Silent Film: Carol Dempster.

Personal Quote:

I just never think about my days in pictures. I am always surprised that anyone remembers me. It was so long ago. So many of my movies were so sad. Maybe my fans would like to know that in real life Carol Dempster had a happy ending.

Silent Film Star: Carole Dempster.

Please click here to learn more about Carole Dempster.

Personal Quote:

I just never think about my days in pictures. I am always surprised that anyone remembers me. It was so long ago. So many of my movies were so sad. Maybe my fans would like to know that in real life Carol Dempster had a happy ending.

“Sally of the Sawdust” (1925)

“Sally of the Sawdust” (1925) is a silent comedy starring Carol Dempster, W.C. Fields and Alfred Lunt. Directed by D.W. Griffith, this film is a fascinating departure from the austere moral drama in which he specialized.












The story opens with the circus coming to town. Sally, played by Carol Dempster, is a circus waif who has been raised by a lovable con man, Professor Eustace McGargle, played by W.C. Fields, a sideshow juggler and entertainer. Flashbacks reveal that Sally’s mother had married a circus man against her father’s wishes and was ordered never to return home. Later, Sally’s mother became a widow with a child, and on her death bed entrusted her little girl to their best friend, McGargle. Now that Sally is a teenager, McGargle decides to return her to her grandparents who now live in Green Meadow. Stranded and broke in the town of Burryville, McGargle and Sally steal a ride on a train. Once they arrive in Green Meadow, McGargle and Sally both stir controversy when attending a charity event for homeless children near the estate of the very wealthy Judge Henry L. Foster, played by Erville Anderson and his wife, played by Effie Shannon, Sally’s grandparents. Complications arise when Peyton Lennox, the son of a respected citizen from Green Meadow, played by Alfred Lunt, meets and falls in love with Sally. Even though McGargle escapes arrest for dealing in a crooked card game, Sally is arrested for being his accomplice and must stand trial to be placed in a home for delinquent girls. Meanwhile, Peyton is sent out of town by his father in the hope that he will forget Sally. The ending is quite surprising.



“Sally of the Sawdust” was based on W.C. Fields’ popular play, “Poppy.” W.C. Fields in his second appearance on the screen made a standout characterization within a story that had mystery, jazz, comedy, romance and drama. Although it is remembered solely as a Fields’ comedy, Carol Dempster acquires most of the attention under Griffith’s careful supervision. Even though much has been said against the actress about her looks and talent, her plain looks only add to her role as Sally. One of my favorite scenes is during the charity event when Carol gets a complete makeover with styled hair, sparkling jewelry, and an evening gown. I think Carol was quite comical in many of the scenes with Fields. However, she gives a touching performance during the final courtroom battle. I liked, in particular, how Fields showcases his skills as a physical comedian in this film. He does a few inventive juggling acts and he is so graceful. Even though “Sally of the Sawdust” is not one of Griffith’s masterpieces, it is an enjoyable film to watch with its pristine quality print and the screen presence of W.C. Fields and Carol Dempster.




Born in Duluth, Minnesota, on December 9, 1901, Carol Dempster moved with her family to California, where she came to the attention of Ruth St. Denis and joined her dance school. She is apparently one of the dancers in the Babylonian sequence of “Intolerance” (1916), but whether Griffith noticed her at this point is unknown. Within three years, Carol was featured in Griffith’s productions of “A Romance of Happy Valley,” “The Girl Who Stayed at Home,” and “True Heart Susie,” all released in 1919. “The Love Flower” (1920) was Carol’s first starring role followed by “Dream Street” (1921). She gave one performance in a non-Griffith production, “Sherlock Holmes” (1922) starring John Barrymore. Carol ended her career starring in six of Griffith’s last films, “The White Rose” (1923), “America” (1924), “Isn’t Life Wonderful” (1924), “Sally of the Sawdust” (1925), “That Royle Girl” (1925) and “The Sorrows of Satan” (1926). Carol Dempster was the last star created by the man credited with creating the American motion picture as we know it today. Carol Dempster died on February 1, 1991. She was 89 years old.

Silent Film Star: Carol Dempster

Carol Dempster, started her career in films with the help of film director D.W. Griffith alongside other actresses of the mid-1910s, Lillian and Dorothy Gish and Mae Marsh. Griffith gave Dempster her first role at age 15 in his all-star cast Intolerance(1916) playing one of the Babylonian harem girls alongside another teen aged newcomer, Mildred Harris.

Dempster became one of Griffiths "favorites" and cast her in nearly every one of his films throughout the 1920's, allegedly to the jealous dismay of Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish. Dempster became romantically involved with the much older Griffith during the early 1920's while Griffith was estranged from his wife, Linda Arvidson.

Dempster's first feature role came in, The Girl Who Stayed at Home(1919), The Love Flower (1920), Dream Street (1921), One Exciting Night (1922) and Isn't Life Wonderful? (1924), It was based on the novel by Geoffrey Moss and it went under the title Dawn. The title of the film was spoofed in the Charlie Chase comedy Isn't Life Terrible (1925). Most of the scenes were filmed in Germany and Austria. Only one was filmed in New York.

