Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
According to Hollywood Babylon, actor Wallace Reid —a morphine addict who died in an asylum at the age of 31—was the first sacrificial lamb of the post-sandal era, and Reid’s wife, a former teen star named Dorothy Davenport, was the ultimate opportunistic hypocrite. What made Reid’s case different from the other scandals around this time? Was Davenport the black widow that Anger suggests, or should she be remembered as a pioneering female writer, producer and director?
Wallace Reid and Dorothy Davenport with son Billy, 1917
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
This episode is a response to, and includes a brief excerpt from, Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger.
Wally: The True Wallace Reid Story by David W. Menefee
Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer by Brian Taves
Silent Stars by Jeanine Basinger
“Dorothy Davenport Reid, Profile” by Mark Lynn Anderson, Women Film Pioneers Project
“The Roaring Road to Ruin: Wallace Reid” by Kim Morgan, sunsetgun.com
Wallace Reid in The Dictator, 1922
Music:
Original music was composed for this episode by Evan Viola. Most of the rest of the music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro and outro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca. The outro song this week is “Professional Widow” by Tori Amos.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
The Smoke Room - Gunnar Johnsen
Dust Bowl 1 - Hakan Eriksson
My Simple Thing 2 - Peter Sandberg
Music from The Birth Of A Nation (1915) score by Joseph Carl Breil
Toreador Song - Georges Bizet (From Carmen)
Loser - Anders Ekengren
Quentino 9 Stefan Netsman
Bad news Piano 17 - Oscar Collin
Jazz and Blue Piano 1 - Jonaton Jarpehag
Yellow Leaves 5 - Peter Sandberg
Sad Piano Walk 1 - Oscar Collin
Black and White - Magnus Ringblom Quartet
Meditation for Viola and Piano 14 - Jonaton Jarpehag
Widow’s Dance - Hakan Eriksson
My Simple Thing 3 - Peter Sandberg
Davenport on the set of Human Wreckage, 1923
Credits:
Our special guest this week is Mark Olsen.
This episode was written, narrated and produced by Karina Longworth.
Editors: Sam Dingman and Jacob Smith.
Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.
Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.
