# Arline Pretty

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{{Short description|American actress (1885–1978)}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Arline Pretty
| image        = Arline Pretty (Feb 1923).png
| image_size   =
| caption      = 
| birth_date   = September 5, 1885
| birth_place  = [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania](/source/Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania), U.S.
| death_date   = April 14, 1978 (aged 92)
| death_place  = [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles), [California](/source/California), U.S.
| other_names  = 
| occupation   = Actress
| years_active = 1913-1935 (film) 
}}
'''Arline S. Pretty''' (September 5, 1885<ref name=":0">Some sources give 1893 as her birth year, and Washington, D.C. as her birth place.</ref> – April 14, 1978) was an American [film actress](/source/film_actress) of the [silent era](/source/silent_era).<ref>Munden, Kenneth White. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. (University of California Press, 1997): 616.</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Pretty was born September 5, 1885, in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia),<ref name=":0" /> the daughter of Edwin S. Pretty and Ellen (Nellie) Service Pretty.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1917-05-08 |title=Miss Pretty is Now a Movie 'Leading Lady' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-news-miss-pretty-is-now-a-mo/196631864/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The Evening News |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her father died in 1894. Her mother was a musician, and the name "[Arline](/source/Arline)" was chosen from the opera ''[The Bohemian Girl](/source/The_Bohemian_Girl)''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Rainey |first=Buck |url=http://archive.org/details/thosefabulousser0000rain |title=Those fabulous serial heroines : their lives and films |date=1990 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8108-1911-5 |location=Metuchen, N.J. |pages=395}}</ref> She may have attended a school in [High Bridge, New Jersey](/source/High_Bridge%2C_New_Jersey).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1974-08-08 |title=Can it be That Only One Man Remembers The Pretty Girl from High Bridge Who Flashed Across the Silver Screen? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/echoes-sentinel-can-it-be-that-only-one/196630153/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=Echoes-Sentinel |pages=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1903 she delivered a dramatic monologue at a meeting of the District of Columbia League of Debating Societies.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Favor of the Negative|work=[Washington Evening Star](/source/Washington_Evening_Star)|date= March 5, 1903|page= 16}}</ref>

== Career ==
In 1903 Pretty was founding member of the Criterion Players (CP) in Washington D.C.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Criterion Players|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|date= November 2, 1903|page= 4}}</ref> She appeared in this organization's first production as the wife in [Sydney Grundy](/source/Sydney_Grundy)'s ''Prince of Liars'' which was staged at National Rifle Hall in November 1903. ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)'' stated her performance was "commendably done".<ref>{{cite news|title=Stage Gossip|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|date= November 25, 1903|page= 5}}</ref> She performed with the CP in 1904 as Etta in ''Suzette'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Critierion Players in ''Suzette''|work=[Washington Evening Star](/source/Washington_Evening_Star)|date= March 2, 1904|page= 16}}</ref> the Widow in ''A Mouse Trap'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Criterion Players|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|date= October 9, 1904|page= 30}}</ref> and Mrs. Hummingtop in M. E. Kahn's ''What Happened to Hummingtop''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Criterion Players|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|date= December 4, 1904|page= 30}}</ref> She was still actively performing in plays with the CP as late as 1907.<ref>{{cite news|title=Brookland|work=[The Washington Times](/source/The_Washington_Times)|date= February 3, 1907|page= 31}}</ref>

