The Rise and Fall of Corliss Palmer

I learned the story of silent screen actress Corliss Palmer (1899-1952) through Jennifer Ann Redmond’s book Southern Belle to Hollywood Hell. It’s a tale of folly, vanity, and futility, in which no one wins, a real life mix of Citizen Kane and The Blue Angel where two people meet and a switch is turned on, there is a volatile chemical reaction, and when everything has boiled over, nothing is left.

Palmer was a Georgia belle who sent her photo to Motion Picture Magazine, the nation’s premier Hollywood fan publication, for a contest. She won and was named “the most beautiful girl in America”. She went to Hollywood and met its publisher, Eugene V. Brewster, who immediately became obsessed with her. He published dozens of articles about her in the early ’20s, before she’d even made a film yet. She even got her own cosmetic line, and other endorsement deals. Finally in 1926, thanks to Brewster’s relentless promotion, she was cast in her first movie, First National’s Her Second Chance (1926) with Anna Q. Nilsson and Charles Murray. She had a respectable career as a supporting player for about three years, consisting of 15 films, including Bromo and Juliet (1926) with Charley Chase;The Return of Boston Blackie (1927) in which she has the female lead; A Man’s Past (1927) with Conrad Veidt; Polly of the Movies (1927) with Jason Robards Sr; Honeymoon Hate (1927) with Florence Vidor; The Noose (1928) with Richard Barthelmes; Scarlet Youth (1928), in which she stars; Clothes Make the Woman (1928) with Eve Southern and Walter Pidgeon; Trial Marriage (1928) in which she stars; Into the Night (1928) with Agnes Ayres; The Night Bird (1928) with Reginald Denny and Sam Hardy;George Washington Cohen (1928) with George Jessel; Broadway Fever (1929) with Sally O’Neil; and her one talkie, Honeymoon Lane (1931) with Eddie Dowling.

More riveting however, is her private life. At the same time her career was taking off, she and Brewster were becoming involved. In short order, he left his wife, and married Palmer. He next proceeded to move them into a huge $400,000 estate, and they embarked on a lavish lifestyle they couldn’t afford. The scandal about their affair hurt Palmer’s career. The terms of the divorce busted Palmer financially. Soon the pair were reduced to living in a one-room Hollywood apartment. Disenchanted, Palmer left Brewster, but then found she couldn’t get work. Brewster had been her only advocate in the industry. She modeled and sold cosmetics for a short time, but by early 1933 she was hospitalized for severe alcoholism. She remained institutionalized until her death in 1952.

It’s a sordid tale in which no one comes off well, the sort of thing that might make an entertaining exploitation picture all by itself. Redmond’s book catches something of their personalities: the hapless Brewster and the grasping Palmer, both guilty of throwing their lives away. Redmond also dives into the movies, and gives us a little flavor of Palmer the actress. (I’ve only seen the Chase comedy, in which she doesn’t leave much of an impression). It was much easier for untrained non-actors to get by in the silent days, especially if they were good-looking or otherwise remarkable to look at. Talkies separated the actors from the models. At any rate, once Palmer had become accustomed to automatic adulation, she clearly found herself unable to cope with life outside the bubble. Learn much more from Redmond’s well-researched book, which is available here.