AUTOGRAPHE SÉRIGRAPHIE DARTISTE SIGNÉ GLORIA officiel SWANSON 1021/1250 LIMITÉ 1980

GLORIA SWANSON SIGNED ARTIST SERIGRAPH LIMITED TO 1021/1250 FROM 1980 MEASURING APPROXIMATEL 8 1/2 X 10 3/4 INCHESAUTOGRAPHBY THIS ACTRESS

Gloria Josephine Mae Swanson was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 turn in Billy Wilders Sunset Boulevard, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award.

In 1925, Swanson joined United Artists as one of the film industrys pioneering women filmmakers. She produced and starred in the 1928 film Sadie Thompson, earning her a nomination for Best Actress at the first annual Academy Awards. Her sound film debut performance in 1929s The Trespasser, earned her a second Academy Award nomination. Queen Kelly (1928–29) was a box office disaster, but is remembered as a silent classic. After almost two decades in front of the cameras, her film success waned during the 1930s. Swanson received renewed praise for her return to the screen in her role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950). She made only three more films, but guest starred on several television shows, and acted in road productions of stage plays.

Early life

Swanson was born in a small house in Chicago in 1899, the only child of Adelaide (née Klanowski) and Joseph Theodore Swanson (né Svensson), a soldier.[2] She was raised in the Lutheran faith. Her father was a Swedish American and her mother was of German, French, and Polish ancestry.[3][4] Because of her fathers attachment to the U.S. Army, the family moved frequently. She spent some of her childhood in Key West, Florida, where she was enrolled in a Catholic convent school,[5] and in Puerto Rico, where she saw her first motion pictures.[6]

Career

1914–1918: Essanay/Keystone/Triangle

Black and white photo of a young man, a young woman, and a dog

Bobby Vernon with Gloria Swanson and Teddy the Dog in Teddy at the Throttle (1917)

Her family once again residing in Chicago, the adolescent Gloria developed a crush on actor Francis X. Bushman and knew he was employed by Essanay Studios in the city. Swanson later recalled that her Aunt Inga brought her at the age of 15 to visit Bushmans studio, where she was discovered by a tour guide. Other accounts have the star-struck Swanson herself talking her way into the business. In either version, she was soon hired as an extra.[7]

The movie industry was still in its infancy, churning out short subjects, without the advantage of todays casting agencies and talent agents promoting their latest find. A willing extra was often a valuable asset. Her first role was a brief walk-on with actress Gerda Holmes, that paid an enormous (in those days) $3.25.[8] The studio soon offered her steady work at $13.25 (equivalent to $403 in 2023) per week.[9][10] Swanson left school to work full-time at the studio.[9] In 1915, she co-starred in Sweedie Goes to College with her future first husband Wallace Beery.[11]

Portrait (1917)

Swansons mother accompanied her to California in 1916 for her roles in Mack Sennetts Keystone Studios comedy shorts opposite Bobby Vernon and directed by Clarence G. Badger. They were met at the train station by Beery, who was pursuing his own career ambitions at Keystone.[12] Vernon and Swanson projected a great screen chemistry that proved popular with audiences. Director Charley Chase recalled that Swanson was "frightened to death" of Vernons dangerous stunts.[13] Surviving movies in which they appear together include The Danger Girl (1916), The Sultans Wife (1917), and Teddy at the Throttle (1917).[14][15] Badger was sufficiently impressed by Swanson to recommend her to the director Jack Conway for Her Decision and You Cant Believe Everything in 1918.[14][16] Triangle had never put Swanson under contract, but did increase her pay to $15 a week. When she was approached by Famous Players–Lasky to work for Cecil B. DeMille, the resulting legal dispute obligated her to Triangle for several more months. Soon afterward, Triangle was in a financial bind and loaned Swanson to DeMille for the comedy Dont Change Your Husband.[17][15]

Swanson in Male and Female (1919)

1919–1926: Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount Pictures

Swanson in the 1920s

At the behest of DeMille, Swanson signed a contract with Famous Players–Lasky on December 30, 1918, for $150 a week, to be raised to $200 a week, and eventually $350 a week.[18] Her first picture under her new contract was DeMilles World War I romantic drama For Better, for Worse.[19] She made six pictures under the direction of DeMille,[20] including Male and Female[21] (1919) in which she posed with a lion as "Lions Bride".[22] While she and her father were dining out one evening, the man who would become her second husband, Equity Pictures president Herbert K. Somborn, introduced himself, by inviting her to meet one of her personal idols, actress Clara Kimball Young.[23]

Black and white photo of a man and woman embracing

Swanson and Rudolph Valentino in a scene from Beyond the Rocks (1922)

Why Change Your Wife?, Something to Think About (both 1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921) soon followed.[24] She next appeared in 10 films directed by Sam Wood,[25] starting with The Great Moment (1921) and including Beyond the Rocks in 1922 with her longtime friend Rudolph Valentino.[26][27] Valentino had become a star in 1921 for his appearance in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but Swanson had known him since his days as an aspiring actor getting small parts, with no apparent hope for his professional future. She was impressed by his shy, well-mannered personality, the complete opposite of what his public image would become.[28]

After her films with Wood, she appeared in Zaza (1923) directed by Allan Dwan. During her time at Famous Players–Lasky, seven more of her films were directed by Dwan.[29]

In 1925, Swanson starred in the French-American comedy Madame Sans-Gêne, directed by Léonce Perret.[30] 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 considered to be a lost film.[31] Swanson appeared in a 1925 short produced by Lee de Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process.[32] She made a number of films for Paramount, including The Coast of Folly (1925), Stage Struck (1925) and The Untamed Lady (1926).[33] Before she could produce films with United Artists, she completed Fine Manners with Paramount and turned down an offer to make The King of Kings with DeMille.[34]

1925–1933: United Artists

Swanson on the March 7, 1925, cover of Liberty magazine

She turned down a one-million-dollar-a-year (equivalent to $17,500,000 in 2023)[10] contract with Paramount in favor of joining the newly created United Artists partnership on June 25, 1925, accepting a six-picture distribution offer from president Joseph Schenck.[35] At the time, Swanson was considered the most bankable star of her era.[36] United Artists had its own Art Cinema Corporation subsidiary to advance financial loans for the productions of individual partners.[37] The partnership agreement included her commitment to a buy-in of $100,000 of preferred stock subscription.[35]

