Movies Way Back When: Dodo Newton is a Hit

By Besty J. Green

The “Flying A” silent movie “Soul Mates” was released on May 8, 1916. It takes place on the East Coast, but was filmed at the “Casa Buenaventura” – one of the million-dollar estates in Montecito.

This movie should have been called “Married, But Not to Each Other,” or maybe “Sour Mates.” It’s all about infidelity and suicide, and a six-year-old Santa Barbara girl had a part. Hopefully, they kept her in the dark about the film’s theme.

“Little Dodo Newton, the clever girl who is well-known and loved by many in Santa Barbara, will please many of her friends by her work in “Soul Mates” . . . She plays a strong-boy part through the five reels.” – Santa Barbara Daily News & Independent, July 24, 1916