Poor Forget the Talkies...I'm here really. And for once Rudy isn't stealing all my time. I'm actually in the middle of re-researching June Mathis, I found some INCREDIBLE stuff on her. That should be done by the end of the week. Mr. Griffith's site should be too. But in meanwhile its time for Gloria Swanson.
Thumbing through Gloria's massive autobiography (which can be bought for pennies on Amazon) I was able to write a pretty solid biography on her at The Rudolph Valentino Society. True its not Nita, and I'd love to find some more perspective...but Gloria's viewpoint is quite delightful.
The first silent I ever seen was Beyond the Rocks, which gave me a chance to view the two greatest actors in the world. Despite my love of Pickfords I must put Gloria up with Mary in terms of talent. Most people barely remember either lady and when it comes to Gloria its usually fake bitchy stuff. Gloria had an image and a wardrobe that would put Lady Gaga to shame. But her acting...that's where her legacy should be.
I'm shocked and horrified at how forgotten she is. Mary makes some sense...Mary faded away kind of by choice. On the other hand Gloria was barely out of the spotlight from the 1910s until the 1980s and she had spurts of hipness right up until the end (including chatting with Janis Joplin on the Dick Cavett show). I just don't 'get' why we've forgotten her. If anything her name deserves that vague memory ala Chaplin. I can say Charlie Chaplin to anyone and get a 'I've heard that name somewhere before...' not so with Gloria.
Perhaps even more offensive is the belief some internet shut ins decided to spread: the 'she turned into Norma Desmond' rumor. I defy them to find one moment in her life where she turned into Norma. Gloria was active in one way or another even when she wasn't in film. In fact she deserves even more credit on that front: she was one of the first to jump into television (1948, and was the first to be on a cover of the regional newly launched TV Guide), she did radio shows, and she had a fashion line for 20 years made for little stout old women. You wouldn't see her walking down the streets of NY trying to pretend she didn't have wrinkles ala Mae Murray.
Oh and she had this whole thing with inventing. There was bad timing to it but her ideas were quite inventive. Throw in the art and sculpting and well...that rumor is just stupid.
All this aside I just can not stand to think the woman who portrayed Sadie Thompson or Norma Desmond is lost to that pre Marilyn Monroe era where our collective culture can not seem to remember. Reasons I hate the Oscars? Valentino never even received an honorary nod, and Doug only got one after he died, and well...Charlie and Mary and Griffith got screwed over too (but all 3 won at least one honorary Oscar). Gloria never even got an honorary Oscar...despite the fact she was nominated in competitive fields 3 times (for her 3 best movies at that). Shame on the Academy. And shame on film fans.
"It was the pictures that got small..." Indeed.
1 comments:
As I see it (your mileage may vary) the problem with Swanson is you HAVE to see her pictures to appreciate her. Unlike Brooks or Bow where a picture tells a thousand words Swanson' doesn't really come across in stills- the fabulous eyes are there but she has a thin little mouth full of very sharp teeth, and frankly she looks either depressed or mean in most of her portraits. How ever, when she's onscreen she springs to full throbbing passionate life. Unfortunately, most people have only seen her in Sunset Boulevard, or if they're closer to my age they saw her guest appearances on Carol Burnett and Airport- and by that time her acting style had gotten a bit campy She wasn't a Victim of Sound but her talkies aren't her best films, though she did get rather more comfortable over time- she's quite good in "Father takes a wife" (1941)
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