Swanson Producing Corporation

The Swanson Producing Corporation was set up as the umbrella organization for her agreement with United Artists.[38] Under that name, she produced The Love of Sunya with herself in the title role.[39] The film, co-starring John Boles, was directed by Albert Parker, based on the play The Eyes of Youth by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon.[38] The production was a disaster, with Parker being indecisive and the actors not experienced enough to deliver the performances she wanted. The film fell behind in its schedule, and by the time of its release, the end product had not lived up to Swansons expectations.[40] While it did not lose money, it was a financial wash, breaking even on the production costs.[41]

Portrait of Gloria Swanson by Milena Pavlović-Barili

Gloria Swanson Productions

Main article: Sadie Thompson (film)

She engaged the services of director Raoul Walsh in 1927 and together they conceived of making a film based on W. Somerset Maughams short story "Miss Thompson".[42] Gloria Swanson Productions proposed to film the controversial Sadie Thompson about the travails of a prostitute living in American Samoa, a project that initially pleased United Artists president Joseph Schenck.[43] As she moved forward with the project, association members urged Schenck to halt the production due to its subject matter. The members took further steps by registering their discontent with Will H. Hays, Chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.[44] Walsh previously had his own battles with the Hays office, having managed to skirt around censorship issues with What Price Glory? [45] By bringing him to the table, literally over breakfast in her home, Hays and Swanson developed a working relationship for the film.[46] Hays was enthusiastic about the basic story, but did have specific issues that were dealt with before the films release.[46] The project was filmed on Santa Catalina Island, just off the coast of Long Beach, California.[47] Gross receipts slightly exceeded $850,000 (equivalent to $14,900,000 in 2023).[10][41] At the first annual Academy Awards, Swanson received a nomination for Best Actress for her performance, and the films cinematographer George Barnes was also nominated.[48]

Gloria Productions

Swanson (left) in Indiscreet

By the end of 1927, Swanson was in dire financial straits, with only $65 in the bank.[49] Her two productions had generated income, but too slowly to offset her production loan debts to Art Cinema Corporation.[41][50] Swanson had also not made good on her $100,000 subscription for preferred United Artists shared stock.[41] She had received financial proposals from United Artists studio head Joseph Schenck, as well as from Bank of America, prior to engaging the services of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. as her financial advisor.[51] He proposed to personally bankroll her next picture and conducted a thorough examination of her financial records.[52] Kennedy advised her to shut down Swanson Producing Corporation. She agreed to his plan for a fresh start under the dummy corporate name of Gloria Productions, headquartered in Delaware.[52] Upon his advice, she fired most of her staff and sold her rights for The Love of Sunya and Sadie Thompson to Art Cinema Corporation.[53] Kennedy then created the position of "European director of Pathé" to put her third husband Henry de La Falaise on the payroll.[54]

Sound films were already becoming popular with audiences, most notably the films of singer Al Jolson, who had success with The Jazz Singer released in 1927 and The Singing Fool in 1928.[55] Kennedy, however, advised her to hire Erich von Stroheim to direct another silent film, The Swamp, subsequently retitled Queen Kelly. She was hesitant to hire Stroheim, who was known for being difficult to deal with and who was unwilling to work within any budget. Kennedy, nevertheless, was insistent and was able to get Stroheim released from contractual obligations to producer Pat Powers.[56] Stroheim worked for several months on writing the basic script.[55] Filming of Queen Kelly began in November.[57] His filming was slow, albeit meticulous, and the cast and crew suffered from long hours. Shooting was shut down in January, and Stroheim fired, after complaints by Swanson about him and about the general direction the film was taking.[58] Swanson and Kennedy tried to salvage it with an alternative ending shot on November 24, 1931, directed by Swanson and photographed by Gregg Toland.[59][60]

Only two other films were made under Gloria Productions.[25] The Trespasser in 1929 was a sound production, and garnered Swanson her second Oscar nomination.[61] Written by Edmund Goulding, with Laura Hope Crews fine-tuning the dialogue, Kennedy approved funding for the go-ahead on the production.[62] The film was a melodrama, complete with musical numbers sung by Swanson and completed in 21 days.[63] The world premiere was held in London, the first American sound production to do so. Swanson was mobbed by adoring fans. Before leaving London, she sang at a concert carried over the BBC.[64] What a Widow! in 1930 was the final film for Gloria Productions.[65][66]

United Artists stars on the radio

Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks hosted the March 29, 1928, episode of the Dodge Hour radio program, originating from Pickfords private bungalow at United Artists, and broadcast to audiences in American movie theaters. The brainchild of Joseph Schenck, it was a promotional come-on to attract audiences into movie theaters to hear the voices of their favorite actors, as sound productions became the future of commercial films.[67] On hand were Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, John Barrymore, Dolores del Río and D. W. Griffith.[68]

Gloria Swanson British Productions Ltd.

Swanson and John Boles in Music in the Air (1934)

Swanson and Laurence Olivier in Perfect Understanding (1933)

Before she began filming Perfect Understanding as Gloria Swanson British Productions Ltd., she finished a two-film package production for Art Cinema, which included Indiscreet and Tonight or Never (1931).[69] Perfect Understanding, a 1933 sound production comedy, was the only film produced by this company.[70] Made entirely at Ealing Studios, it co-starred Laurence Olivier as Swansons on-screen husband.[71] United Artists bought back all of her stock with them, in order to provide her financing to make this film, and thereby ending her relationship with the partnership.[69] The film was panned by the critics upon its release and failed at the box office.[72]

1938–1950: Creating new paths

When she made the transition to sound films as her career simultaneously began to decline, Swanson moved permanently to New York City in 1938.[73] Swanson starred in Father Takes a Wife for RKO in 1941.[74] She began appearing in stage productions and starred in The Gloria Swanson Hour on WPIX-TV in 1948.[75] Swanson threw herself into painting and sculpting and, in 1954, published Gloria Swansons Diary, a general newsletter.[76] She toured in summer stock, engaged in political activism, designed and marketed clothing and accessories, and made personal appearances on radio and in movie theaters.[74][77]

1950 – 1977: Later career

Sunset Boulevard

Main article: Sunset Boulevard (film)

Swanson and William Holden in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

“It should be pointed out that Gloria Swanson was not Norma Desmond. Unlike her delusional screen counterpart, Swanson was fiercely realistic. She lived in the present –not in the past– and pursued many interests with passionate zeal. She was also a good actress. Judging by the number of people who think she was Norma Desmond, maybe a little too good.” – Biographer Lon Davis in Silent Lives: 100 Biographies of the Silent Film Era. (2008).[78]

