In August 1916, Trimble left his wife in England and returned to the U.S. with his daughter and his canine star Jean, who died later that year. In Hollywood from 1917, Trimble joined the newly formed Goldwyn Pictures. He directed "Fool's Gold" (1919), an independent production partially filmed in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, in which Turner tried to return to starring roles in American motion pictures. In 1920 Trimble directed three features for Selznick Pictures—notably, the last two films made by Olive Thomas before her death.