In 1908 Pretty performed in [vaudeville](/source/vaudeville) in Washington D.C. in a sketch called "The Happy Pair" with John Hill.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nomads at the Show|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|date= March 4, 1908|page=2}}</ref> For three years she acted on stage in Washington, with the Columbia Stock Company (CSC), before debuting in films in 1913.<ref name="am">{{cite web |last1=Wollstein |first1=Hans J. |title=Arline Pretty |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/arline-pretty-p57747 |website=AllMovie |access-date=2021-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831022556/https://www.allmovie.com/artist/arline-pretty-p57747 |archive-date=2021-08-31}}</ref> Some of her repertoire with the CSC included [Paul Kester](/source/Paul_Kester)'s ''[When Knighthood Was in Flower](/source/When_Knighthood_Was_in_Flower_(play))'' (1911, as Jan Bollingbrook).<ref>{{cite news|title=At the Theaters|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|date= August 1, 1911|page= 5}}</ref> [David Belasco](/source/David_Belasco) and [Richard Walton Tully](/source/Richard_Walton_Tully)'s ''The Rose of the Rancho'' (1912, as Beatriz),<ref>{{cite news|work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|title=Columbia—''The Rose of the Rancho''|date=March 19, 1912|page= 5}}</ref> [Clyde Fitch](/source/Clyde_Fitch)'s ''[The Climbers](/source/The_Climbers_(play))'' (1912, as Jessica Hunter),<ref>{{cite news|title=Amusements: Columbia|work=[Washington Evening Star](/source/Washington_Evening_Star)|date= June 25, 1912|page= 3}}</ref> and  [Charles H. Hoyt](/source/Charles_H._Hoyt)'s ''A Contented Woman'' (1913, as Bella).<ref>{{cite news|title=Columbia– ''A Contented Woman''|work=[The Washington Herald](/source/The_Washington_Herald)|date= July 20, 1913|page= 18}}</ref>

Her early film experience was as a supporting actress for [King Baggot](/source/King_Baggot) at [Universal](/source/Universal_Pictures).<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |date=1915-03-27 |title=Universal Program |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nickelodeon/JnhJAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Arline+Pretty&pg=PA506&printsec=frontcover |journal=Motography |volume=13 |pages=506}}</ref> After that, she acted for the [Vitagraph Company](/source/Vitagraph_Studios) in leading [ingenue](/source/Ing%C3%A9nue) parts.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1917-03-15 |title=Prefers Ingenue, but has Run the Gamut of Parts; Began Career in Stock; Has Been in the Movies for Three Years |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19170315.2.57&srpos=33&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-Arline+Pretty------- |work=San Francisco Call |pages=5 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}</ref> She appeared as the daughter of a jailer with [Douglas Fairbanks](/source/Douglas_Fairbanks) in ''[In Again, Out Again](/source/In_Again%2C_Out_Again)'' (1917).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{cite journal |title=This Week's Mirror Cover |journal=Dramatic Mirror |date=1917-04-07 |volume=77 |issue=1998 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWtDAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Arline+Pretty%22&pg=RA13-PA2 |access-date=2021-04-01}}</ref> Pretty's film work included the Vitagraph serial ''The Secret Kingdom'' (1917).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1917-02-15 |title='Secret Kingdom' Coming; Serial is Full of Romance |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-secret-kingd/196632117/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1917-01-23 |title=Amusements: At the Academy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fall-river-herald-amusements-at-the-aca/196630440/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=Fall River Herald |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In the serial ''A Woman in Grey'' (1919), she was tied to train tracks as a cliffhanger scene.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mooney |first=Tom |date=1985-01-07 |title=A bit of local film history returns to Valley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-leader-a-bit-of-local-film-his/196639811/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The Times Leader |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiler |first=A. H. |date=1965-02-14 |title=Pauline Was a Cliff-Hanger (review) |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/02/14/97184719.html |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The New York Times |pages=109 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Her other costars included [Jess Willard](/source/Jess_Willard),<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=1919-06-30 |title=Spotlight and Screen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-news-spotlight-and-screen/196632367/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The Evening News |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> [Jack Mower](/source/Jack_Mower),<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=1921-08-07 |title='Golden Snare', 'One a Minute', and 'Life' on Photoplay Bills |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-golden-snare/196632654/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |pages=45 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> [Thurston