The film Sunset Boulevard was conceived by director Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Brackett, and came to include writer D. M. Marshman Jr.[79] They bandied about the name of Mae West, whose public persona even in her senior years was as a sex symbol, but she objected to playing a has-been.[80] Mary Pickford was also considered for the lead role of Norma Desmond.[81] It was director George Cukor who suggested Swanson, noting that she was once such a valuable asset to her studio that she was, "...carried in a sedan chair from her dressing room to the set".[80]

The storyline of the film follows a faded silent movie actress Norma Desmond (Swanson), in love with a failed screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden).[82] She lives at the mansion with her former-husband-director-turned-butler Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim), who personally disliked the role and only agreed to it out of financial need.[83] A clip from Queen Kelly was used for the scene where Joe and Norma are watching one of her silent films, and she declares, "... we didnt need dialogue, we had faces".[84] Norma plays a card game of bridge with a group of actors also known as "the Waxworks". They included Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson.[85] During the scene leading up to Cecil B. DeMilles cameo, where Max chauffeurs Joe and Norma to the studio, her Isotta Fraschini luxury automobile was towed from behind the camera, because Stroheim had never learned how to drive.[86] Normas dreams of a comeback are subverted, and when Gillis tries to break up with her, she threatens to kill herself, but instead kills him. She becomes delusional by the time the police and news media arrive. Max sets up the studio lighting towards her on the staircase and directs her down towards the waiting police and news cameras,[87] where she says, "All right, Mr. DeMille, Im ready for my close-up."[88]

Although Swanson had objected to enduring a screen test for the film, she had been glad to be making much more money than she had been in television and on stage.[80] She found the overall experience of making the movie a pleasure, and later stated, "I hated to have the picture end ... When Mr. Wilder called ‘Print it!' I burst into tears...”[89] She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, but lost to Judy Holliday.[90]

Final films

Swanson received several acting offers following the release of Sunset Boulevard, but turned most of them down, saying they tended to be pale imitations of Norma Desmond.[91] Her last major Hollywood motion picture role was also her first color film, the poorly received 3 for Bedroom C in 1952.[92] Nationally syndicated columnist Suzy called it "one of the worst movies ever made."[93] In 1956, Swanson made Neros Mistress, an Italian film shot in Rome, which starred Alberto Sordi, Vittorio de Sica and Brigitte Bardot.[94] Her final screen appearance, in 1974, was as herself in Airport 1975.[95]

Television and theatre

Black and white photo of a man and woman looking at each other

Swanson with Fred MacMurray in the promo of My Three Sons (1965)

Swanson hosted The Gloria Swanson Hour, one of the first live television series in 1948 in which she invited friends and others to be guests.[75] Swanson later hosted Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson, a television anthology series in which she occasionally acted.[96]

Through the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, Swanson appeared on many different talk and variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to recollect her movies and to lampoon them as well.[97][98] On The Carol Burnett Show in 1973, Swanson reprised her impersonation of Charlie Chaplin from both Sunset Boulevard and Manhandled.[99][100] She was the "mystery guest" on Whats My Line.[101] She acted in "Behind the Locked Door" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1964 and, in the same year, she was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance in Burkes Law.[102][103] She made a guest appearance on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1970; a guest on the same show as Janis Joplin.[104] She made a notable appearance in a 1966 episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, in which she plays herself.[102] In the episode, the Clampetts mistakenly believe Swanson is destitute and decide to finance a comeback movie for her – in a silent film.[105]

After near-retirement from movies, Swanson appeared in many plays throughout her later life, beginning in the 1940s.[106] Actor and playwright Harold J. Kennedy, who had learned the ropes at Yale and with Orson Welles Mercury Theatre, suggested Swanson do a road tour of "Reflected Glory", a comedy that had run on the Broadway stage with Tallulah Bankhead as its star.[107] Kennedy wrote the script for the play A Goose for the Gander, which began its road tour in Chicago in August 1944.[108][109][110]

Swanson also toured with Let Us Be Gay.[111] After her success with Sunset Boulevard, she starred on Broadway in a revival of Twentieth Century with José Ferrer, and in Nina with David Niven.[112] Her last major stage role was in the 1971 Broadway production of Butterflies Are Free at the Booth Theatre.[113] Kevin Brownlow and David Gill interviewed her for Hollywood, a television history of the silent era.[114]

Personal life

Gloria Swanson in her home

Swanson in her New York City apartment (1972)

Swanson was a vegetarian and an early health food advocate[115] who was known for bringing her own meals to public functions in a tin box.[101] In 1975, Swanson traveled the United States and helped to promote the book Sugar Blues written by her husband, William Dufty.[116] He also ghostwrote Swansons 1981 autobiography Swanson on Swanson, which became a commercial success.[117][118] The same year, she designed a stamp cachet for the United Nations Decade for Women, which was her last creative project.[119]

She was a pupil of the yoga guru Indra Devi and was photographed performing a series of yoga poses, reportedly looking much younger than her age, for Devi to use in her book Forever Young, Forever Healthy; but the publisher Prentice-Hall decided to use the photographs for Swansons book, not Devis. In return, Swanson, who normally never did publicity events, helped to launch Devis book at the Waldorf-Astoria in 1953.[120]

As a Republican she supported the 1940 and 1944 campaigns for president of Wendell Willkie and the 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater.[103] In 1980, she chaired the New York chapter of Seniors for Reagan-Bush.[121]

In 1964, Swanson spoke at a "Project Prayer" rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.[122] The gathering, which was hosted by Anthony Eisley, a star of ABCs Hawaiian Eye series, sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer, following two decisions in 1962 and 1963 of the United States Supreme Court, which struck down mandatory prayer as conflicting with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[123][124] Joining Swanson and Eisley at the Project Prayer rally were Walter Brennan, Lloyd Nolan, Rhonda Fleming, Pat Boone, and Dale Evans. Swanson declared "Under God we became the freest, strongest, wealthiest nation on earth. Should we change that?"[125]

