibly a frame enlargement] from the 1921 film “Man, Woman, Marriage.”)
1922 Susini y Bock cigarette card #607
(Exactly as before. Different photo.)
Unknown Year (1920s) – Souvenir Colored Views of Stars Homes card
(Unsure how these were circulated; seems unlikely this would appeal to tobacco buyers… Judging from an eBay auction, I believe these were circulated in a book as a set, though the auction also called them ‘postcards’ – a term which cannot apply to this tiny card.)
Unknown Year – Cardboard fan featuring nine silent actresses
(12 x 7 1/4 inches. Seems to be an official First National Product. Photos of Mrs. Carter DeHaven, Constance Talmadge, Miriam Cooper, Katerine MacDonald, Norma Talmadge, Marguerite Clark, Pola Negri, Dorothy Phillips, and Anita Stewart.)
1926 Gallagher Cinema Stars tobacco card #29 (of 100)
(British card. Stock glamor shot of Dorothy, though this might be a painted version of said shot.)
1922 Singer Sewing Machines ‘Filmania’ Card Game
(Same image as the Teofani card. From a set of 52 cards – 4 each of 13 actors/actresses [Chaplin, Keaton, Jackie Coogan, Miriam Cooper, Katherine MacDonald, Wesley Barry, Hope Hampton, Marshall Neilan, Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge, Richard Barthelmess, and Guy Bates Post are the others] – designed as a variant of ‘Go Fish’. I have a complete uncut set. Set bears two copyrights – 1916 and 1922.)