Hall](/source/Thurston_Hall),<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=1921-11-12 |title=Story of the Far North with Arline Pretty at Kozy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-paducah-sun-story-of-the-far-north-w/196632914/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The Paducah Sun |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> [Huntley Gordon](/source/Huntley_Gordon),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wing |first=Ruth |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Blue_Book_of_the_Screen/0GIGAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Arline+Pretty&pg=PA95&printsec=frontcover |title=The Blue Book of the Screen |date=1924 |publisher=Blue Book of the Screen, Incorporated |pages=95 |language=en}}</ref> [Doris Kenyon](/source/Doris_Kenyon),<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=1918-06-01 |title=New Serial Has Thrilling Situations |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-edmonton-bulletin-new-serial-has-thr/196639354/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The Edmonton Bulletin |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> [Noah Beery](/source/Noah_Beery), [Betty Compson](/source/Betty_Compson), and [Leah Baird](/source/Leah_Baird).<ref name=":9">{{Cite news |date=1924-11-30 |title=Great Crook Play Opens at Babcock Today; Tom Santschi, Noah Beery and Arline Pretty Starred |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-billings-gazette-great-crook-play-op/196630892/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The Billings Gazette |pages=15 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Long after her last film in 1935, she appeared in a scene of ''[Belles on Their Toes](/source/Belles_on_Their_Toes_(film))'' (1952), along with other silent film stars.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |last=Pryor |first=Thomas M. |date=1951-09-16 |title=Heat in Hollywood |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/09/16/88457117.html |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The New York Times |pages=257 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Pretty was considered a fashionable screen beauty.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1917-02-16 |title=Hunt for Movie Heroine Has Most Fitting Reward; Acress is Ideally Fitted to Play the Part in Which She is Cast |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19170216.2.75&srpos=2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Arline+Pretty------- |work=San Francisco Call |pages=7 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}</ref> Her "hats and frocks" were described in detail, with diagrams and photographs, in a 1917 ''[Harper's Bazaar](/source/Harper's_Bazaar)'' feature, where she was described as "devoted to outdoor life" and "an expert horsewoman" who did her own on-screen stunts.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=March 1917 |title=Arline Pretty selects her hats and frocks with Jane Jarvis of Harper's Bazar Shopping Service |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Silent_Players/plpL_xdI6NoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Arline+Pretty&pg=PA318&printsec=frontcover |journal=Harper's Bazaar |pages=88}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Pretty died in 1978, at the age of 92, at her home in Hollywood.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1978-04-19 |title=Services for Arline Pretty, 92, Star of Silent Movies, Slated |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-services-for-arlin/196640122/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=The Los Angeles Times |pages=21 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> ''A Woman in Grey'' (1920) was on the program of the Kansas Silent Film Festival in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maue |first=Savanna |title=Silent film festival focuses on women |url=https://www.cjonline.com/story/entertainment/local/2018/02/18/kansas-silent-film-festival-to-focus-its-22nd-annual-event-on-women-in-film/14378746007/ |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=The Topeka Capital-Journal |language=en-US|date=2018-02-17}}</ref> In 2022, a restored print of one of her later films, ''The Primrose Path'' (1925), was shown at the [Museum of Modern Art](/source/Museum_of_Modern_Art)'s International Festival of Film Preservation<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2022 |title=Clara Bow and Ina Ray Hutton, Newly Rediscovered! |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/7496 |access-date=2026-04-30 |website=The Museum of Modern Art |language=en}}</ref> and at the [San Francisco Silent Film Festival](/source/San_Francisco_Silent_Film_Festival), with live musical accompaniment.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-06 |title=The Primrose Path |url=https://silentfilm.org/event/the-primrose-path/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |website=San Francisco Silent Film Festival |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Selected filmography==
