During the silent era, Pallette was a handsome and athletic lead and second lead who was frequently cast in adventures or epics, including those directed by
D.W. Griffith and
Cecil B. DeMille. He already had gained a tremendous amount of weight by the late 1920s, and started to segue into character roles and comedy bits, and his gravelly, bullfrog voice proved a tremendous asset in helping him to land such parts with the advent of sound.