Gloria Swanson - Films

Films

Swanson made her film debut in 1914 as an extra in The Song of Soul for Essanay. While on a tour of the studio, she asked to be in the movie just for fun. Essanay hired her to feature in several movies, including His New Job, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. Swanson auditioned for the leading female role in His New Job, but Chaplin did not see her as leading lady material and cast her in the brief role of a stenographer.

Swanson moved to California in 1916 to appear in Mack Sennett's Keystone comedies opposite Bobby Vernon, and in 1919 she signed with Paramount Pictures and worked often with Cecil B. DeMille, who turned her into a romantic lead in such films as Don't Change Your Husband (1919), Male and Female (1919) with the famous scene posing as "the Lion's Bride" with a real lion, Why Change Your Wife? (1920), Something to Think About (1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921).

In the space of two years, Swanson rocketed to stardom and was one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood. Swanson later appeared in a series of films directed by Sam Wood. She starred in Beyond the Rocks (1922) with her long-time friend Rudolph Valentino. (Long believed to be a lost film, Beyond the Rocks was rediscovered in 2004 in a private collection in The Netherlands and is now available on DVD.)

Swanson continued to make costume drama films for the next few years. So successful were her films for Paramount that the studio was afraid of losing her and gave in to many of her whims and wishes.

During her heyday, audiences went to her films not only for her performances, but also to see her wardrobe. Frequently ornamented with beads, jewels, peacock and ostrich feathers, haute couture of the day or extravagant period pieces, one would hardly suspect that she was barely five feet (1.52 m) tall. Her fashion, hair styles, and jewels were copied around the world. She was the screen's first clothes horse and was becoming one of the most famous and photographed women in the world.

In 1925, she starred in the first French-American co-production, Madame Sans-Gêne, directed by Léonce Perret. Filming was allowed for the first time at many of the historic sites relating to Napoleon. While it was well received at the time, no prints are known to exist, and it is unfortunately considered to be a lost film. During the production of Madame Sans-Gêne, Swanson met her third husband Henri, Marquis de la Falaise, who had been hired to be her translator during the film's production. After four months' residence in France, she returned to the United States as European nobility, now known as the Marquise. She got a huge welcome home with parades in both New York and Los Angeles. She appeared in a 1925 short produced by Lee DeForest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

She made a number of films for Paramount, among them The Coast of Folly, Stage Struck and Fine Manners. In 1927, she decided to turn down a million dollar a year contract with Paramount to join the newly-created United Artists, where she was her own boss and could make the films she wanted, with whom she wanted, and when.

Her first independent film, The Love of Sunya, was directed by Albert Parker, and based on the play The Eyes of Youth by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon. Produced by and starring Swanson, it also stars John Boles and Pauline Garon. It is the story of a young woman granted the ability to see into her future, including her future with different men.

The story had been filmed previously as Eyes of Youth starring Clara Kimball Young (that production was also directed by Albert Parker and was responsible for the discovery of Rudolph Valentino by June Mathis.) The production was marred by several problems, mainly a suitable cameraman to deal with the film's intricate double exposures, as Swanson was not used to taking charge, and filming took place in New York. It premiered at the grand opening of the Roxy Theatre in New York City on March 11, 1927. (Swanson was pictured in the ruins of the Roxy on October 14, 1960, during the demolition of the theater, in a famous photo taken by Time-Life photographer Eliot Elisofon and published in Life magazine.)

The production had been a disaster and Swanson felt its success would be mediocre at best. On the advice of Joseph Schenck, she relented and returned to Hollywood, whereupon Schenck begged her to film something more commercial. She agreed but ended up filming the more controversial Sadie Thompson instead.