* ''[One Best Bet](/source/One_Best_Bet)'' (1914)
* ''One Night'' (1915)<ref name=":3" />
* ''The Man Who Found Himself'' (1915)<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Slide |first=Anthony |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Silent_Players/plpL_xdI6NoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Arline+Pretty&pg=PA318&printsec=frontcover |title=Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses |date=2010-09-12 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-2708-8 |pages=318 |language=en}}</ref>
* ''The Dawn of Freedom'' (1916)<ref name=":11" />
* ''[The Thirteenth Girl](/source/The_Thirteenth_Girl)'' (1916)<ref>{{Cite news |date=1916-03-06 |title=Vitagraph Night at Empire |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-antonio-express-news-vitagraph-night/196630652/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=San Antonio Express-News |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last= |date=1916-03-04 |title=Photoplay Houses (advertisement) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-antonio-express-news-photoplay-house/196639247/ |access-date=2026-04-30 |work=San Antonio Express-News |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
* ''[The Surprises of an Empty Hotel](/source/The_Surprises_of_an_Empty_Hotel)'' (1916)<ref name=":12" />
* ''[In Again, Out Again](/source/In_Again%2C_Out_Again)'' (1917)<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />
* ''[The Hidden Hand](/source/The_Hidden_Hand_(serial))'' (1917)<ref name=":8" />
* ''[The Challenge of Chance](/source/The_Challenge_of_Chance)'' (1919)<ref name=":5" />
* ''[A Woman in Grey](/source/A_Woman_in_Grey)'' (1920)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lahue |first=Kalton C. |url=http://archive.org/details/boundgaggedsto00lahu |title=Bound and gagged; the story of the silent serials |date=1968 |publisher=A. S. Barnes |others=Internet Archive |location=South Brunswick, N.J. |pages=77, 147, 174, 301}}</ref>
* ''[Life](/source/Life_(1920_film))'' (1920)<ref name=":6" /><ref name="bfi">{{cite web |title=Arline Pretty |url=http://www.bfi-staging.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba692b304 |website=British Film Institute |access-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210401003955/http://www.bfi-staging.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba692b304 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''[The Valley of Doubt](/source/The_Valley_of_Doubt)'' (1920)<ref name=":7" />
* ''[When the Devil Drives](/source/When_the_Devil_Drives_(film))'' (1922)<ref name=":9" />
* ''[Love in the Dark](/source/Love_in_the_Dark_(1922_film))'' (1922)<ref name=":9" />
* ''[Stormswept](/source/Stormswept)'' (1923)<ref name=":9" />
* ''[The White Flower](/source/The_White_Flower)'' (1923)<ref name=":9" />
* ''[Bucking the Barrier](/source/Bucking_the_Barrier)'' (1923)<ref name="bfi" />
* ''[Tipped Off](/source/Tipped_Off_(1923_film))'' (1923)<ref name=":9" />
* ''[Rouged Lips](/source/Rouged_Lips)'' (1923)
* ''[A Fool's Awakening](/source/A_Fool's_Awakening)'' (1924)<ref name="bfi" />
* ''[Barriers Burned Away](/source/Barriers_Burned_Away)'' (1925)
* ''[The Girl on the Stairs](/source/The_Girl_on_the_Stairs_(film))'' (1925)
* ''[The Primrose Path](/source/The_Primrose_Path_(1925_film))'' (1925)<ref name="bfi" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1926-01-02 |title=Graham Wilcox Offerings for 1926 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Film_Renter_and_Moving_Picture_News/L5hRA28kaQ4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Arline+Pretty&pg=PP132&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Film Renter & Moving Picture News}}</ref>
* ''[Virgin Lips](/source/Virgin_Lips)'' (1928)<ref name=":11" />
* ''[Shipmates Forever](/source/Shipmates_Forever)'' (1935)
* ''[Belles on Their Toes](/source/Belles_on_Their_Toes_(film))'' (1952, cameo)<ref name=":10" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Arline Pretty}}
*{{IMDb name|0696569}}
*John Verzi, [https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/142772/ "Arline Pretty at home" (1962 photograph)], in the collection of the [Los Angeles Public Library](/source/Los_Angeles_Public_Library)

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pretty, Arline}}
Category:1885 births
Category:1978 deaths
Category:American film actresses
Category:American silent film actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Washington, D.C.
Category:American stage actresses
Category:Film serial actresses

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Arline Pretty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arline_Pretty) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arline_Pretty?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.