Marriages and relationships

Wallace Beery

Wallace Beery and Swanson married on her 17th birthday on March 27, 1916, but by her wedding night she felt she had made a mistake and saw no way out of it.[126][127] She did not like his home or his family and was repulsed by him as a lover. After becoming pregnant, she saw her husband with other women and learned he had been fired from Keystone.[128] Taking medication given to her by Beery, purported to be for morning sickness, she miscarried the fetus and was taken unconscious to the hospital.[129] Soon afterwards, she filed for divorce, which was finalized on December 12, 1918.[130] Under California law in that era, after a divorce was granted, there was a one-year waiting period before it became finalized so that either of the parties could remarry.[131]

Herbert K. Somborn

She married Herbert K. Somborn on December 20, 1919.[132] He was at that time president of Equity Pictures Corporation and later the owner of the Brown Derby restaurant.[133] Their daughter, Gloria Swanson Somborn, was born on October 7, 1920.[134][135] In 1923, she adopted one-year-old Sonny Smith, whom she renamed Joseph Patrick Swanson after her father.[136] During their divorce proceedings, Somborn accused her of adultery with 13 men, including Cecil B. DeMille and Marshall Neilan.[137] The public sensationalism led to Swanson having a "morals clause" added to her studio contract.[138] Somborn was granted a divorce in Los Angeles, on September 19, 1923.[139]

Henri de la Falaise

Swanson and Henri de la Falaise leaving Los Angeles for New York, July 1925

My marriage to Henri gave me the only real peace and happiness I had ever known—or have ever known since. Of my five marriages this one came the nearest to being what I, in my haus-frau heart, have always wanted a marriage to be. He was then and he remains in memory a more delightful companion than any I have known.[140]

Gloria Swanson, 1950

During the production of Madame Sans-Gêne, Swanson met her third husband, Henri, Marquis de la Falaise (commonly known as Henri de la Falaise),[141] who had been hired to be her translator during the films production.[142] Though Henri was a Marquis and related to the famous Hennessy cognac family, he had no personal wealth.[143] She had conceived a child with him before her divorce from Somborn was final, a situation that would have led to a public scandal and possible end of her film career. She had an abortion, which she later regretted.[144] They married on January 28, 1925, after the Somborn divorce was finalized.[141] Following a four-month recuperation from her abortion, they returned to the United States as European nobility. Swanson now held the title of Marquise.[145] She received a huge welcome home with parades in both New York and Los Angeles. He became a film executive representing Pathé (USA) in France.[146] This marriage ended in divorce in 1930.[147]

In spite of the divorce they remained close, and Falaise became a partner in her World War II efforts to aid potential scientist refugees fleeing from behind Nazi lines.[148] Swanson described herself as a "mental vampire", someone with a searching curiosity about how things worked, and who pursued the possibilities of turning those ideas into reality.[73] In 1939, she created Multiprises, an inventions and patents company; Henri de la Falaise provided a transitional Paris office for the scientists and gave written documentation to authorities guaranteeing jobs for them.[149] Viennese electronics engineer Richard Kobler, chemist Leopold Karniol, metallurgist Anton Kratky, and acoustical engineer Leopold Neumann, were brought to New York and headquartered in Rockefeller Center.[150] The group nicknamed her "Big Chief".[151]

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

While still married to Henri, Swanson had a lengthy affair with the married Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., father of future President John F. Kennedy.[152] He became her business partner, and their relationship was an open secret in Hollywood. He took over all of her personal and business affairs and was supposed to make her millions.[52] Kennedy left her after the disastrous Queen Kelly.[153]

Michael Farmer

After the marriage to Henri and her affair with Kennedy was over, Swanson became acquainted with Michael Farmer, the man who would become her fourth husband. They met by chance in Paris when Swanson was being fitted by Coco Chanel for her 1931 film Tonight or Never. Farmer was a man of independent financial means who seemed not to have been employed. Rumors were that he was a gigolo. Swanson began spending time with him,[154] during which she discovered a breast lump and also became pregnant, but was not yet divorced from Henri.[155] She was not interested in marrying Farmer, but he did not want to break off the relationship. When Farmer found out she was pregnant, he threatened to go public with the news unless she agreed to marry him, something she did not want to do. Her friends, some of whom openly disliked him, thought she was making a mistake.[156] They married on August 16, 1931, and separated 2 years later.[157][158]

Because of the possibility that Swansons divorce from La Falaise had not been finalized at the time of the wedding, she was forced to remarry Farmer the following November, by which time she was four months pregnant with Michelle Bridget Farmer, who was born on April 5, 1932.[159]

Herbert Marshall

Swanson and Farmer divorced in 1934 after she became involved with married British actor Herbert Marshall. The media reported widely on her affair with Marshall.[160][161][162] After almost three years with the actor, Swanson left him once she became convinced he would never divorce his wife Edna Best, for her. In an early manuscript of her autobiography written in her own hand decades later, Swanson recalled "I was never so convincingly and thoroughly loved as I was by Herbert Marshall."[163]

William M. Davey

Davey was a wealthy investment broker whom Swanson met in October 1944 while she was appearing in A Goose for the Gander. They married January 29, 1945.[164] Swanson had initially thought she was going to be able to retire from acting, but the marriage was troubled by Daveys alcoholism from the start. Erratic behavior and acrimonious recriminations followed. Swanson and her daughter Michelle Farmer visited an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and gathered AA pamphlets, which they placed around the apartment.[165][166] Davey moved out.[165] In the subsequent legal separation proceedings, the judge ordered him to pay Swanson alimony. In an effort to avoid the payments, Davey unsuccessfully filed for divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty. He died within a year, not having paid anything to Swanson, and left the bulk of his estate to the Damon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund.[167][168]

William Dufty

Swansons final marriage occurred in 1976 and lasted until her death. Her sixth husband William Dufty was a writer who worked for many years at the New York Post, where he was assistant to the editor from 1951 to 1960. He was the co-author (ghostwriter) of Billie Holidays autobiography Lady Sings the Blues, the author of Sugar Blues, a 1975 best-selling health book still in print, and the author of the English version of Georges Ohsawas You Are All Sanpaku.[169] They met in the mid-1960s and moved in together.[170][171] Swanson shared her husbands enthusiasm for macrobiotic diets, and they traveled widely together to speak about nutrition.[116] Swanson and her husband first got to know John Lennon and Yoko Ono because they were fans of Duftys work.[172] Swanson testified on Lennons behalf at his immigration hearing in New York City, which led to his becoming a permanent resident.[173] Besides her Fifth Avenue apartment, she and Dufty spent time at their homes in Beverly Hills, California; Colares, Portugal; Croton-on-Hudson, New York; and Palm Springs, California.[174] After Swansons death, Dufty returned to his former home in Birmingham, Michigan. He died of cancer in 2002.[169]

