Publicized with typical show business abandonment as "the World's Greatest Dancer," exotic-looking Mlle. Doraldina (born Dora Sanders) had made some impact performing the hula on the legitimate stage in both The Road to Mandalay and Frivolities of 1920. In Hollywood, she starred opposite Warner Oland in The Naulahka (1918), heralded as the "first Rudyard Kipling story to reach the screen," but there were no other offers, and when Red Dawn (1919), a Broadway showcase designed especially for her, folded after a mere five performances, Doraldina wrote, produced, and starred in The Woman Untamed (1920), a highly melodramatic screen drama about a lovely castaway believed to be a goddess by the local natives. This long-lost piece of escapism led to a contract with Metro, who filmed Passion Fruit (1921) on location at Monterey, CA. Doraldina starred as the daughter of a South Seas plantation owner desired by a ruthless overseer. Despite enticing hints of miscegenation, the drama was not popular and Doraldina left films for good. According to some reports, Clarine Seymour's character in D.W. Griffith's The Idol Dancer (1921) was created with her in mind. Doraldina's early death was attributed to a heart attack.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Naulahka
Actor |
1918 |
