“I used to read the reviews of the pictures in which I had played, hoping some kind critic would perhaps discover me. But all they ever said was ‘Billie Dove was satisfactory in’ … or ‘Billie Dove was seen in the role’ … Exasperating, wouldn’t you think?” — Billie Dove in 1928.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Photo: 1920s
The Tender Hour (1927). With Ben Lyon and Montagu Love.
With Gilbert Roland.
American Beauty (1927) Notice the typo?
“I do so want to be something besides a clotheshorse! I do so want to be something more than a charming, bisque figure having its picture taken.” —Billie Dove
Source: Helen Louise Walker (1928)
Photo: 1927
The Stolen Bride (1927), possibly a lost film.
“The desire for economic independence on the part of women is commendable. It is a step toward equalizing the responsibility of the home and has a natural tendency toward broadening the feminine point of viewpoint. Women, however, must learn to differentiate between independence and domination. If she looks upon man as a companion more than a provider, her attitude toward him will be more pleasing.” — Billie Dove (probably her publicist) in 1927.
Photo: Elmer Fryer (1927)
“When you’re up there on that film, you are that person completely all the time. You think the way that person thinks, you do what that person does and you’re not acting. You’re actually living it.” – Billie Dove
The Night Watch (1929)
The Night Watch (1929). With Paul Lukas.
“In the old days everything had to be expressed in pantomime. We used our faces and bodies a great deal to do this and often had to exaggerate a great deal in order to make our thoughts register. Today, those thoughts can be expressed with a few words. Consequently, we can’t act. We have to be natural.” — Billie Dove
Source: Dan Thomas (1929)
Photo: The Night Watch (1929)
“For example, I used to do a great deal of crying in all of my silent films. It was the only way of expressing sorrow. That was unnatural. I don’t do it in real life and neither does anyone else. And I don’t do it in pictures anymore, either. That same feeling can be expressed merely by the inflection of my voice.” — Billie Dove
Source: Dan Thomas (1929)
In 1929, a director once allegedly asked, “Well, Miss Dove, how did you like making a talking picture?”
She flippantly replied, “Very much, indeed. A woman likes to talk, you know.”
“I’m in no hurry. I’m just beginning to really relax and enjoy life. I feel I have youth, I have love, and I’m in no need of money.” — Billie Dove in 1930.
The Other Tomorrow (1930)
The Lady Who Dared (1931). With Sidney Blackmer.
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Charles Starrett and Billie Dove share a passionate moment in the lost 1931 film The Age for Love.
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