Smoky-eyed photo of Gloria Swanson.
I’m reading a book of Bogdonavich’s interviews with directors – and it starts off with Allan Dwan, one of the true creators of the whole business. He’s the type of guy who was like, in 1911, “Uhm – I really want the camera to move backwards as the actor walks … let’s make that happen!” – so then there are carts, and railroad tracks, and buffers put on the wheels so the camera didn’t jiggle – You know, he created a dolly. But he wasn’t an inventor, tinkering away in his garage by himself. He was trying to solve problems on the set, and get the look he wanted. With a camera as large as a telephone booth that normally had to be bolted to the floor. “Okay … is there any way we can raise the camera up??” So they had an elevator on a flatbed – and up it went – with the camera inside it. A 1913 version of a crane-shot.
Anyway, Bogdonavich interviewed him in the early 60s, I believe – and there’s lots of GREAT anecdotes, many of which involved Gloria Swanson. How much fun she was, how TINY she was (having seen her miniature-size feet in the pavement outside Grauman’s I can attest to the fact that the woman was practically a midget), and also, though, what a dedicated actress she was. (Which doesn’t surprise me at all.) Dwan was directing her in something (these are all silent movies, of course) and she had to play a harassed young shopgirl, who worked at a place like Macy’s – and much of the film had comical moments of her being pushed around on the subway, squashed, trampled, missing her stop, getting her hat crunched – etc. – as the poor little shop girl just tried to get to her job. Anyway, Swanson – a giant movie star at that point who lived in a freakin’ castle basically – had never ridden the subway – and wanted to do so so she could get into character. There was a shuttle (still is, actually) across town from Grand Central to the other side – and Dwan basically shoved her onto one during rush hour – and made her ride it back and forth endlessly, for over an hour. They chose the height of the crowds and mayhem. She finally emerged, wild-eyed, nearly a ruined woman – hahahaha – her clothes ripped, feather on her hat stolen – people had stepped on her toes, shoved her aside – she was unable to get off the train because she was so small and kept twirling around trying to get to the door, etc. And apparently – when the movie premiered – and she played that subway scene,the audience was rolling in the aisles with laughter at her comedic portrayal of that experience.
There are a ton of Swanson stories like that (Like – one character she played was supposed to have spent a sleepless night and looked like shit. So Swanson showed up the day of shooting, looking like shit – because she had actually stayed up all night. Or also – she got a job at a fabric counter in a department store – so that she could know what it was like to work in such a place. You know – a commonsense approach to her craft. Pretty cool – she’s not really “remembered” for that TYPE of approach to acting, so it’s cool to realize how smart she was about acting, and what the job was) It’s nice to remember she is NOT Norma Desmond, (although man she could tap into that “being forgotten and tossed aside” thing) – it’s nice to remember that when she played Norma, she was acting. She wasn’t an insane woman just being herself as Wilder took advantage of her. Swanson was in charge of that damn performance – and I love her for it.
Fearless. Good for her.
Boy, they sure as hell did have faces, didn’t they? I mean, that’s an amazingly striking woman. Yes, I love that she wasn’t Norma Desmond, she was acting the part. And when, in Sunset Blvd., the camera zooms in on her 50-something face through the magnifying glass, that’s one perfectly flawless complexion she had there! Wow!
Stevie – I know, those closeups!!! How about when she goes into overdrive to get ready to play her big part for DeMille – she gets pressed and prodded and paddled – her skin pulled back – the staff hovering around her – it’s so brave of her, I think, to show – in a true and open manner – the desperate vanity and fear behind all of that. But she never tips her hand. She’s obviously a tragic character – but in true tragic heroine fashion – she doesn’t play the tragedy. WE fill that in as audience members. She plays the hope, the dream, the belief …
Great performance!!!
Also how ’bout her Chaplin imiation?
Apparently Swanson was a great clown – a great and free physical comedian – at parties and also in her great silent film roles … and I love that Wilder had her pull that out of the bag of tricks, as one of her seduction ploys. It was truly charming. Not pathetic at all. You thought: God, what a wonderful woman she must have once been!
Know what I mean??
Absolutely! Norma WAS a wonderful woman, just a little pissed at having been left behind with the advent of talkies. I love that. Yes, she’s a touch macabre – monkey burial, the weird cigarette holder, and MAX – but still, she could’ve made a comeback, maybe not as Salome (she’s strong-headed), but how about Hepburn’s mother in Philadelphia Story? I’m talking Norma, not Gloria. It could happen. But then it all goes wrong, she falls in unrequited love. Been there, wish I had shot the bastard myself!!
And yes, her Chaplin is sublime. The face is perfect, not just the schtick.
I love learning about the early days of cinema. They truly were fearless, as everything they were doing was really the first time ever for cinema. And early movie stars weren’t creations cut off from reality or intrest but people. Flesh and blood who loved movies and what could be done with them.
Sheila, What is the name of the book? Sounds like a perfect Sunday read.
It’s called Who The Hell Made It.
Also, Jessica – they were just so inventive!! We take things for granted – like the close-up. But it was Griffith who invented the close-up – and he got so much push-back from stupid studio folks – thinking that audiences would freak out to get so close to human faces. Before the close-up – films were filmed like little plays. Everyone came from vaudeville so that made sense. But Griffith wanted psychology to be revealed and the way you do it is by moving in close to the faces.
It’s great to see the origins of all of these things … to realize how creative these people really were!
Swanson played a scene with a live lion in “The Admirable Chricton”. Had to let the lion put his paw on her bare back, as she was lying face down.
Brave lady.
Sal – love the anecdote!! Thank you!