Death

Swanson died of a heart ailment at the New York Hospital on April 4, 1983, having recently returned from her home on the Portuguese Riviera.[175][176] Her body was cremated and her ashes interred at the Church of the Heavenly Rest on Fifth Avenue in New York City, attended by a small number of family members.[177]

After Swansons death, there was a series of auctions from August to September 1983 at William Doyle Galleries in New York. Collectors bought her furniture and decorations, jewelry, clothing, and memorabilia from her personal life and career.[178]

Honors and legacy

In 1960, Gloria Swanson was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 6750 Hollywood Boulevard, and another for television at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard.[179] In 1955 and 1957, Swanson was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film,[180][181] and in 1966, the museum honored her with a career film retrospective, titled A Tribute to Gloria Swanson, which screened several of her movies.[182] In 1974, Swanson was one of the honorees of the first Telluride Film Festival.[183] A parking lot by Sims Park in downtown New Port Richey, Florida, is named after the star, who is said to have owned property along the Cotee River.[184]

In 1982, a year before her death, Swanson sold her archives of over 600 boxes for an undisclosed sum, including photographs, artwork, copies of films and private papers, including correspondence, contracts, and financial dealings, to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Upon her death in 1983, much of the remainder of her holdings was purchased by UT-Austin at an auction held at the Doyle New York gallery. An undisclosed amount of memorabilia was also gifted to the HRC Center between 1983 and 1988.[174]

In 1989, the Library of Congress chose Sunset Boulevard, along with 24 other films, "to be preserved in the permanent collection of the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as culturally, historically, and aesthetically important".[185]

Portrayals

Swanson has been played both on television and in film by the following actresses:

1971: Carol Burnett on The Carol Burnett Show[186]

1984: Diane Venora in The Cotton Club[187]

1990: Madolyn Smith in The Kennedys of Massachusetts[188]

1991: Ann Turkel in White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd[189]

2008: Kristen Wiig in Saturday Night Live[190]

2013: Debi Mazar in Return to Babylon[191]

Stage

Note: The list below is limited to New York Broadway theatrical productions.

Broadway credits of Gloria Swanson

TitleDateRoleRef(s)

A Goose for the GanderJanuary 23, 1945 – February 3, 1945Katherine[192]

BathshebaMarch 26, 1947 – April 19, 1947[193]

Twentieth CenturyDecember 24, 1950 – June 2, 1951Lily Garland[194]

NinaDecember 5, 1951 – January 12, 1952Nina[195]

Butterflies Are FreeSeptember 7, 1971 – July 2, 1972Mrs. Baker[196]

Filmography

Key

†Denotes a lost or presumed lost film.

Shorts

Short subject

TitleYearRoleNotes

Studio/DistributorRef(s)

The Song of the Soul †1914Unconfirmed[197]

The Misjudged Mr. Hartley †1915Maid[198]

At the End of a Perfect Day †1915Hands Bouquet to HolmesUncredited, actual release date of January 26, 2015[197]

The Ambition of the Baron1915Bit partEssanay Film

starring Francis X. Bushman[199]

His New Job1915StenographerEssanay Film

Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin[198]

The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket †1915Farina, Elviras DaughterCredited as Gloria Mae

Essanay Film[198]

Sweedie Goes to College †1915College GirlWallace Beery played Sweedie in a series of shorts

Essanay Film[200]

The Romance of an American Duchess †1915Minor RoleUncredited

Essanay Film[201]

The Broken Pledge †1915GloriaEssanay Film[202]

A Dash of Courage †1916Keystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[203]

Hearts and Sparks †1916Keystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[204]

A Social Cub †1916Keystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[205]

The Danger Girl1916Reggies madcap sisterKeystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[206]

Haystacks and Steeples †1916Keystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[207]

The Nick of Time Baby1916Keystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[208]

Teddy at the Throttle1917Gloria Dawn, His SweetheartUncredited

with Bobby Vernon

Keystone/Triangle

directed by Clarence G. Badger[209]

Baseball Madness †1917Victor Film/Universal[210]

Dangers of a Bride †1917Keystone/Triangle

directed by Clarence G. Badger[15]

Whose Baby?1917Keystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[15]

The Sultans Wife1917GloriaKeystone/Triangle

with Bobby Vernon

directed by Clarence G. Badger[15]

The Pullman Bride1917The GirlParamount-Mack Sennett

directed by Clarence G. Badger[211]

A Trip to Paramountown1922HerselfParamount[212]

Features

Feature film credits of Gloria Swanson

TitleYearRoleNotes

Studio/DistributorRef(s)

Society for Sale †1918Phylis ClyneTriangle Film Corporation[213]

Her Decision †1918Phyllis DunbarTriangle Film Corporation

directed by Jack Conway[214]

You Cant Believe Everything †1918Patricia ReynoldsTriangle Film Corporation

directed by Jack Conway[215]

Station Content1918Kitty ManningTriangle Film Corporation

directed by Arthur Hoyt

One reel survives[215]

Everywomans Husband1918Edith EmersonTriangle Film Corporation

directed by Gilbert P. Hamilton[215]

Shifting Sands1918Marcia GreyTriangle Film Corporation

directed by Albert Parker[216]

The Secret Code †1918Sally Carter RandTriangle Film Corporation

directed by Albert Parker[215]

Wife or Country †1918Sylvia HamiltonTriangle Film Corporation

directed by E. Mason Hopper[215]

Dont Change Your Husband1919Leila PorterFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Cecil B. DeMille[216]

For Better, for Worse1919Sylvia NorcrossFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Cecil B. DeMille[215]

Male and Female1919Lady Mary LasenbyFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Cecil B. DeMille[217]

Why Change Your Wife?1920Beth GordonFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Cecil B. DeMille[217]

Something to Think About1920Ruth AndersonFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Cecil B. DeMille[217]

The Affairs of Anatol1921Vivian Spencer – Anatols WifeFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Cecil B. DeMille[217][218]

The Great Moment †1921Nada Pelham/Nadine PelhamFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[217]

Under the Lash †1921Deborah KrilletFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[219]

Dont Tell Everything †1921Marian WestoverFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[220]