The story is about, a family from Poland who has been left homeless in the wake of World War I. They move to Germany and struggle to survive the conditions there, during the Great Inflation. Inga is a Polish war orphan who has only has a small amount of money and hopes to marry Paul. Weakened by poison gas, Paul tries to invest in Inga's future.



Dempster career in films flourished throughout the 1920s and performed in films America (1924) and Sally of the Sawdust (1925), also directed by Griffith.

In 1926 Dempster acted in her final film, another Griffith movie, The Sorrows of Satan.

Dempster retired from the screen to marry wealthy banker Edward S. Larson in 1929.

"America" (1924) D.W. Griffith

America (1924) is a silent historical drama starring Neil Hamilton, Carol Dempster and Lionel Barrymore. Directed by D.W. Griffith, this film is the story of a family caught up in the American Revolutionary War. The story begins in the village of Lexington in Massachusetts prior to the Revolutionary War. Nathan Holden, a poor Patriot farmer and express rider, played by Neil Hamilton, is in love with Nancy Montague, played by Carol Dempster, a Tory aristocrat from Virginia living on a mountain estate on the James River. Nancy’s father, Justice Montague, played by Erville Alderson, and brother, Justice Charles Montague, played by Charles Emmett Mack, both disapprove of her relationship with a Patriot. Complications ensue when during a fight on the streets of Lexington, someone pushes Nathan’s arm causing him to discharge his gun and accidentally wound Nancy’s father, Justice Montague. When Captain Walter Butler, a deputy for the king’s superintendent, played by Lionel Barrymore, takes an interest in Nancy, her father is delighted much to Nancy’s disappointment. Will Nathan and Nancy break up due to them being on opposite sides of the war?



Even though “America” (1924) is discussed less than D.W. Griffith’s other highly visible films, it is vastly superior in many ways. “America” was constructed in two parts. The first sketched the background of the Revolution, and the rest of the film concentrated on the evil campaign of Butler. In 1923, Griffith began filming “America,” arousing tremendous enthusiasm among local people on the actual sites of the Revolutionary War. Vivid recreations of Paul Revere’s historical ride were performed along with the battles of Valley Forge, Bunker Hill, and the Cherry Hill massacre. Large numbers of army troops were deployed over the original battlefields. Griffith handled the historic battles of Lexington and Concord with the superb editing pace he was famous. Griffith even waited impatiently for a great snowstorm in which to shoot the Valley Forge sequence. “America” opened at the 44th Street Theater in New York on February 21, 1924, with a twelve-reel length. The film was a critical success in its initial release, but costume dramas were not popular at the height of the Roaring Twenties. Unfortunately, “America” initially lost money because it did not recover the high production costs of $795,000 until many years of distribution, reissue, and sales of stock footage tallied a final gross of $1,750,000. When the film was finished, Griffith owed six month’s salary to nearly everyone in the company. He was forced to close his Mamaroneck studio. In July 1924, Adolph Zukor hired Griffith as one of the staff of directors at Paramount. Griffith had finally lost his gamble for independence. Handsome Neil Hamilton gave one of his best performances in “America.” The characters played by Hamilton and the female star, Carol Dempster, were woven through the historical recreations in a romantic subplot, allowing the camera to focus intimately on their personal struggles. Griffith thought newcomer Carol Dempster was perfect for the love interest around which he could ignite all the history of the nation. Griffith was growing desperate because many of the stars he was credited with creating like Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Mae Marsh, and Blanche Sweet had all moved on to enjoy the benefits of the fame gleaned from his films and had signed lucrative contracts with other studios. Not everyone thought as highly of Carol Dempster as Griffith. In fact, neither audiences nor her colleagues liked her very much. Many thought Griffith was trying to make the hopelessly inept Carol Dempster, with her bump-tipped nose, into a superb actress of the quality people were in the habit of seeing in his films. I think the biggest problem with Carol Dempster was not her nose or her performances, but the perception that she was taking the place of Lillian Gish in Griffith’s films. Carol Dempster ended her career starring in four of Griffith’s last films, “Isn’t Life Wonderful” (1924), “Sally of the Sawdust” (1925), “That Royle Girl” (1925), and “The Sorrows of Satan” (1926). Carol Dempster achieved a lasting place in film history with a performance in "America" that has stood the test of time. She was the last star by the man credited with American motion picture as we know it today. Not controversial as "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), "America" (1924) was Griffith's last epic and an impressive piece of film making.

It is interesting to note that Neil Hamilton was a sometime player in stock and model for shirts in magazine ads. He got his first film role in 1918 and was chosen by D.W. Griffith to star in "The White Rose" (1923) and "Isn't Life Wonderful" (1924), becoming after that a popular star at Paramount. Hamilton was active in sound pictures as late as 1970 and on television as Police Commissioner Gordon in the "Batman" series. Neil Hamilton was a distant cousin of Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939).