Her Husbands Trademark1922Lois MillerFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[220]

Her Gilded Cage †1922Suzanne OrnoffFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[220]

Beyond the Rocks1922Theodora FitzgeraldFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[220]

The Impossible Mrs. Bellew †1922Betty BellewFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[220]

My American Wife †1922Natalie ChesterFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[221]

Prodigal Daughters †1923Swifty ForbesFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[222]

Bluebeards 8th Wife †1923Mona deBriacFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sam Wood[222]

Hollywood †1923Cameo roleFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount[223]

Zaza1923ZazaFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Allan Dwan[222]

The Humming Bird1924ToinetteFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Sidney Olcott[222]

A Society Scandal †1924Marjorie ColbertFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Allan Dwan[222]

Manhandled1924Tessie McGuireFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Allan Dwan[222]

Her Love Story †1924Princess MarieFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Allan Dwan[224]

Wages of Virtue †1924CarmelitaFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Allan Dwan[224]

Madame Sans-Gêne †1925Madame Sans-GêneFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Léonce Perret[224]

The Coast of Folly †1925Joyce Gathway/Nadine GathwayFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Allan Dwan[224]

Stage Struck1925Jennie HagenFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Allan Dwan[224]

The Untamed Lady †1926St. Clair Van TasselFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Frank Tuttle[225]

Fine Manners1926Orchid MurphyFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount

directed by Richard Rosson[225]

The Love of Sunya1927Sunya AshlingSwanson Producing Corporation/United Artists

directed by Albert Parker[225]

Sadie Thompson1928Sadie ThompsonGloria Swanson Productions/United Artists

directed by Raoul Walsh[225]

Queen Kelly1928Kitty Kelly/Queen KellyJoseph P. Kennedy/United Artists

directed by Erich von Stroheim[225]

The Trespasser1929Marion DonnellGloria Productions/United Artists

directed by Edmund Goulding

Released in two versions, one silent, and the other with sound[65]

What a Widow! †1930Tamarind BrookGloria Productions/United Artists

directed by Allan Dwan[226]

Indiscreet1931Geraldine "Gerry" TrentFeature Productions, Inc.

A DeSylva, Brown & Henderson Production

directed by Leo McCarey[226]

Tonight or Never1931Nella VagoFeature Productions, Inc./United Artists

directed by Mervyn LeRoy[226]

Perfect Understanding1933Judy RogersGloria Swanson British Productions, Ltd./United Artists

directed by Cyril Gardner[227]

Music in the Air1934Frieda HotzfeltErich Pommer Productions/Fox Film

directed by Joe May[228]

Father Takes a Wife1941Leslie Collier OsborneMarcus Lee/RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

directed by William Dorfman[228]

Sunset Boulevard1950Norma DesmondCharles Brackett/Paramount

directed by Billy Wilder[228]

3 for Bedroom "C"1952Ann Haven/costume designerBrenco Pictures Corporation/Warner Bros.

directed by Milton H. Bren[229]

Neros Weekend (aka Neros Mistress)1956AgrippinaLes Films Marceau and Titanus/Manhattan Films International

directed by Steno[95]

Airport 19751974HerselfUniversal Pictures

directed by Jack Smight[95]

Television

Television

TitleYearRoleNotesRef(s)

The Gloria Swanson Hour1948HostessVariety show[230]

The Peter Lind Hayes Show1950HerselfEpisode #1.1

sitcom show[231]

Hollywood Opening Night1953Episode: "The Pattern"[232]

Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson1954–1955Hostess25 episodes[96]

The Steve Allen Show1957Norma DesmondEpisode #3.8[233]

Straightaway1961Lorraine CarringtonEpisode: "A Toast to Yesterday"[234]

Dr. Kildare1963Julia ColtonEpisode: "The Good Luck Charm"[102]

Burkes Law1963–1964Various roles2 episodes[102]

Kraft Suspense Theatre1964Mrs. Charlotte HeatonSegment: "Who Is Jennifer?"[102]

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour1964Mrs. DanielsEpisode: "Behind the Locked Door"[102]

My Three Sons1965Margaret McSterlingEpisode: "The Fountain of Youth"[102]

Ben Casey1965Victoria HoffmanEpisode: "Minus That Rusty Old Hacksaw"[102]

The Beverly Hillbillies1966HerselfEpisode: "The Gloria Swanson Story"[102]

The Eternal Tramp Special1972Narratoraka Chaplinesque, My Life and Hard Times[235]

The Carol Burnett Show1973HerselfEpisode #7.3[99]

Killer Bees1974Madame Maria von BohlenTelevision movie[236]

The Great Debate1974HerselfCanadian interview show with James Bawden[237]

Hollywood1980HerselfTelevision documentary[238]

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations of Gloria Swanson

YearAwardResultCategoryFilm or seriesRef(s)

1929Academy AwardNominatedBest ActressSadie Thompson[48]

1931The Trespasser[61]

1951Sunset Boulevard[239]

1951Golden Globe AwardWonBest Actress – Motion Picture Drama[240]

1964NominatedBest TV Star – FemaleBurkes Law[102]

1951Italian National Syndicate of Film JournalistsWonBest Actress – Foreign Film (Migliore Attrice Straniera)Sunset Boulevard[241]

1951Jussi AwardWonBest Foreign Actress[242]

1950National Board of Review of Motion PicturesWonBest Actress[243]

1980Career Achievement Award

-

[244]

1975Saturn AwardWonSpecial Award

-

[245]

Sunset Boulevard (styled in the main title on-screen as SUNSET BLVD.) is a 1950 American black comedy[1][2] film noir[3] directed by Billy Wilder and co-written by Wilder and Charles Brackett. It was named after a major street that runs through Hollywood.

The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her deranged fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Erich von Stroheim plays Max von Mayerling, her devoted butler, and Nancy Olson, Jack Webb, Lloyd Gough, and Fred Clark appear in supporting roles. Director Cecil B. DeMille and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper play themselves, and the film includes cameo appearances by silent-film stars Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson.

Praised by many critics when first released, Sunset Boulevard was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including nominations in all four acting categories) and won three. It is often ranked among the greatest movies ever made. As it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the U.S. Library of Congress in 1989, Sunset Boulevard was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[4] In 1998, it was ranked number 12 on the American Film Institutes list of the 100 best American films of the 20th century, and in 2007, it was 16th on their 10th Anniversary list.

Plot

At a mansion on Sunset Boulevard, a group of police officers and photographers discover the body of Joe Gillis floating face down in the swimming pool. In a flashback, Joe relates the events leading to his death.

Six months earlier, Joe is a down-on-his-luck screenwriter trying to interest Paramount Pictures in a story he submitted. Script reader Betty Schaefer harshly critiques it, unaware that Joe is listening. Later, while fleeing from repo men seeking his car, Joe turns into the driveway of a seemingly deserted mansion inhabited by forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond. Learning that Joe is a writer, Norma asks his opinion of a script she has written for a film about Salome. She plans to play the role herself in her return to the screen. Joe finds her script abysmal, but flatters her into hiring him as a script doctor.

Joe moves into Normas mansion at her insistence, and sees that Norma refuses to accept that her fame has evaporated. Her butler Max secretly writes all of the fan mail that she receives in order to maintain the illusion. At her New Years Eve party, Joe realizes that she has fallen in love with him. He tries to let her down gently, but Norma slaps him and retreats to her room, distraught. Joe visits his friend Artie Green and again meets Betty, who thinks a scene in one of Joes scripts has potential. When he phones Max to have him pack his things, Max tells him Norma has cut her wrists with his razor. Joe then returns to Norma, and their relationship becomes romantic.

Norma has Max deliver the edited Salome script to her former director Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. She starts getting calls from Paramount executive Gordon Cole but refuses to speak to anyone except DeMille. Eventually, she has Max drive her and Joe to Paramount in her 1929 Isotta Fraschini. DeMille welcomes her affectionately and treats her with great respect, tactfully evading her questions about the script. Max then learns that Cole only called her because he wants to rent her Isotta Fraschini for use in a film.

Preparing for her imagined comeback, Norma undergoes rigorous beauty treatments. Joe secretly works nights in Bettys office, collaborating on an original screenplay. His moonlighting is discovered by Max, who then reveals that he was once a respected film director who discovered Norma, made her a star, and was her first husband. After she divorced him, he abandoned his career to become her servant.

Norma discovers a manuscript with Joes and Bettys names on it and phones Betty, insinuating that Joe is not the man he seems. Overhearing the call, Joe invites Betty to the mansion to see his situation for herself. When she arrives, he pretends that he is satisfied being a kept man so that she can be with Artie. However, after she tearfully leaves, he packs for a return to his old newspaper job in Dayton, Ohio. He bluntly informs Norma that there will be no comeback, that Max writes all of her fan mail, and that she has been forgotten. He disregards Normas threat to kill herself as she brandishes a gun; as he leaves the house, Norma shoots him three times, and he collapses into the pool.

The flashback ends and the film returns to the present day, with Desmond about to be arrested for murder. The mansion is overrun with police and reporters with newsreel cameras, which she believes are there to film Salome instead. Max, who Norma now believes is DeMille, positions himself among the cameras to "direct" her, and the police play along. As the cameras roll, Norma descends the grand staircase for her close-up. Overcome with emotion, she stops and makes an impromptu speech about how happy she is to be making a film again. She then continues walking towards the camera, a look of insanity in her eyes, with her descent into madness now complete.

Cast

William Holden as Joe Gillis (Joseph C. Gillis)

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond

Erich von Stroheim as Max von Mayerling

Nancy Olson as Betty Schaefer

Fred Clark as Sheldrake, film producer

Lloyd Gough as Morino, Joes agent

Jack Webb as Artie Green

Franklyn Farnum as undertaker

Larry J. Blake as finance man #1

Charles Dayton as finance man #2

Jack Warden as New Years Eve party guest

Cecil B. DeMille as himself

Hedda Hopper as herself

Sidney Skolsky as himself

Buster Keaton as himself (bridge player)

Anna Q. Nilsson as herself (bridge player)

H. B. Warner as himself (bridge player)

Ray Evans (pianist at Arties party)

Jay Livingston (pianist at Arties party)

Robert OConnor as Jonesy (older guard at Paramount gate)

Henry Wilcoxon as actor on DeMilles Samson and Delilah set (uncredited)

Production

Background

The street known as Sunset Boulevard has been associated with Hollywood film production since 1911, when the towns first film studio, Nestor, opened there. The film workers lived modestly in the growing neighborhood, but during the 1920s, profits and salaries rose to unprecedented levels. With the advent of the star system, luxurious homes noted for their often incongruous grandeur were built in the area.

As a young man living in Berlin in the 1920s, Billy Wilder was interested in American culture, with much of his interest fueled by the countrys films. In the late 1940s, many of the grand Hollywood houses remained, and Wilder, then a Los Angeles resident, found them to be a part of his everyday world. Many former stars from the silent era still lived in them, although most were no longer involved in the film business. Wilder wondered how they spent their time now that "the parade had passed them by" and began imagining the story of a star who had lost her celebrity and box-office appeal.[5]

The character of Norma Desmond mirrors aspects of the twilight years of several real-life faded silent-film stars, such as the reclusive existences of Mary Pickford and Pola Negri and the mental disorders of Mae Murray, Valeska Surratt, Audrey Munson and Clara Bow. Dave Kehr has asserted that Norma Talmadge is "the obvious if unacknowledged source of Norma Desmond, the grotesque, predatory silent movie queen" of the film.[6] The most common analysis of the characters name is that it is a combination of the names of silent film actress Mabel Normand and director William Desmond Taylor, a close friend of Normands who was murdered in 1922 in a never-solved case sensationalized by the press.[7]

Writing

Gloria Swanson and Billy Wilder

Wilder and Brackett began working on a script in 1948, but the result did not completely satisfy them. In August 1948, D. M. Marshman Jr., formerly a writer for Life, was hired to help develop the storyline after Wilder and Brackett were impressed by a critique he provided of their film The Emperor Waltz (1948). In an effort to keep the full details of the story from Paramount Pictures and avoid the restrictive censorship of the Breen Code, they submitted the script a few pages at a time. The Breen Office insisted certain lines be rewritten, such as Gilliss "Im up that creek and I need a job," which became "Im over a barrel. I need a job." Paramount executives thought Wilder was adapting a story called A Can of Beans (which did not exist) and allowed him relative freedom to proceed as he saw fit. Only the first third of the script was written when filming began in early May 1949, and Wilder was unsure how the film would end.[7]

The fusion of writer-director Billy Wilders biting humor and the classic elements of film noir make for a strange kind of comedy, as well as a strange kind of film noir. There are no belly laughs here, but there are certainly strangled giggles: at the pet chimps midnight funeral, at Joes discomfited acquiescence to the role of gigolo; at Normas Mack Sennett-style "entertainments" for her uneasy lover; and at the ritualized solemnity of Normas "waxworks" card parties, which feature such former luminaries as Buster Keaton as Normas has-been cronies.[8]

Wilder preferred to leave analysis of his screenplays and films to others. When asked if Sunset Boulevard was a black comedy, he replied: "No, just a picture".[9]

Casting

Wilder considered many actors for the lead roles, but chose Swanson and Holden.

According to Brackett, Wilder and he never considered anyone except Gloria Swanson for the role of Norma Desmond. Wilder, however, recalled first wanting Mae West and Marlon Brando for the leads. West rejected the offer outright. West portrayed herself as a sex symbol through her senior years, and was offended that she should be asked to play a Hollywood has-been.[10]

The filmmakers approached Greta Garbo, whom they had worked with previously on Ninotchka (1939), but she was not interested. Wilder contacted Pola Negri by telephone, but had a difficult time understanding her heavy Polish accent. He then reached out to Clara Bow, the famed "It girl" of the 1920s, but she declined citing that she had no interest in engaging in the film industry again due to how hard it was for her during the transition of sound films and that shed prefer to remain in seclusion with her husband and sons while leaving her previous life behind her. They also offered the part of Norma Desmond to Norma Shearer, but she rejected the role due to both her retirement and distaste for the script. They were considering Fred MacMurray to play opposite her as Joe. Wilder and Brackett then visited Mary Pickford, but before even discussing the plot with her, Wilder realized she would consider a role involving an affair with a man half her age an insult, so they departed. They had considered pairing Montgomery Clift with her.[11]

According to Wilder, he asked George Cukor for advice, and he suggested Swanson, one of the most fêted actresses of the silent-screen era, known for her beauty, talent, and extravagant lifestyle. In many ways, she resembled the Norma Desmond character, and like her, had been unable to make a smooth transition into talking pictures. The similarities ended there; Swanson made a handful of talking pictures. She accepted the end of her film career and, in the early 1930s, moved to New York City, where she worked in radio. In the mid-1940s, she worked in television and on the New York stage and had last appeared in the 1941 film Father Takes a Wife. Though Swanson was not seeking a movie comeback, she became intrigued when Wilder discussed the role with her.[5]

Swanson was glad for the opportunity to earn a greater salary than she had been making in television and on stage.[10] However, she was chagrined at the notion of submitting to a screen test, saying she had "made 20 films for Paramount. Why do they want me to audition?" Her reaction was echoed in the screenplay when Norma Desmond declares, "Without me there wouldnt be any Paramount studios." In her memoir, Swanson recalled asking Cukor if it was unreasonable to refuse the screen test. He replied that since Norma Desmond was the role for which she would be remembered, "If they ask you to do ten screen tests, do ten screen tests, or I will personally shoot you." His enthusiasm convinced Swanson to participate,[12] and she signed a contract for $50,000 (equivalent to $630,000 in 2023).[13] In a 1975 interview, Wilder recalled Swansons reaction with the observation, "There was a lot of Norma in her, you know."[14]

Wilder harks back to Swansons silent film career when Norma shows Joe the film Queen Kelly, an earlier Gloria Swanson film directed by Erich von Stroheim, who himself portrays Normas butler and former director and husband Max von Mayerling. Queen Kelly was not released in the United States for over 50 years after Swanson walked off the set.[12][15]

Montgomery Clift was signed to play Joe Gillis for $5,000 per week for a guaranteed twelve weeks, but withdrew just before the start of filming, claiming his role of a young man involved with an older woman was too close to the one he had played in The Heiress (1949), in which he felt he had been unconvincing. An infuriated Wilder responded, "If hes any kind of actor, he could be convincing making love to any woman."[16] Clift himself was having an affair with a much older woman, the singer Libby Holman, which was suggested as his real reason for withdrawing from the film.[17][18]

Forced to consider the available Paramount contract players, Wilder and Brackett focused on William Holden, who had made an impressive debut a decade earlier in Golden Boy (1939). Following an appearance in Our Town (1940), he served in the military in World War II, and his return to the screen afterward had been moderately successful. Holden was enthusiastic about the script and eager to accept the role. He did not know at the time that his salary of $39,000 (equivalent to $490,000 in 2023) was much less than had been offered to Clift.[19]

For the role of Betty Schaefer, Wilder wanted a newcomer who could project a wholesome and ordinary image to contrast with Swansons flamboyant and obsessive Desmond. He chose Nancy Olson, who had recently been considered for the role of Delilah in Cecil B. DeMilles Samson and Delilah.[7]

DeMille, often credited as the person most responsible for making Swanson a star, plays himself, with his scenes filmed on the set of Samson and Delilah at Paramount Studios. He calls Norma "young fella", which had been his nickname for Swanson.

Normas friends who come to play bridge with her, referred to by Joe as "the waxworks", were Swansons silent-era contemporaries Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson, and H. B. Warner, portraying themselves. Hedda Hopper also played herself, reporting on Norma Desmonds downfall in the films final scenes.[7]

Cinematography and design

The films dark, shadowy black-and-white cinematography was the work of John F. Seitz. Wilder had worked with Seitz on several projects before, and trusted his judgment, allowing him to make his own decisions. Seitz recalled asking Wilder what he required for the pet chimpanzees funeral scene, to which Wilder replied, "you know, just your standard monkey funeral shot." For some interior shots, Seitz sprinkled dust in front of the camera before filming to suggest "mustiness," a technique he had also used for Wilders Double Indemnity (1944).[20] The film had the option to be shot in color, but it was instead shot in black and white to be more reflective of the noir genre.[21]

Duration: 3 minutes and 14 seconds.3:14

Trailer for the film

Wilder was adamant that the corpse of Joe Gillis be seen from the bottom of the pool, but creating the effect was difficult. The camera was placed inside a specially constructed box and lowered under water, but the result disappointed Wilder, who insisted on further experiments. The shot was finally achieved by placing a mirror on the bottom of the pool and filming Holdens reflection from above, with the distorted image of the police officers standing around the pool forming a backdrop.[7]

Film historian Tom Stempel writes: "In both Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard, Seitz does somethi.